Amazon beats Google as the world’s most valuable company

Amazon is now the world’s most valuable brand, after beating Google and Apple for the first time in more than a decade, according to the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands rankings, released today by WPP and Kantar Millward Brown.

The ecommerce giant has increased its brand value by 52% year on year to reach $315.5bn (£248bn), moving it ahead of Apple in second place, whose brand value increased by 3% to $309.5bn, followed by Google, whose brand value grew 2% to $309bn. 

BrandZ credited Amazon’s performance to “smart acquisitions that brought new revenue streams, outstanding customer service and its ability to stay ahead of competitors by offering a diverse ‘ecosystem’ of products and services”.

Three UK brands made it into the top 100. The highest-placed was Vodafone at number 49, followed by HSBC at 56th and Shell at 65th.

Instagram is the fastest riser, climbing 47 places from 91st last year to 44th in 2019, recording a 95% growth in brand value. Netflix and Uber also performed well, with the former growing by 65% in brand value to reach 34th, while the taxi app’s brand value increased by 51% to reach 53rd from 81st in 2018.