Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) received the most media attention in 2013, according to an infographic by Dow Jones. Rival Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was the close second. While the search engine giant received 123,769 media mentions through the year, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) had 120,451 mentions. According to the infographic, Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) received consistent media attention throughout the year. But its best month was May when the company held its I/O developers conference.
The top three: Google, Apple, Microsoft
In contrast, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) received the most mentions in September. That’s the month the Cupertino-based company launched the iPhone 5S and 5C, and released iOS 7. Once again, Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) came in third with 84,174 mentions, followed by Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC), which received 70,785 mentions. Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s best month was June, when it launched the upgraded Windows 8.1 OS. Steve Ballmer’s announcement to quit the top job at the software giant also garnered it some media attention.
Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA) was the fifth most talked about company with 61,800 mentions. Another banking giant Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) came in sixth with 59,276 mentions. The other four companies among the top ten were BP Plc (NYSE:BP) (LON:BP) with 53,231 mentions, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) with 51,174 media mentions, Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE:DB) (ETR:DBK) with 50,069 mentions and International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) with 48,734 mentions.
Google’s top position no surprise
Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) topping the list is no surprise. The Mountain View, California-based company has beaten Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) three times in the past five years. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) edged out Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in 2011 when Steve Jobs died, and 2012 when it was widely criticized for poor working conditions in Chinese iPhone and iPad manufacturing factories.
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) received the most media attention in 2013 mainly due to its crazy X-lab projects. Google Glass was one of the biggest talks of the year. Its self-driving car also fetched a lot of media attention.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares fell 0.29% on December 24 to close at 1,111.84. The stock has surged a whopping 57% this year so far.