World's Best Brand? It's No Longer the Real Thing

Google has been named the most valuable brand in the world, according to market research firm Milward Brown, which today released its annual BrandZ rankings.

The Mountain View, California, money-machine beat Apple (sorry, Steve), General Electric (condolences, Jeff), Microsoft (bummer, Steve), Coca-Cola (ouch, Neville), McDonald's (don't take it personally, Ronald), and to snag the top spot with a whopping $86 billion brand value.

The list showcases how technology companies have come to dominate the annual rankings, with six of the Top 10 spots going to tech firms.

Research in Motion's BlackBerry brand value grew 390 percent to nearly $14 billion, while Apple, maker of the iconic iPod music player, saw its brand value climb 123 percent to $55 billion.

Beleaguered web giant Yahoo, which is trying to fend off a hostile takeover bid from Microsoft, clocked in with a relatively paltry value of $11.5 billion — a 13 percent annual decline.

Google's brand value bullseye came just days after the company shocked Wall Street with blowout first quarter earnings, sending its shares skyrocketing almost 20 percent.

Milward Brown combines balance sheet data from each company with less tangible factors like consumer sentiment to arrive at its rankings.

by Sam Gustin