Google Founders Brin and Page, Google CEO Schmidt image:25769:1::0

The Harris Interactive Poll selected 60 companies and asked 7,105 Americans last July and August to name two corporations that they consider have either very positive or very negative reputations. Then Harris asked 20,477 respondents to rate the 60 companies on 20 attributes including emotional appeal, the quality of their products and social responsibility.

The results for the Harris Interactive Reputation Quotient poll showed Google had the highest scores and the best reputation in the business world of America. Also, Google was ranked No. 1 Best Place to Work in America early this year and is famous for the many perks it gives to Googlers (Google Employees). We can see the correlation between the two: Reputation with customers and the best place to work.

Robert Fronk, senior vice president at Rochester, New York-based Harris told Forbes.com:

"The ratings they get focus on how they treat their employees, their workplace environment...They absolutely get tremendous credit for the social responsibility, which for them is also linked with their vision and leadership."

While Google was No. 1, its rival Microsoft, the previous No. 1 fell to 10th place this year.

The U.S. airline industry also suffered big and had the lowest reputation scores. Main reasons were the airline industry has cut employee pay, increasing ticket prices and adding fees for previously free services such as meals and packed bags. Fronk added the airline industry treated both the public and its employees unfairly and that led to poor scores.

The top ten in this Harris Interactive Poll are:

1. Google
2. Johnson & Johnson
3. Intel Corp
4. General Mills Inc
5. Kraft Foods Inc
6. Berkshire Hathaway Inc
7. 3M
8. Coca-Cola Co
9. Honda Motor Co.
10. Microsoft

On the negative side, companies with the worst reputations were Halliburton Co., Venezuala's Citgo, Northwest Airlines, Exxon Mobil Corp. and cable company Comcast.

The survey also found that 51 per cent of respondents believed corporate America's reputation is deteriorating.

You can see the full results of the Harris study here.