• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, October 16, 2012

Overtaking Google and Apple, Facebook’s overall brand value bested any other in the third quarter of the year, according to new data from General Sentiment.

Although it may not be reflected in its stock price, the Facebook brand generated $751 million in “impact media value,” the analytics firm found.
 
“This quarter, we have seen major movement in the list,” Pete Moran, General Sentiment’s recently appointed CEO, said Tuesday. “Facebook usurped the top spot, and the technology leaders that have historically dominated the list -- Apple, Google, Amazon.com, Microsoft -- have slipped.”
 
Months after its IPO, the social networking service is still at the forefront of many minds, according to Moran.
 
In mid-September, the company’s stock saw a boost after CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave his first interview since Facebook went public. However, Barron’s deemed its stock “still too pricey” near the end of the quarter.
 
After Facebook, Apple out-branded Google, with $657 million versus $547 million in value.
 
Remarkably, MTV rose eleven spots to No. 4 with $536 million of impact media value. “It just goes to show you how powerful social is in the TV industry,” Moran said of MTV’s rise.    
 
Slipping from fourth to fifth place, Amazon.com generated $238 million in brand value during the third quarter.
 
Based on “perception media value” -- which measures a brand with a focus on the quality of the exposure created -- Chevron lost traction this past quarter. In fact, its total fell more than 7,000% as a result of a major fire that devastated its refinery in Richmond, California.
 
Samsung, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Disney and Yahoo rounded out the top 10.
 
Samsung and Yahoo held tight at No. 6 and 10, respectively. However, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and Disney all slipped this quarter.
 
Perception media value “isolates the effects of sentiment on brand value by assigning positive value to positive mentions and negative value to negative mentions,” according to General Sentiment. “Perception Media Value measures a brand with a focus on the quality of the exposure created.”