Regional vs. Global competition

[kneoteric_V]

Hi Peers,

I have recently faced a tough job.
While optimizing a dating site on Google, I faced tougher competition (in UK counties) for regional keywords (at Google.co.uk) than its global counterparts. I am getting better ranks on a global platform (Google.com). This scenario is strange.

I will appreciate to know the reason from anyone around.
Also, did you face similar problems while optimizing on a competitive domain (dating, gambling, finance, travel...)?

Thanks in advance,

Jaidip Dutta