Tech firms lead ranking of brands

New York

The "tech-ing" of Madison Avenue continues apace, according to the results of a closely followed annual report about how much brands are worth, as the brands of leading technology companies crowd the top ranks and increase substantially in value.

The 2014 edition of what is known as the Interbrand Best Global Brands report shows Apple in first place, as the world's most valuable brand, for a second straight year. Apple took the top spot last year from Coca-Cola, which fell to No 3. Coca-Cola remained in third place this year, and the No 2 brand last year, the technology powerhouse Google, kept that spot.