Report: Apple Topples Google From Brand Value Top Spot

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Report: Apple Topples Google From Brand Value Top Spot [bloomberg.com]

Apple Inc. (AAPL), maker of the iPhone, iPad and iMac, overtook search-engine giant Google Inc. (GOOG) to become the world’s most valuable brand, WPP Plc said in a report today.

Apple’s brand value climbed 84 percent in the past year to $153.3 billion, WPP’s Millward Brown unit said. Google’s brand lost 2 percent to $111.5 billion, ending four years atop the rankings, while International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) climbed 17 percent to be the No. 3, ahead of McDonald’s Corp. (MCD)

New versions of the iPhone and iMac, and the introduction of the iPad tablet, helped Cupertino, California-based Apple almost double sales and profit for the latest quarter. Apple, which overtook Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), as the most-valuable technology company by market value in May 2010, boosted its share of the global phone market and is the leading seller of tablet computers.

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(Full discloser: Google search, for the first time in years, is downgrading my primary geo-sites--long ranking #1--in favor of Wikipedia for no good reason and, therefore, I'm not feeling the love right now.)

Apple has done a great job with this high-quality products and services. Still, one has to wonder if at least a part of this is coming from slow realization that Google is not as competent and high integrity, and perhaps not as caring, as they once were.

Both firms are outstanding brands and have much to be proud of. I am a heavy user of both brands. My trust level for Apple, however, is a bit higher now than for Google.