Oxford University Press Acquires Online Language Portal bab.la

From OUP:

Oxford University Press (OUP) [is announcing the] acquisition of the online language portal bab.la, a multilingual dictionary and translation website based in Hamburg, Germany, where language lovers gather online and use and develop translation resources for the world’s languages.
The bab.la site complements Oxford’s own consumer website OxfordDictionaries.com. Bab.la will expand on that experience, adding diversity to OUP’s portfolio to ensure it offers the best free dictionary presence globally, not just for English and English-speaking countries, but for multiple languages worldwide.
“Several years ago we surveyed the free consumer dictionary space and saw it was controlled by a lot of web advertising businesses that were just about gaming high-volume traffic,” said Casper Grathwohl, President, Oxford Dictionaries. “We’re more interested in serving up the best language experience. And for that you need rich, accurate content. When we looked at bab.la, we saw a company that shared our mission to support communities around the globe, working to maintain and enhance language. By bringing bab.la under the Oxford Dictionaries umbrella we’re in a much stronger position to promote the connection between digital languages, and serve up the best language experience for users around the world.”
bab.la will complement ODO’s content with its 39 dictionaries for 25 languages, a language forum, vocabulary lessons, language games, quizzes, verb conjugation for 11 languages, phrase books for university, business or travel, and an internship platform among many other language-related products.
OUP plans to maintain bab.la’s offices in Hamburg with its team of editors and language specialists.

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