#25 Google TM Snafu, Translator Salaries, RWS Iconic M&A, AB5 in California

Florian and Esther talk Google snafu, delving into the story of how Google “inadvertently sent” users’ translation memory data to someone else. Users of the now retired Google Toolkit, a free cloud-based translation productivity, may have had their translation memory contents shared with another user as a result of a technical issue affecting download requests.Florian discusses UK-based RWS’ acquisition of machine translation provider Iconic Translation Machines for a whopping USD 20m maximum, or 16x revenues. Why would the world’s most valuable LSP buy an MT startup rather than build the tech internally? An existing partnership, as well as Iconic’s focus on critical content and their customer base likely helped move the needle in favor of an acquisition.Esther outlines salary data coming out of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, which indicates that US translators and interpreters earned a median wage of USD 51,830 annually in 2019. We also look at which states offer the best pay and employ the most linguists. Finally, Florian shares an update from the California Assembly, which passed AB1850 on June 11, 2020, exempting only “certified translators” from the proposed bill to ban gig work.Links to the stories discussedYour Google Translator Toolkit Data ‘Was Inadvertently Sent to Another User’https://slator.com/industry-news/google-translator-toolkit-data-was-inadvertently-sent-to-another-user/RWS Acquires MT Provider Iconic and Indian LSP Webduniahttps://slator.com/ma-and-funding/rws-acquires-mt-provider-iconic-and-indian-lsp-webdunia/*SlatorPro* Why the World’s Most Valuable LSP Bought a Machine Translation Startuphttps://slator.com/ma-and-funding/why-the-worlds-most-valuable-lsp-bought-a-machine-translation-startup/US Translator and Interpreter Salaries Rose 3.8% in 2019https://slator.com/industry-news/us-translator-and-interpreter-salaries-rose-3-8-in-2019/