• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, August 2, 2012

The jury’s still out on Google+ and Google’s various gadgets, but the search giant’s overall brand value bested any other in the second quarter of the year, according to new data from General Sentiment.
 
Reclaiming the top spot from Apple, the Google brand generated $756 million in “impact media value,” the analytics firm found.
 
“New and improved products propelled Google to No. 1 this quarter,” said Ari Kahn, CEO of General Sentiment.
 
By contrast, Apple’s brand generated $594 million in impact media value -- followed by Microsoft ($356M), Amazon.com ($331M) and Hewlett-Packard ($258M).
 
“The technology sector continues to dominate the Impact Media Value list, claiming eight of the 10 top spots,” according to Kahn. In what might come as a surprise to some, Kahn said Apple’s slip was largely due to “negative buzz surrounding Siri’s shortcomings.”
 
Samsung, Sony, Disney, FedEx and Yahoo rounded out the top 10.
 
Regarding “perception media value” -- which measures a brand with a focus on the quality of the exposure created -- Kahn said it is the consumer and financial services companies that are making the most significant impressions. Big brand winners in this category included AXA, Ball Corporation, FedEx, Progress Energy and Mattel.
 
During the quarter, perception media value losers included ACE Group, Avery Dennison, AmerisourceBergen, Amphenol and University of Phoenix.
 
The University of Phoenix took hits as President Barack Obama signed an executive order to protect veterans from the aggressive and deceptive recruiting tactics employed by higher education institutions, such as this.
 
JPMorgan Chase amassed the most negative perception media value total on the list.
 
To arrive at media values, General Sentiment measures the purchase equivalent value of a brand's exposure, as determined by the sentiment, frequency and exposure of news mentions and social dialogue. Brands are then ranked using two metrics developed by General Sentiment to generate top 10 rankings in three categories, including brand impact: biggest winners and biggest losers.