[Reason077]

"Still I suppose it's better than sussing out whether someone is British and using "long" billions."

Britain does not use "long" billions. Not since the 1970s or so. Now days, billion always means 1000 million.

[beojan]

Many other European languages, on the other hand, do use the long scale.

[Reason077]

That’s correct. But when speaking or writing in English, the English conventions should be used.