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Then why are they on the internet? Aren't they aware that non-US people can also access it? And if they aren't interested then why do they add "for now" to thei

Then why are they on the internet? Aren't they aware that non-US people can also access it? And if they aren't interested then why do they add "for now" to their message? And are you telling me global companies like Google and Amazon don't have any non-US customers? I don't know which world is that but I want to live in it.

AmericanChopper 6y ago
Google and Amazon aren’t particularly good examples of this. They don’t have very many services that are only available to US customers. But there are plenty of businesses that only trade with US customers, and make little effort to ensure that’s clear on their websites. To answer your question, the reason companies like that don’t put special effort into making this more clear is because while some people might think this is a problem, it’s certainly not their problem. If somebody browses their website for 20 minutes, decided to make a purchase, and realizes they can’t, the business hasn’t lost anything. That person was never going to be their customer to begin with, and it’s not exactly easy to put together a business case for improving UX for people who will never be customers. Im not really making any value judgements about doing this, I’m just giving you the perfectly rational explanation for how this occurs.
- nromiun 6y ago
  An example from Google is YouTube TV. I have seen countless people raising issues about why they can't use some services and after some time the people from the service will finally tell them it's because they aren't in the US. All of this can be simply solved with a simple "Only available in the US" in the front page. And if Google is to be believed human support is quite pricy. And no, it isn't complicated. Not for designers or developers. (I am not a good designer but I have developed many websites.)
- TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
  Failing to consider that your customer base could be international is the definition of blinkered irrationality. You're not just losing goodwill, you're losing potential profits. There are obvious exceptions, like fresh food or anything else with a limited shelf life, and any product that has a distributor chain providing sales and support in a different territory. Beyond that it makes no sense at all, especially for software and other non-physical services. Other countries, including China and the EU, understand this. Companies in the US that fail to adapt will lose business and be left behind.
  - drstewart 6y ago
    What EU companies are Google and Apple losing business to, exactly?
  - AmericanChopper 6y ago
    If you have one market where your acquisitions costs are lower per $ in sales than all other markets, you are literally losing money on every $ you invest in sales for any other market. Your intuition for how this works is simply incorrect.

AmericanChopper 6y ago

Google and Amazon aren’t particularly good examples of this. They don’t have very many services that are only available to US customers. But there are plenty of businesses that only trade with US customers, and make little effort to ensure that’s clear on their websites. To answer your question, the reason companies like that don’t put special effort into making this more clear is because while some people might think this is a problem, it’s certainly not their problem. If somebody browses their website for 20 minutes, decided to make a purchase, and realizes they can’t, the business hasn’t lost anything. That person was never going to be their customer to begin with, and it’s not exactly easy to put together a business case for improving UX for people who will never be customers. Im not really making any value judgements about doing this, I’m just giving you the perfectly rational explanation for how this occurs.

nromiun 6y ago
An example from Google is YouTube TV. I have seen countless people raising issues about why they can't use some services and after some time the people from the service will finally tell them it's because they aren't in the US. All of this can be simply solved with a simple "Only available in the US" in the front page. And if Google is to be believed human support is quite pricy. And no, it isn't complicated. Not for designers or developers. (I am not a good designer but I have developed many websites.)
TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
Failing to consider that your customer base could be international is the definition of blinkered irrationality. You're not just losing goodwill, you're losing potential profits. There are obvious exceptions, like fresh food or anything else with a limited shelf life, and any product that has a distributor chain providing sales and support in a different territory. Beyond that it makes no sense at all, especially for software and other non-physical services. Other countries, including China and the EU, understand this. Companies in the US that fail to adapt will lose business and be left behind.
- drstewart 6y ago
  What EU companies are Google and Apple losing business to, exactly?
- AmericanChopper 6y ago
  If you have one market where your acquisitions costs are lower per $ in sales than all other markets, you are literally losing money on every $ you invest in sales for any other market. Your intuition for how this works is simply incorrect.