Google reader goes multi-lingual

19th September 2007

US-based search engine Google has announced that its Google Reader program will now be available in eight more languages.

Previously only accessible in English, it now supports French, Italian, German, Spanish, Korean, Japanese and two forms of Chinese.

Google Reader is a news aggregator that allows users to select topics and sources of interest to them and have them collected together every day.

As well as checking news sources, Google Reader can also be used to monitor blogs and this was apparently one of the motivating factors behind the new development.

Google marketer Kevin Systrom said blogs have become "an international phenomenon - they're not constrained by language or nationality".

"In fact, blogs have become an important way to bring rise to independent reporters and writers."

Meanwhile, a study by China IntelliConsulting Corporation has found that Google is still being outperformed in China by Baidu, which has increased its market share in the People's Republic over the past 12 months.