How should a media plan treat a bilingual website with uneven coverage?
Part of Fair publisher planning
The short answer
Treat a bilingual website as two publishers sharing a domain. Sample recent articles from each language section, judge topic fit and suitability for each on its own, and list each section as its own plan row with its URL path. A strong English section should not carry a thin French or Spanish one, nor should a thin one sink it.
Key takeaways
- A bilingual site can publish deep coverage in one language and only a few translated pages in the other, so one verdict for the whole domain hides the gap.
- Language targeting in buying platforms works on bid request and user signals, so it does not confirm what a given section of a site publishes.
- Sampling each language section separately, with the same number of recent articles, gives a fair and comparable read of both.
- A plan that lists each language section as its own row, with its URL path, coverage notes and check date, lets the client see exactly what is being bought.
Why does a bilingual website need a different review?
A bilingual website publishes in two languages under one brand, and the two halves need not mirror each other. A newsroom may write original reporting in English and translate a few pieces into French each week, or run a Spanish section built from wire copy while its English desk covers local politics. A site wide review blends both halves into one score that describes neither well.
Definition
- Uneven language coverage
- A gap between the language sections of one website in volume, freshness, topic range or editorial depth, so that a brief can fit one section well and the other poorly or not at all.
The gap carries weight in Canada. Canadian Heritage's official languages statistics (opens in a new tab), from the 2021 Census, count 6,581,680 people bilingual in English and French, 18.0 percent of the population, with 34.0 percent in New Brunswick and 10.8 percent in Ontario. A French section serving that readership deserves its own judgment.
Should each language section of a bilingual site be judged separately?
Yes, for any brief that runs in both languages or only in the smaller one. A site wide verdict is fast and works when both sections are similar in size and editorial standard. When they are not, a per section verdict is the only way to see that the French or Spanish half fits a different set of briefs. The Media Rating Council's 2018 supplement on content level context and brand safety (opens in a new tab) separates property level reporting from content level measurement and says a vendor that cannot measure part of a property may list "portions of the property as uncategorized or unknown" with clear disclosure. A language section is one such portion.
| Approach | Strengths | Weaknesses | Fits when |
|---|---|---|---|
| One verdict for the whole domain | Quick; one row per publisher; simple to export and report | Blends a deep section with a thin one; can approve pages in a language the brief never asked for | Both sections publish similar volumes on similar topics |
| One verdict per language section | Shows the real fit of each half; lets a brief buy only the section that matches | Takes a second sample and more review time; adds rows to the plan | Sections differ in size, freshness, topics or editorial standard |
Judging sections separately also protects the smaller section. A French desk with ten strong local stories a month can fit a regional French brief well, but only a reviewer who opens those stories will see it. The thin section is measured against the brief, not against its English sister.
How do language filters in buying platforms treat bilingual sites?
Language filters answer a different question from the planner's. Display & Video 360's language targeting help (opens in a new tab) says it targets impressions "based on the languages of an individual bid request, which are specified by publishers," that publishers "can set the languages of bid requests based on content, user, and other factors," and that Google uses "a combination of content- and user-based signals" to infer languages. Its own example allows an impression on a website where the content is in another language, such as English.
Google Ads describes a similar mix. Its language targeting page (opens in a new tab), checked October 22, 2026, says that on the Display Network it may look at the language of pages or apps someone is visiting or has recently visited, and that on YouTube it can show ads based on the languages the person understands.
| Object and field | Specification wording | What it tells a planner about a bilingual site |
|---|---|---|
| Content.language | "Content language using ISO-639-1-alpha-2" | The language the seller declares for the content, if it sends one |
| Content.langb | "Content language using IETF BCP 47" | Can carry a regional tag such as fr-CA or es-MX when the seller fills it |
| Device.language | "Browser language using ISO-639-1-alpha-2" | Describes the reader's browser, not the page |
| Site.sectioncat | Content categories "that describe the current section of the site" | Section topics, not section language |
How do you measure coverage in each language section?
Start from the site's own structure. A bilingual site can split languages by subdirectory (/fr/, /es/), subdomain or separate domain, and may declare alternates in its markup. Google's localized versions guide (opens in a new tab), updated September 21, 2026, describes hreflang as marking "localized variations of the same content" and states that Google "doesn't use hreflang or the HTML lang attribute to detect the language of a page." Markup shows where sections live; articles show what they contain.
Six steps to audit a bilingual site, one section at a time
- Map the sections. Record the URL pattern for each language and whether alternates link page to page or only home to home.
- Sample the same number of recent articles from each section. Ten from the last 60 days each is a fair start; use the section's own archive or sitemap, not the homepage carousel.
- Mark original, translated and wire pieces. Translations count as coverage but repeat the other section's topics.
- Score topic fit per section. Count how many sampled articles match the brief's topics in that language, and note the newest matching date.
- Run suitability on each sample. A section can carry crime or politics coverage the other section does not.
- Write one line per section. State the fit, the freshness and the weakest point, so the plan shows two verdicts side by side.
How should a bilingual site appear in a media plan?
Give each language section its own row. Buying platforms can follow that structure. Display & Video 360's app, channel and website targeting help (opens in a new tab) says it "supports two levels of subdirectory targeting," and warns that targeting a website can also reach the publisher's mobile or connected TV app unless environment targeting is adjusted. Google Ads' placement targeting page (opens in a new tab) says a placement "can be a website or a specific page on a site." Confirm how a section path behaves in the account before launch.
| Plan field | English section row | Spanish section row |
|---|---|---|
| Placement | Domain root or /en/ path | /es/ path or Spanish subdomain |
| Sampled articles | Ten from the last 60 days | Ten from the last 60 days, or all if fewer exist |
| Original or translated | Share of originals in the sample | Share of originals in the sample |
| Topic fit | Matching articles out of ten, with two links | Matching articles out of ten, with two links |
| Weakest point | One line | One line, such as a slower publishing pace |
| Check date | Date the sample was read | Date the sample was read |
A reader can visit both sections, so do not add section audiences together as reach. If popularity data exists only for the domain, show it once on a shared line.
Which kinds of bilingual publishers show up in Canadian plans?
Canadian bilingual publishing takes several shapes. The national public broadcaster runs its languages as separate properties: Canadian Heritage's portfolio overview (opens in a new tab) lists "more than ten digital services, including CBC.ca and Radio-Canada.ca." The Broadcasting Act (opens in a new tab), section 3(1)(m), says its programming should "strive to be of equivalent quality in English and in French." A plan should still read the two services as two properties, each with its own sample.
Reference publishers form a second shape. Historica Canada describes The Canadian Encyclopedia (opens in a new tab) as "a free, bilingual online resource" with more than 24,000 bilingual articles; whether a topic is equally deep in both languages is something to check. Regional and community outlets in New Brunswick, eastern Ontario and Manitoba form a third shape, and their sections can differ sharply in size. See the French Canadian advertising guide and the Canadian independent publishers guide.
How does PlacementGraph read the language of a bilingual site?
What does a per section review change on a real plan?
Fictional example
A fictional tortilla and salsa maker in New Mexico
An unnamed tortilla and salsa maker asks its agency for a display plan in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Las Cruces, in English and Spanish, beside recipes, home cooking and local food culture. The first draft treats three bilingual regional sites as single rows.
The per section review tells a different story. On the first site, the Spanish section is a full newsroom with its own food columnist, and seven of ten sampled Spanish articles fit the brief. On the second, the Spanish section holds translated versions of English stories, so it repeats the English topics a few days later. On the third, the Spanish section has not published in four months.
The final plan lists the first site as two rows, keeps the second site's Spanish path with a note that it mirrors the English desk, and keeps only the English section of the third, with the reason recorded. No site is removed for being bilingual.
- Review: six sections sampled, ten articles each where available.
- Plan: five section rows, each with its path, fit, weakest point and check date.
What should a bilingual site review checklist include?
Before a bilingual site goes on the list
- The URL pattern for each language section is recorded.
- Each section was sampled with the same number of recent articles.
- Topic fit and suitability were scored for each section on its own.
- Each section has its own row, path and weakest point in the plan.
- Domain level audience data is shown once and not added across sections.
- A thin section is noted with its reason, not silently dropped.
Frequently asked questions
Do translated articles count as coverage in the second language?
They count as pages a reader sees in that language, so an ad beside them reaches that language's readers. They add no new topics, since they repeat the other section's reporting. Record the share of translations in the sample so the client knows whether the section is a newsroom or a mirror.
How few articles can a language section have and still stay in a plan?
There is no industry minimum. What matters is whether the section publishes enough fitting, recent articles to carry the flight. A section with a handful of strong local pieces can suit a small, targeted buy with a frequency cap and a pacing check.
Should a bilingual site's ads match the language of the section?
Matching creative to the section's language is the plain reading of a bilingual brief, and OpenRTB 2.6 gives sellers fields for allowed creative languages (wlang or wlangb). English creative on a French section is a brand choice, not an error, but write it into the plan.
What if the two language sections have different owners or sellers?
Treat them as two publishers. Read each section's ads.txt location and the sellers named for it, and record the owner for each row. A different seller for one section changes the supply path for that row only.
Sources
- Language targeting (opens in a new tab)Google, Display & Video 360 Help
- App, channel, and website targeting (opens in a new tab)Google, Display & Video 360 Help
- About language targeting (opens in a new tab)Google Ads Help, checked October 22, 2026
- About placement targeting (opens in a new tab)Google Ads Help
- OpenRTB 2.6 specification (opens in a new tab)IAB Tech Lab
- Tell Google about localized versions of your page (opens in a new tab)Google Search Central, updated September 21, 2026
- MRC Supplement to IAB Guidelines for the Conduct of Ad Verification: Enhanced Content Level Context and Brand Safety (opens in a new tab)Media Rating Council, September 2018
- Statistics on official languages in Canada (opens in a new tab)Canadian Heritage, modified August 17, 2026 (2021 Census data)
- Overview of portfolio organizations (opens in a new tab)Canadian Heritage, December 1, 2025
- Broadcasting Act (S.C. 1991, c. 11), section 3, current to September 30, 2026 (opens in a new tab)Justice Laws Website, Government of Canada
- The Canadian Encyclopedia (opens in a new tab)Historica Canada
Researched and written by PlacementGraph Research. Read how we research, source and update these pages. Corrections: diana@placementgraph.com.