Using google trends, we can see where people are searching for certain terms. For example, the word "Forex" is searched most heavily by Nigeria. The question: When someone searches forex on google, while IN nigeria, does google filter the results by country, giving them relevant forex pages which were created or using nigeria domain extensions? Would this mean perhaps, that you could use the domain extension of a particular country, when trying to get the search traffic from that particular area? If you know a term is hotly searched in a certain country, would it make sense to use the domain extension of that country in order to get the google traffic for that area? Because I've tried different google search engines, and it does seem to filter in this way and often favor the extension of the country your located in (at least sometimes) Plus, it also seems google by default will direct you to the country your located in for the search. I'm in canada, and If I go to Google.com, it automatically takes me to Google.CA Anybody understand what I'm saying?
The answer to your question is YES. Because Google associates your site with the region in which it is based a .com address will have more prominence in the US etc.