In an attempt to broaden its audience, Google’s (GOOG) YouTube will open local language sites in Brazil, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom. According to The Wall Street Journal much of YouTube’s traffic already comes from outside the US.

The biggest question facing YouTube may be whether other, local video websites already established in these countries will be competition. While Google has a strong foothold in most large countries, in China the search engine will well behind the local competition, Baidu (BIDU). Yahoo! (YHOO) Video and AOL Video may have footholds in these countries as well.

Douglas A. McIntyre