Google is Britain's favourite brand, a new report claims.

It is the first time the search engine giant has featured in Millward Brown's poll of Britain's top ten brands.

Account director Peter Walshe said: "Google has been propelled to the top position because of its ubiquitous presence, the strength of its brand, the amount of coverage it generates in all media and its strong usage among all age groups."

In statistics from Nielsen Media Research, Google spent £1.4 million on advertising in Britain during 2006, compared to second-place Microsoft who spent £40 million, reports the Guardian,

McDonalds, Tesco and Nokia also featured in the top five.

Google also claimed the top spot in another Millward Brown poll featuring brands who have seen the fastest growth in popularity over the past 12 months.

Retailer Marks and Spencer and social networking website MySpace were also highlighted as increasingly popular brands.

Google claims to be the most popular search engine in Germany, France and Australia, as well as Britain.