Google has stormed an annual poll measuring public reputations and perceptions of the "most valuable" companies in US corporate culture.

The sprawling provider of search and Web 2.0 infrastructure services came third out of 60 household names in Harris Interactive's annual Reputation Quotation. This is the first time in its seven-year history that Google made Harris' poll.

In a tribute to the growing importance placed on search by US internet users, or possibly the growing chatter in the media and on Wall St concerning the subject of search, Google was the highest placed tech company.

Google's aspiring search rival Microsoft, meanwhile, dropped a position to seventh, swapping places with Sony. Only blue chip giants Johnson & Johnson and the Coca-Cola Company beat Google, coming first and second respectively.

Elsewhere in the top 20, 3M Company came fifth, Intel tenth, Dell fifteenth, and IBM nineteenth.

Harris asked respondents to evaluate companies in the technology, airline, oil and energy, and retail sectors. Respondents assessed companies' products and services, financial performance, workplace environment, social responsibility, vision and leadership and emotional appeal. You can view the fill results for 2005 here. ®