A combination of brand recognition and financial performance gave Google the top spot in a list of global brand determined by Millward Brown, a research firm owned by international ad giant WPP Group. Google took the same number one spot last year.

The Guardian listed GE, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, and China Mobile as the next four valuable brands. Millward Brown composes the annual list as part of its BrandZ research. These top five were the same as last year’s group.

“Google’s rank has been driven by fantastic financial performance and equity value,” said Peter Walshe, the global account director at Millward Brown, said in the report. Google’s brand has been estimated at a value of $86 billion.

Unlike its fellow American brands, Google’s promotional advertising barely exists. Though the company will target the occasional niche to promote its major cash cow, AdWords, or a related service like Google Analytics, Google hasn’t needed an ad blitz to reach an audience.

With GE, Microsoft, and Coke spending millions on ads, Google gained its dominant edge essentially through word of mouth, carried along the Internet to person after person. The result speaks to the power of being able to accomplish something, in this case web search, in an effective and direct manner, better than the competition.