BrandZ released its annual list of the Most Important Global Brands, revealing that Apple has surpassed Google as the Word's Most Valuable Brand. Louis Vuitton remains the most powerful luxury brand.

Apple gained an extraordinary 84% in brand value, which is now at $153,285 million over Google's $111, 498 - a 2% drop from 2010. IBM, McDonald's, and Microsoft round out the Top 5.

In the Luxury sector, Louis Vuitton came out on top again, this time with a 23% increase in brand value, and a rank of 26 in the world. Mercedes Benz ranks at 50 with an estimated value of $15,344 million, and Hermés ranks at 71, with a value of $11,917 million - a 41% increase from last year.

The BrandZ Top 100 Most Powerful Brands is calibrated by Milward Brown Optimor in conjunction with The Financial Times, Bloomberg, and Datamonitor.

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