Mountain View (CA) - For the third year in a row, Google has been named the "most powerful brand in the world" by market research firm Millward Brown Optimor.

According to the firm, the brand value of Google is $86.1 billion, surpassing the next one on the list, GE, by nearly $15 billion.

"Strong brands continue to outperform weak ones in terms of market share and share price during recessions," said Millward Brown Optimor CEO Joanna Sedon.

As the second most powerful brand, GE had a reported value of $71.4 billion.  Microsoft came in third at $70.9 billion, and Coca-Cola was fourth at $58.2 billion.  Rounding out the top five was China Mobile with a value of $57.2 billion.

The rest of the top 10 were, in order, IBM, Apple, McDonald's, Nokia, and Marlboro.  The only European brand in the list is Nokia, and the only other non-US brand is China Mobile.

Millward Brown Optimor added that the technology sector as a whole was the strongest sector, accounting for 28 of all the brands on the top 100 list.