How does Google tell where sites are located?

ie. When you search for 'pages from Australia' or wherever

[sparticus]

Just wondering if it's public knowledge how Google tells where a site is from when you do a country specific search. Is it just a combination of IP address and domain name? I couldn't find any information on the Google website and I'd like to know for sure.

[MHes]

Hi

IP and/or domain ending.

[irishaff]

They look at two things:

1. How your domain ends. e.g .co.uk would get classified as UK site regardless of where its hosted.

2. They also look at where the site is hosted. If the IP address of the server is allocated to the UK , then google considers that your site is a UK one also. This is to cover the possibility that a .com for example would have UK related content.

It is a good idea to work with a top level domain from the country you are targeting ( for credibility in the market ) or to at least host in your target country. I recive about 10% of my google visits from people who have done a country specific search.

Cheers
David

[picasso]

For a language specific search it is sufficient when there is a language META tag.

[conor]

Localised IPs do work better from a SE point of view.