Regional domains and Google SERP

how much will I loose due to regional domain?

[a_sh]

Is it important to use international or US domain (such as .com, .net, ....) for good ranking in international/US Google SERP?
Is penalty for regional domain substational or not?
I'm using regional (non-US) domain for site in two languages - english and non-english. Should I change my domain to .com, .net,.... for better ranking in Google/MSN/Yahoo or negative influence of non-US domain isn't so terrible?

[Vadim]

Google takes into account many factors when decides what country your site for.

For example, links and language. Your county TLD and physical server location are also taken into account. Only Google algo knows what will be the final result.

But in general, if you target US it is better to have your host in US and com domain.

Vadim.

[nippi]

i don't agree. I have a top ranked site in the us and uk, it has a .com.au. it is also top ranked in australia.

i beleive a regional domain helps regionally, and makes no difference internationally

[wheelie34]

and a .com hosted on your countries IP will return both for global and local searches ;)