Apple Computer, Inc. stole the top rank or number one position from Google, Inc. on BrandChannel.com’s annual brand survey this year.

The Reader’s Choice Awards 2004 on the survey by marketing professionals globally made Apple the top choice instead of Google. Google had held the number one position for two consecutive years in the past due to its IPO and GMail announcements.

InterBrand, parent company of BrandChannel.com released its annual report on brand recognization, which said that although Apple managed to get the top most position, it doesn’t make it more recognizable in the market. Robin Rusch, the analyst who worked on the report, informed that many voters associated Apple’s name with iPod rather than the company itself.

Undoubtedly, iPod has created a name for itself in the market and is now synonymous to portable digital audio and media players. In fact, its popularity skyrocketed so much in the market that Apple is having a tough time producing enough iPods to fulfill the demand. It sold 4.58 million units of the aforementioned player in the last quarter of 2004.

After Apple and Google’s first and second position ranks, Ikea, a furniture maker topped out at third place, Starbucks grabbed the fourth spot, and Al Jazeera swiped the fifth position due to its unbiased and accurate reporting on War on Terrorism and activities in Afghanistan and Iraq.

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