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Google loses ‘world’s favourite company’ title to Apple on a technicality

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Google last year took the title of world’s favorite company from Apple, but this year has lost out heavily – potentially on a technicality.

Each year, FutureBrand looks at the world’s 100 largest companies and asks 3,000 consumers and industry professionals to score them on a range of factors, and to explain how they feel about their preferred companies. However, with Google’s reorganization, only parent company Alphabet is big enough to make it onto the top 100 shortlist – as CNET notes, Google itself doesn’t qualify.

As for Alphabet, that only managed 21st place, likely due to not having the same brand awareness as Google. There was also more difficulty in attributing specific qualities to such a diverse company – as evidenced by the feelings respondents had toward the company …

While around a quarter of respondents said that they felt ‘close’ to Alphabet, almost as many felt indifferent. Just under 20% said they admired Alphabet, with a smaller number feeling passionate about it. Its two strongest attributes were said to be a sense of purpose and the quality of its people, nothing else really standing out.

Asked where they saw Alphabet now and in three years’ time, more than 60% said that the company was moving ahead, though a slightly smaller number thought that it would continue to do so. Around a third would buy from Alphabet, and 40% would work for the company.

The top three companies were all tech ones, with Microsoft and Samsung behind Apple. The top 10 are rounded out by Walt Disney, AbbVie, Facebook, Toyota, Amazon, Celgene and Gilead Sciences – some of the lesser-known names suggesting that industry professionals play a significant role in the rankings.

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