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The study, which was conducted by Immediate Future, measured the frequency of positive and negative mentions of major global brands on blogs, social networking, photo and video sharing websites and compared the results against the Interbrand Top 100 Global Brands report in 2006.

Google was found to be the most positively discussed community brand in social media, followed by Yahoo! in second place and Apple in third. Also featuring in the social media top 10 were Microsoft in fourth, Canon in fifth and Sony in sixth place.

Immediate Future's Brands in Social Media found that only two entries from the Interbrand Top 10 featured in the top 10 of its own study -- Microsoft and Disney. The company said the results showed that only 36% of the top 25 2006 Interbrand's featured in its own study.

Other brands that made the top 10 but might have expected to feature higher up were Disney, which was rated eighth, and McDonald's, which came ninth.

Katy Howell, managing director of Immediate Future, said: "Social media and consumer participation are growing at lightening speed. Conversations about brands are unfiltered, unchecked and outside the control of marketers. Brands are being discussed, applauded and criticised across the web."

The study, which was undertaken in April 2007, monitored the performance of companies in the Interbrand Top 100 Global Brands 2006 report, and was devised to create a snapshot of the most talked about brands and services on social media websites.

The top 10 brands in social media were:

1. Google
2. Yahoo!
3. Apple
4. Microsoft
5. Canon
6. Sony
7. Dell
8. eBay
9. Disney
10. Ford

The top 10 Interbrands in 2006 were:

1. Coca-Cola
2. Microsoft
3. IBM
4. GE
5. Intel
6. Nokia
7. Toyota
8. Disney
9. McDonald's
10. Mercedes