In its bid to go global, Facebook is facing off against itself.

Clones of the wunderkind social-networking Web site — some of which resemble Facebook right down to color, font and layout — have popped up in local languages around the world. These competitor sites offer identical core services, letting users post pictures, form groups and choose their friends.

All are complicating Facebook Inc.’s global campaign, which began in February and has since rolled out 18 foreign-language editions, including Norwegian and

Czech, with plans for 54 more.

Facebook’s universal challenges illustrate just some of the ways global expansion can bedevil major U.S. Web companies as they seek swarms of users and advertising dollars in new markets.

Facebook’s specific problem is winning by society who are already hooked on local-language sites hocking similar services with a similar look.

In Russia, for example, where Facebook launched last month, the entrenched social-networking engine online is Vkontakte, […]

Orginal post by Top Tech News