While the BBC has had its problems in the last year the BBC iPlayer has gone from strength to strength and been named as YouGov’s top-ranked brand for 2012 in its BrandIndex Buzz Rankings.

In the Rankings, which compare BrandIndex Buzz scores for over 850 brands in 34 categories, saw BBC iPlayer push overtake Amazon and M&S for the first time.

The BBC iPlayer has achieved its rise against a back drop of some real highs and lows for the overall BBC brand over the last 12 months. The BBC won praise for its coverage of the Royal Wedding and received quite the opposite for its reporting of the Jubilee Pageant for which it was lambasted in the press.

For the BBC’s TV on demand service there have been no such problems. It has been praised for its positive and engaging user experience and it recently added non-BBC content to its on-demand catch-up TV service, as well as becoming available on the Xbox, in a move dubbed ‘Partner Linking’ with six new videos on demand services are now accessible through the iPlayer portal.

While Amazon dropped to second place, in terms of Buzz ranking, it continues to dominate the BrandIndex rankings, according to YouGov.

Marks & Spencer despite its own problems, with a management shake-up planned as sales fall, still manages a very decent third place, but its challenge clearly lies ahead.

In fourth is MoneySavingExpert.com, which founder Martin Lewis recently sold to MoneySupermarket.com for £87m, is praised for continuing to lead the way in the growing trend of DIY finance.

Three more technology brands round out YouGov’s top ten led by Apple, Samsung and Google.

Apple is there for many reasons not least that loyalty amongst iPhone owners is three times as high as its nearest competitor and recommendation for iPads mean that no other tablet can get close.

However, like any market leader, how long can Apple lead in markets of intense competition, and can Apple TV take off?

Samsung has entered the top 10 for the first time on the back of the rising popularity of its Galaxy devices after years of trailing competitors.

As for Google it is still hanging in at number but has suffered a drop in rank that indicates that consumer perception of the brand is starting to wane.

No surprise really. 2012 has not been a great year for the tech giant with its privacy issues and the lukewarm reception of Google+, which has yet to register with many UK consumers.

UK Top Ten Buzz Improvers