Google, not Facebook, voted most global-friendly website

Google has reclaimed its top spot from Facebook this year by winning the vote for the most-global friendly website.  The tech major supports more than 140 languages on its search engine and 40 languages on its new Google+ app.

ByteLevel’s 2012 Web Globalization Report Card reviewed 105 websites across 17 industries to arrive at its conclusion. Keeping in mind the growing popularity of mobile internet usage, it also took into account mobile websites and apps in its research.

The study measured the websites under 4 criterions: Global reach (languages), global navigation (local content), global/mobile architecture (global branding and local customization) and localization and social (local relevance, support for local language social media). Based on these platforms, Google had been the front runner for years but last year, Facebook displaced it with a number of its own innovations. This year, Google is back on top.

The Next Web found that according to the research, the key to Google’s success lies in its support for local languages and content. Compared to the 140 languages available on its search engine and 40 on its Google+ app, Facebook’s mobile app supports just 13 languages. In fact, the top 10 websites on an average support 50 languages. Google, with its 140 languages, is way ahead of its competition.

Language is not the only area Google has excelled in. In terms of local content and global consistency too, Google fared well. With many new devices and an impressive network across the World Wide Web, 2012 might just be Google’s most triumphant year yet.