According to market research firm Millward Brown, Google is the number one global brand for two years running.
The following spots were held by GE, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, and China Mobile. The measure supposedly values the brand, through financial analysis. While I have a number of doubts about the feasibility of this, I want to comment on the implication of the world's most valuable brand being primarily associated with an internet search, and now to some degree internet advertising product.
The question I want to raise is how developed people's conception of the brand is. I wonder if people know much about why google is good, how it works, what other products they have, etc., or if they simply just use it to search because it is the best. I would compare this to Coke, and suggest there is probably a much more deep and pervasive global brand effect. I think as the internet develops, it is possible that multiple search providers could emerge with stronger technologies and/or different approaches. I also think it is possible that internet search could become commodified.
While Google is in an amazing position, I also think their success could be there downfall. In some sense, they are wedded to their current model, i.e. simple interface, search based primarily on linking algorithms. If you look at another engine like ask.com, the interface is clearly superior. For example, you can have custom skins and it groups media types of information better. Perhaps, in the long-run, google search may be licensed out to a series of different front-end application providers.
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