According to a recent polling of 30,000 Americans by Harrison Interactive, Google has the best reputation among 60 well-known companies. This poll occurs once per year, and consists of several dimensions which Harris Interactive compiles into a single score (1-100, with a higher score being more reputable). Over the course of the last year, Google (#3 last year) has not always enjoyed positive press, as it was investigated by the EU for antitrust violations, and had privacy complaint filed by the FTC on their Buzz social networking platform.
Other companies in this list were Apple (#5, up from #12), Amazon (#8, up from #9), Microsoft (#16, down from #7), and Intel (holding steady at #6). Facebook, new to the survey this year, ranked at #31. US Wireless Carriers Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint were ranked #39, #41 and #48 respectively. BP, unsurprisingly is #59 on the list, following the wake of last year"s gulf oil spill from the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon. Last on the list is AIG, which has been in the legal doghouse for the last several years with allegations of fraud.
While reading these results, it"s important to take note that the broader US population may have a different opinion than the (US and worldwide) tech-savvy population. The complete list of company ranking can be found here, courtesy of www.businessinsider.com.