using Google Translate on the backend to transparently translate the website on the fly.

This is what they call “modern cloud-based solutions”. Except, now it’s “modern AI-based solutions” - same shit with a different label.

I am now trying to imagine how that works. Every time a client calls the website with an unseen (and IP-based of course) language? Do they at least cache whatever google returns?

Storing translations and switching between them at a technical level isn’t really hard.

Esp. as you yourself pointed out, the internet has been multilingual for decades now.