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Byte Level Research Ranks Top Companies to Offer Global Websites

Byte Level Research has been operating since 2003, when it first published The Web Globalization Report Card. The company rated how successfully companies developed web site and content for international markets. This week, Byte Level Research published it`s new report and once again Google is named at the top of the list. The reports evaluates 300 business companies, and these are the leading ones: Google, Wikipedia, HP, Cisco Systems, IBM, Dell, IKEA, Volvo Cars, DHL, Xerox

"Since 2003, Google has nearly doubled the number of languages it supports -- to 116 -- making it one of the most global commercial Web sites ever built," said John Yunker, chief analyst at Byte Level Research and author of the report. "But Google is not alone in having expanded language support over the past few years. From BMW to DHL to Starbucks, Web globalization is now a fact of life for most global companies."

Wikipedia finished in second place, proving that you don`t need to be a global corporation to develop a successful global Web site. HP finished in third place, down from second place in 2005. Not all Web sites fared as well as the top 10. Many of the underachieving Web sites include some of the most visible brands in America and around the world. "Being a global company is no guarantee of having a successful global Web site," said Yunker.