Larry Page and Sergey Brin have another award to celebrate at the Googleplex: World's No. 1 brand. According to the third annual BrandZ™ Top 100 Most Powerful Brands report [pdf] released today by research company Millward Brown, the Internet company has a brand value of $86.1 million. The number was calculated using a complicated three-step process involving intangible earnings, brand contribution and something called a brand multiple. Long story short: the ubiquitous Google symbol's worth its virtual weight in gold. GE ($71.4 million), Microsoft ($70.8 million), Coca-Cola ($58.2 million) and China Mobile ($57.2 million) rounded out the top five.

Google's value jumped 30 percent from 2007 when it took the top spot [pdf] with a brand value of $66.4 million. In total, the value of the 100 companies increased 21 percent from $1.6 trillion to $1.94 trillion. As always, the rich get richer.