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Byte Level Research has released a new version of its world map illustrating country code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs) in use by Google for its local search engines. Using information available on Google’s Language Tools page, the new map shows over 160 ccTLDs that Google has currently in use including Andorra, Kenya, Ukraine, and Ghana.
Why pick Google? John Yunker president of Byte Level Research says that he knows of no other company that hosts localized websites across so many different ccTLDs. Countries that Google currently serves even include Cuba — “I doubt many Americans are aware of that.”
“While plenty of multinationals have registered hundreds of ccTLDs, few have put them to use so extensively,” says Yunker. “Even though we’re talking only about a search interface, it’s still important to the people who live within these countries and territories.”
The PDF version of the map can be downloaded here.
Also see related post, ‘New Map Illustrates All 245 Country Code Top-Level Domains’.
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But if they were absolutely consistent, they’d put the U.S. version in google.us, and make google.com either a generic international Google, or an automatic redirect to whichever country is appropriate including .us.
Good point. U.S. seems to be the only country for which a ccTLD is not used when it comes to Google's homepage. John Yunker, the creator of the map above, has written about this which would be worth noting here.