It's the Cluelessness of most U.S. businesses regarding the international opportunity the Web affords them. The fact is, Hunt noted, most U.S. exports come from just a handful of multinational companies. Most of the sins U.S. sites commit are obvious, and easy to fix. U.S. firms don't offer metric measurements, they don't understand foreign customs regulations, and they don't offer banners in foreign languages. Most don't take foreign currencies, and many are real bandwidth hogs, failing to understand that most overseas users are on modems and paying per-minute charges for access.
Some companies do get it.
Here's another interesting fact. E-publications like the one you're reading, mailing lists, and Internet magazines. Hunt's advice is to target individual markets, mirror your best content in local languages, and follow local customs. It's not hard to do, and the profit potential is enormous, he says. It's good advice.