Forbes magazine has ranked Google and Samsung as the second and the seventh most valuable brands in the world for 2018, respectively. The publication determined the value of the brands using the brand’s average revenue and income within the last three years, assets associated with the brand, and the impact of each brand to an entire industry. Forbes determined Google’s brand value at $132.1 billion, which is 30-percent higher compared to the estimated brand value of the Mountain Valley-based search giant of $101.8 billion last year and more than twice its brand value of $65.6 billion back in 2015. However, the search giant’s brand value is $50.7 billion lower compared to Apple, which the publication considers as the world’s most valuable brand. Forbes highlighted Google’s search business, which has a global market share of more than 80-percent. This market share has been consistently maintained by the tech firm despite the continuing efforts of competitors like Yahoo, Baidu, and Bing.
Meanwhile, the South Korean smartphone manufacturer Samsung moved up from the 10th spot in 2017 to the seventh place this year. The estimated brand value of the device maker also increased from $38.2 billion last year to $47.6 billion in 2018, which translates to an increase of 25-percent year-on-year. The last time that the device maker reached the seventh spot was back in 2015, with a valuation of $37 billion, although the company slipped to the 11th place by 2016. Forbes magazine noted that even though Samsung sells considerably more smartphones than Apple across the globe, the South Korean device maker holds a significantly smaller share of overall smartphone industry profits, which significantly impacted Samsung’s estimated brand value.
Forbes magazine further noted that the top five most valuable brands are all tech firms. The software giant Microsoft holds the third spot, with a brand value of $104.8 billion, while social media firm Facebook reached the fourth place this year with a valuation of $94.8 billion. Meanwhile, the fifth most valuable brand is the online retailer Amazon, which is worth $70.9 billion. Numerous tech firms also saw double-digit growth in brand value. The top brand value gainer is Netflix, which valuation went up by 35-percent, followed by Paypal, which brand value increased by 33-percent.