Online search and advertising giant Google named Bellevue this year’s eCity for Washington on Thursday, recognizing the city’s business sector as a leader in ecommerce for the state.

This is the second year Google has issued the awards, with Bainbridge Island taking the honor in 2013 for Washington. eCities are selected based on a number of factors related to growing the digital economy.

Google states companies with an online presence are expected to grow 40 percent faster than those that don’t.

“Obviously communities, cities and states where businesses embrace the power of the web are going to be more economically robust, and we wanted to celebrate that fact,” said Darcy Nothnagle, public affairs and government relations manager for Google’s western region. “… It’s really all about celebrating the digital capital of America.”

The number of cities researched by Google to make its determination for awards starts with its own advertising service, AdWords. Google takes the population of each city and divides it by the number of AdWords clients there to whittle candidates to a more manageable number, said Nothnagle. A second study of the remaining cities is then conducted without including AdWords data.

The independent research firm IPSOS worked with Google to analyze the online strength of small businesses in cities in all 50 states.

“What’s very interesting is there are very few repeat winners this year from last year,” she said.

It’s not just big businesses that catapult a city to the top in its state, but the totality of businesses taking advantage of online sales, social media promotions, blog posts and mobile-friendly websites, Nothnagle said.

“There’s such a low barrier to get online for small businesses that you’re going to see a change year after year,” she said.

Google cites Bellevue’s Joseph Jewelry as an example, operating in the city since 1996. Due to its expansion online, it is now one of the top jewelers in the area, according to Google.

Along with the recognition, the city of Bellevue will receive a trophy from Google identifying it as the 2014 eCity for Washington.

“We’re gratified that our efforts to leverage technology to deliver better service to residents and businesses are getting noticed,” said Bellevue Chief Information Officer Toni Cramer. “The city’s economic development strategy supports increasing convenience for the tech-savvy population we serve through solutions such as paperless permitting, a regional park search portal and the MyBellevue mobile app. Our residents and businesses want this type of service from their city, and we’re happy to deliver it.”