Google dubbed more powerful brand than Microsoft

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Google has been crowned number one in a list of the 100 most powerful brands of 2007, beating off stiff competition from the likes of General Electric, Microsoft and Coca-Cola.

The search giant has a brand value of $66 billion, leaving its nearest technology competition (Microsoft) in the shade to the turn of more than $11 billion, according to Millward Brown's second annual Brandz ranking published in association with the Financial Times.

Last week, Google released the results for its first quarter ending March 31, which showed revenue of $3.66 billion - a 63 per cent increase in revenue compared to the first quarter of 2006.

"The global growth of our core search and ads business and our focus on building our partnerships drove our strong results in the quarter," said Eric Schmidt, Google's chief executive.

"We continued to expand our worldwide footprint, adding important new partners and growing our platform to increase our ability to deliver targeted and measurable ads. The ongoing expansion of our network allows us to improve the user experience through new opportunities and programs."

"A lot can change in world business over 12 months, and this year's brand rankings are testimony to that with Google taking pole position as the world's most powerful brand," said Simon Targett, who edited the Financial Times Global Brands Supplement.

Other technology companies also featured quite prominently in the top 100, with China Mobile and IBM in fifth and ninth place respectively and Nokia, HP and Apple making up 12th, 15th and 16th positions.

"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, global chief executive for Millward Brown Optimor, the company's finance and ROI arm.

"Strong brands are capable of extending into areas of opportunity to access new revenue streams and to help businesses respond to market changes."

Breaking the brand ranking down by country and region saw Vodafonecome out on top for the UK and Nokia heading up the European premier league.

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