Google retains place as top brand

For the third year in a row, Google has retained its spot as the world’s most valuable brand in a top 100 list that reveals the ever-growing power of technology companies. According to the study, from market research firm Millward Brown Optimor, the search engine giant's marquee is now worth more than $86.1 billion, up 30% from the previous year.

The first runner-up is General Electric being valued at $71.4 billion, followed by Microsoft, Coca Cola and China Mobile. While Google gets most of the attention, the two biggest gains of the year are Apple, up 123 percent to $55 billion, and Blackberry, up a massive 390 per cent to $13.7 billion. All in all, the big winner here appears to be the technology sector, with 28 of the top 100 spots and a brand value growth of $187.5 billion. Check out the full list here.