Google is the worlds #1 Brand...

As a student of brands, the web, free tools, and marketing, I find it amazing and simultaneously not suprising that Google is the worlds #1 Brand, according to Millward Brown. They define the value of the brand as "Brand Value is the financial value of a brand, defined as the sum of all earnings that a brand is expected to generate." Even more remarkable, they are a brand that gives away much of their product. Read the full report - BrandZ-2008-Report.pdf (application/pdf Object)

I started thinking about the Google services I use frequently, and it's an impressive list (listed in rough order that I use them).

Gmail
Free

Blogger
Free (mostly, I pay to have the custom domain)

Bookmarks
Free

Notebook
Free

Calendar
Free

Search
Free

AdWords
Pays me

Google Maps (on the computer and my phone)
Free

Picassa
Free

Picassa Web Albums
Free

Google Talk
Free

Google Groups
Free

Google Documents
Free

Goog-411
Free

SketchUp
Free

YouTube
Free

Groups
Free



Something makes me think I'm missing a few. Impressive.

For a full list of available Google Products, click here.