Google is the world's most powerful brand, according to a survey released Monday by international consulting firm Millward Brown.

Google ranks as the top brand with a value of $66.4 billion US — calculated by estimating the sum of all earnings that the brand is expected to generate.

General Electric was ranked second with a value of nearly $61.8 billion US and Microsoft was third at $55 billion US. Coca-Cola was fourth, at $44.1 billion US.

Millward Brown published the rankings of 100 international companies — ranging from those selling coffee and credit cards to fast foods and financial institutions — in co-operation with the Financial Times.

According to its researchers, the value of those companies rose by 10.6 per cent in one year from $1.44 trillion US in 2006 to $1.6 trillion US in 2007.

"A lot can change in world business over 12 months, and this year's brand rankings are testimony to that with Google taking pole position as the world's most powerful brand," Simon Target, editor of the Financial Times supplement that published the findings, said in a news release.