• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, June 8, 2016

Google took Apple's title as the world's most valuable brand in Millward Brown's BrandZ Top 100 Global 2016 survey, with Google increasing by 32% in brand value and Apple declining 8% in 2015.

Amazon led all brands in the growth of its value with 59%, followed by Starbucks at 49% and Facebook at 44% to round out the Top 5. 

This year's ranking shows that the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands are collectively worth nearly $3.4 trillion, up 133% since the report first launched in 2006. 

Google came in with a brand value globally of $229,198 million, up 32%, followed by Apple with $228,460 million -- down 8%. Microsoft came in at No. 3 with $121,824 million, up 5%; AT&T came in at $107,387 million, up 20%; and Facebook came in at $102,551 million, up 44%.

It's not clear whether Apple's disagreement with the FBI on privacy caused the company to lose favor among consumers, but the report does mention that "the tensions between the absolute protection of private information and legitimate needs to share it, was most clearly dramatized by the conflict between Apple and the U.S. government. Apple argued that inviolate encryption was necessary to protect its brand, as well as customers’ private data. The FBI recognized those needs but asserted that they were outweighed by law enforcement’s responsibility to protect public safety.

All of the North American brands rose in value except for Apple and IBM. Both declined, indicating how the pressures facing the technology category affect both business-to-consumer and business-to business brands.

Six of the 14 product categories included in the 2016 ranking declined in value compared with only two last year. One category remained flat. Of the seven categories that increased in value, only two grew by more than 10%. Apparel led by 14%; and fast food, 11%.

Two newcomers to the BrandZ Global Top 100 also grew substantially in value: JD.com, China’s second-largest e-commerce brand, rose 37%, and the business-to-business technology brand Adobe increased 41%.

North America drove the largest proportion of brand value, about 69%, followed by Asia. The North America Top 10 brands increased 10 percent in value, while the Asia Top 10 declined 8%.