We are halfway through 2013 and market research firm YouGove BrandIndex has released its semi-annual report on the top 10 best-perceive brands in the United States. Much to everyone’s surprise, a number of popular brands like Coca-Cola, Apple, and Google are out on the favorite brands list.

The company behind the iconic iPhone has been out of the top 10 list since the second half of 2012, while Google held on to 10th place that same time. This is despite Apple’s generally satisfied customers and Google’s lead in mobile and web search markets. YouTube, which is owned by Google is on the current favorite brands list at no. 8.

Meanwhile, Amazon is able to snag two spots on the list: one for the online retail service at no.2, the other for its Kindle brand of e-book readers and tablets at no. 9.

YouGov BrandIndex conducts consumer perception studies on a daily basis, interviewing 5,000 people across the US from Monday to Friday, resulting in over 1.2 million interviews annually. The brands were measured using the firm’s so-called “Buzz” score, wherein respondents answer to this question: “If you’ve heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative?”

The resulting scores range from -100 to 100, wherein negative feedback subtracts the positive. For instance, a score of zero means that a particular brand received an equal amount of positive and negative perception.

Automaker Ford leads the recent favorite brands list. Also on the list are the History Channel, Lowe’s, Walgreens, V8, and Subway.

Business Insider Australia