Israeli translation company Babylon released its 2010 annual report, showing a record in revenues: about US$33 Million for the year. Profits were approximately US$5.8 Million for the year. Here are some highlights from the annual report and from an interview with Babylon CEO Alon Carmeli which appeared in the Israeli newspaper TheMarker.

• Babylon has passed the 100 Million user mark.
• Babylon shifted its business strategy. Instead of just selling software licenses, Babylon now provides a wide range of free services and monetizes them through advertising.
• Sales of software licenses declined by 10% (US$15.5 Million) but was more than offset by a 123% increase in advertising revenues (US$17.5 Million).  The boost in advertising revenues is in large part due to a cooperation agreement which Babylon signed with Google.
• Babylon’s strongest markets are Germany, Italy and Brazil. But the countries which provided the most growth for Babylon were India, Turkey and Poland. The growth in low-income, emerging markets can be attributed to the ‘freemium’ business model which Babylon has adopted, since people in those countries would find it hard to afford software licenses.

Thanks to Dave at GTS Blog