Google ranked top brand in the world

Internet giant Google has surpassed Microsoft to become the world’s top-ranked brand, according to findings released this week.

by Helen Leggatt

Market research firm Millward Brown released their annual Brandz Top 100 Most Powerful Brands rankings earlier this week. Google, who was down in 7th place in last year’s ranking, came out on top with a brand value of $66.4 billion. That’s a 77 percent rise in brand value putting the relative newcomer ahead of long-established brands.

Microsoft, on the other hand, lost 11 percent of its brand value since last year’s rankings, falling to third place with a brand value of $55 billion, behind General Electric Co. who rose to second place with $62 billion.

"Success stories from this year's Brandz Top 100 demonstrate that winning brands leverage major market trends effectively to create business value," said Joanna Seddon, chief exective for Millward Brown. "Strong brands are capable of extending into areas of opportunity to access new revenue streams and to help businesses respond to market changes."

The total value of the Top 100 brands has reached $1.6 trillion, an increase of 10.6 percent over the last year.

Millward Brown's top 10 ranked sites, by brand value, are as follows:

1. Google–$66.4 billion
2. General Electric–$61.9 billion
3. Microsoft–$55 billion
4. Coca-Cola–$44.1 billion
5. China Mobile–$41.2 billion
6. Marlboro–$39.2 billion
7. Wal-Mart–$36.9 billion
8. Citigroup–$33.7 billion
9. IBM–$33.6 billion
10. Toyota Motor–$33.4 billion