Google has surpassed Apple as the world's most valuable brand, according to the latest Brand Finance Global 500 report, per MarketWatch. Google, which hasn't been in the No. 1 spot since 2011, saw its brand value rise 24% to $109.5 billion in 2017 from $88.2 billion in 2016. Brand Finance cites its "unchallenged" search business as the leading source of its successful advertising income.
Meanwhile, Apple has slipped into the second spot with a 2017 brand value of $107.1 billion, down 27% from $145.9 billion in 2016. The report says that Apple has lost its "luster" and is now forced to compete on a higher playing field with a number of new Chinese brands.
"Put simply, Apple has over-exploited the goodwill of its customers, it has failed to generate significant revenues from newer products such as the Apple Watch and cannot demonstrate that genuinely innovative technologies are in the pipeline" wrote Brand Finance.
