The 20 Most Valuable Brands In The World

For the first time since 2010, the tech giant was not ranked No.1 on branding research firm Millward Brown's annual list of the world's most valuable brands.

Apple was replaced on the list, known as the BrandZ Top 100, by fellow tech giant Google, which has impressed consumers around the world with its top-flight web properties and technological breakthroughs like Google Glass.

Millward Brown calculates the value of the brands it ranks by surveying more than 2 million consumers around the world and using their responses to figure out how much of a company's financial performance is due to its brand.

Google, which was ranked No.1 in the 2007 through 2010 BrandZ Top 100, toppled Apple again because its brand value grew 40% to $159 billion since the 2013 rankings were issued. Apple's fell 20% to $148 billion, leaving it ranked as the No. 2 most valuable brand.

It was a good year in general for tech companies, with the industry accounting for the top four most valuable brands and five of the top 15.

The other big winner was the apparel industry, which saw its top 10 most valuable brands grow in value by 29%.

However, none of those brands cracked the top 20, with Nike leading the way at No. 34.