Google Everywhere

From The Age

Google has knocked Microsoft from its perch as the world's top-ranked brand, according to findings released on Monday.

The rankings, compiled by market research firm Millward Brown, also put Google ahead of well-established brands like General Electric, No. 2; Coca-Cola, No. 4; Wal-Mart Stores, No. 7; and IBM, No. 9.

Some key factors seen this year in building brand recognition ranged from corporate responsibility to serving customers in emerging markets like Brazil and India, according to the study.

For Google, which ranked No. 7 a year ago, the jump to the top underscores how quickly the web search leader has become an everyday name. The company uses relatively little advertising, instead relying on word-of-mouth promotion.

By contrast, Microsoft's slide down to third place from first comes even as the software company has been rolling out its new Windows Vista operating system with a massive global marketing blitz.

Eileen Campbell, global chief executive of Millward Brown, said the rankings showed "a blend of good business leadership, responsible financial management and powerful marketing ... can be leveraged to create and grow corporate wealth."

I can remember living in Seattle in the mid 1980s and meeting people at parties who worked for Microsoft, "a company that made programmes that allowed people to type documents on a computer" and that almost nobody had heard of. How things change.

Google, with a corporate motto "Don't be Evil" has gone from a no name to a verb (we are all googling after all) in less than 5 years. Pretty impressive. All the more impressive since less than 20 percent of the world population have access to the internet, based on somewhat imprecise estimates.

Searching on Wikipedia, I found that I was at the University of Maryland College Park at the same time that co founder Sergei Brin was getting his undergraduate degree in the early 1990s. Lives diverge.