Google's brand worth more than Apple's, if you believe this BrandZ survey

Posted:
in General Discussion edited May 2018
Google squeaked past Apple by a mere $1.5B to top this year's list of most valuable global brands, as reported by the world's largest brand equity database.

The 2018 Brandz survey


Apple was once again ranked behind internet search giant Google in the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands list, which was released Tuesday. The survey, conducted by British advertising and branding firm WPP, valued Google's brand at $302 billion, just above Apple at $300.6 billion.

The list was dominated by tech companies, with Amazon's $207 billion third place finish followed by Microsoft, Chinese conglomerate Tencent, Facebook, Visa, McDonalds, Alibaba and AT&T. With the exception of AT&T, every company in the top ten saw its brand value rise by double digits over last year; Apple's value rose 28 percent since 2017.

The value of these brands are not the same as the value of the companies themselves. Apple, for instance, currently has a market cap of $926.75 billion, a number that's expected to reach $1 trillion at some point in the near future.

How to measure brands

The Brandz survey methodology is somewhat unorthodox. To assign a dollar amount to a corporation's brand, the firm calculates "brand equity" based on interviews of more than three million consumers. Financials also play a role in the formula, though how a company's balance sheet impacts brand equity is left unexplained.

"The BrandZ rankings are the only brand valuations in the world that take into account what people think about the brands they buy," the firm said.

Graph of the brands top ten


Another annual ranking from Interbrand has ranked Apple the most valuable brand in the world for the last five years, most recently last September. That study placed Google second, Microsoft third and Amazon fifth.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 31
    fallenjtfallenjt Posts: 4,054member
    April Fool came a little late...lol. Can’t believ pos Google phone is even worth to compare with iphone.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 31
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,877member
    Yea rite.
    cornchipwatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 31
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,727member
    Unorthodox method to calculate and totally meaningless to boot.
    gregg thurmanzeus423stourquejony0watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 31
    DoomFreakDoomFreak Posts: 19unconfirmed, member
    I have had a G logo on my phone when I bought a top of the line Google phone (Pixel 2 XL).  I would much rather have an Apple logo now.  So, if you ask me, Apple easily wins in brand value.  I spent top dollar and got junk with Google.  I know that anything bearing an Apple logo is always the highest quality.  ... Why I will be switching to Apple.

    mwhiteolswatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 31
    hammeroftruthhammeroftruth Posts: 1,309member
    When you count selling customer's personal data, that number is right. 
    MacProzeus423perpetual3jony0watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 31
    Who cares?  The value of the brand is only important when the Company is sold. Besides this is a completely subjective calculation. 
    olsstourquejony0
  • Reply 7 of 31
    d_2d_2 Posts: 118member
    ... and the same survey has Microsoft ranked 4th ... enough said.
  • Reply 8 of 31
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    No survey was completed. Google Assistant just listed to millions of conversations. 
    zeus423cornchipjony0watto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 31
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,093member
    Absolutely irrelevant, and questionable.

    Google is a service.  Nothing more.  That service has to run on a platform.  Be it iOS, Android, MacOS, Windows, etc... for most people, it's a search box or Map.  Nothing more.  The device they're using is what people identify with, and it's an iPhone, PC, etc...  Google is nothing without the device.

    Google does do a lot more in the background in terms of collecting information about users and selling them out to 3rd-party people.  Most people have zero clue how any of that works so I question exactly how this #1 brand recognition was truly decided.  I'm sure it's #1 for marketers for sure.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 31
    nunzynunzy Posts: 662member
    This is just foolishness. No way are they worth more than Apple. Everybody knows that.
  • Reply 11 of 31
    nunzynunzy Posts: 662member
    DoomFreak said:
    I have had a G logo on my phone when I bought a top of the line Google phone (Pixel 2 XL).  I would much rather have an Apple logo now.  So, if you ask me, Apple easily wins in brand value.  I spent top dollar and got junk with Google.  I know that anything bearing an Apple logo is always the highest quality.  ... Why I will be switching to Apple.

    You will feel better about yourself after you switch.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 31
    cornchipcornchip Posts: 1,949member
    BrandWho?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 31
    AF_HittAF_Hitt Posts: 143member
    sflocal said:
    Google does do a lot more in the background in terms of collecting information about users and selling them out to 3rd-party people.
    You seem to be pretty uneducated too. Google sells ad-space, which they can charge a premium for because they hold all the data. Why on earth would Google then sell that data to any third parties? Ask any advertiser that works with google, they receive very generic, anonymous information about their ad targets, and Google does the rest. He’s, they collect data, but they are one of the most responsible companies with that data that’s out there.
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 14 of 31
    Ahh, who cares? Data-harvesting companies are the most profitable and most valuable companies on the planet. Wall Street loves big data and so do big investors. It's all free profits. The consumer is the product. There's an endless amount of product because humans breed rather quickly. Because Google can't be regulated, they're basically free to do whatever they want with consumers' personal data to turn those massive profits. So, if Google branding is worth more than Apple, it comes as no surprise. There are far more people on the planet that use Google services than Apple products, so maybe Google is that much more important to consumers. But in the end, what really does any of that matter. It's not like Apple is hurting by being in second place.
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 15 of 31
    mattinozmattinoz Posts: 2,316member
    Ahh, who cares? Data-harvesting companies are the most profitable and most valuable companies on the planet. Wall Street loves big data and so do big investors. It's all free profits. The consumer is the product. There's an endless amount of product because humans breed rather quickly. Because Google can't be regulated, they're basically free to do whatever they want with consumers' personal data to turn those massive profits. So, if Google branding is worth more than Apple, it comes as no surprise. There are far more people on the planet that use Google services than Apple products, so maybe Google is that much more important to consumers. But in the end, what really does any of that matter. It's not like Apple is hurting by being in second place.
    Then again a company that produces nothing but access to eyes has no value without brand value. We've seen it before with TV stations.
    Companies that produce things have more inertia they can have dud and it will knock them back but not knock them out.

    So I'd have to agree with the article. Google as a brand is worth more than Apple as a brand. Now as a company different story.
    edited May 2018
  • Reply 16 of 31
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    AF_Hitt said:
    sflocal said:
    Google does do a lot more in the background in terms of collecting information about users and selling them out to 3rd-party people.
    You seem to be pretty uneducated too. Google sells ad-space, which they can charge a premium for because they hold all the data. Why on earth would Google then sell that data to any third parties? Ask any advertiser that works with google, they receive very generic, anonymous information about their ad targets, and Google does the rest. He’s, they collect data, but they are one of the most responsible companies with that data that’s out there.
    Reading people’s documents then mistakenly preventing them from accessing them doesn’t sound all that responsible to me. 

    https://www.tomshardware.com/news/google-docs-flagging-user-content,35808.html

    https://leviathanlibertytimesblog.com/2017/11/24/google-docs-glitch-exposes-problem-with-online-cloud-applications/


    And they could perhaps be a bit more responsible with other people’s copyrighted material:

    https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/24/17388140/google-selfish-ledger-copyright-philip-bloom

    edited May 2018 watto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 31
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    Storm in a latte glass (reference updated for millenials)

    If I put my mind to it then I’m sure I could come up with a proprietary algorithm that proves Theranos is the world’s most valuable brand. 
    edited May 2018 watto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 31
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,842moderator
    We should all feel good that Google took the top spot.  After after, when it comes to Google, we are the brand.  

    (It’s a joke.  Don’t write me emails.)
    - Jay Leno impersonation
    Rayz2016watto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 31
    We should all feel good that Google took the top spot.  After after, when it comes to Google, we are the brand.  

    (It’s a joke.  Don’t write me emails.)
    - Jay Leno impersonation
    Lol. How much percentage of people in Apple's ecosystem use "Google Search", "Google Maps" (not US, but rest of the world) and Youtube? Why is Apple getting huge amount of money from Google for keeping it as default search if Google is NOT a trustable company? If Apple has no problem "trusting" Google while doing business with them, why AI forum members alone have a problem with Google? Google is a "business partner" for Apple, NOT an enemy. Ditto Samsung, LG, Sony.
    edited May 2018
  • Reply 20 of 31
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,213member
    EDIT: Not worth discussing
    edited May 2018
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