Don't guess my language

Misused language detection vs. Accept-Language

• Many commenters want sites to respect the browser’s Accept-Language header instead of guessing from IP or geolocation.
• Several point out that OS/browser already expose user language preferences and ordering, but most sites ignore this in favor of crude GeoIP or country-based fallbacks.
• Others note that Accept-Language is imperfect for daily-multilingual users: preferences are topical (original vs. translated) rather than a strict global order, and people often set the “most practical” language (e.g., English) rather than their native one.
• There’s discussion of quality weights (q values) on both client and server, and the idea that automatically translated variants should always have very low priority if used at all.

Frustration with auto-translation and forced localization

• Strong backlash against auto-translated pages, video titles, and AI dubbing (YouTube, Reddit, some docs sites).
• Users often speak both the “source” and “target” language and find translations lower quality, misleading, or actively harmful for learning the original language.
• Many complain that these features are default-on, hard or impossible to disable, and frequently mis-detect language, creating uncanny voices and broken text.
• Some resort to browser extensions, VPNs, or manual URL hacks just to get original-language content.

GeoIP, location, currency, and units

• GeoIP databases are described as inaccurate and unstable; they routinely misplace users and drive wrong language, store, or shipping choices.
• Commenters argue GeoIP might be acceptable only for pre-filling things like shipping estimates or regional legal text—and even then must be easy to override.
• Complaints extend to forced currencies and “dynamic currency conversion” seen as predatory; users prefer to pay in the merchant’s base currency.
• Similar irritation exists for forced imperial units or US-style dates when users explicitly prefer metric or ISO formats.

Patterns on major platforms

• Google is singled out as a major offender: Search, Maps, YouTube, Play Store, Ads, and account UIs repeatedly ignore explicit language settings and Accept-Language, especially when traveling or in multilingual regions.
• Other examples include Facebook, eBay, AliExpress, app stores, streaming services, and mapping/navigation apps mangling language, script, or audio/subtitle choices.

Desired best practices

• Use Accept-Language as the primary signal, never IP, and never auto-translate by default.
• Always provide a clear, consistent language switcher; remember the explicit user choice via cookie or URL.
• Separate language from locale (dates, units, currency, time zones) and let users configure both, ideally per-site or per-app.
• When in doubt: don’t guess; show a simple choice and then stay out of the way.