Google, Apple Reputations Crater in Annual Survey of Corporate Brands

Google parent company Alphabet and Apple have both suffered big hits to their reputations according to an annual survey of corporate brands.

Reuters reports that Alphabet and Apple both saw significant drops in their reputation following the release of the annual Harris Poll Reputation Quotient poll relating to the public perception of corporate brands. E-commerce giant Amazon continued to hold the top spot on the list for the third year running while electric car manufacturer Tesla jumped higher on the list, most likely due to their recent PR stunt in which they launched a Tesla Roadster into space.

Apple previously held the fifth position on the list, but has dropped to 29th, while Google dropped from eighth on the list to 28th. The survey has been recorded annually since 1999, the most recent survey questioned 25,800 U.S. adults from December 11 to January 12 about the reputation of the “most visible” corporate brands. The CEO of Harris Insights & Analytics, John Gerzema, explained that one of the reasons that these major tech brands may have fallen so drastically is due to their failure to introduce innovative new products.

“Google and Apple, at this moment, are sort of in valleys,” Gerzema said.“We’re not quite to self-driving cars yet. We’re not yet seeing all the things in artificial intelligence they’re going to do.” Amazon retained their number one position likely through their growing visibility in consumers lives thanks to their move into grocery shopping via their acquisition of Whole Foods, said Gerzema.

Tesla climbed from the ninth spot on the survey to the third, likely due to their recent publicity stunts such as launching a sports car into space on a SpaceX shuttle. “He’s a modern-day carnival barker — it’s incredible,” Gerzema said of Tesla CEO Elon Musk.“This‘The Right Stuff’ attitude is able to capture the public’s imagination when every news headline is incredibly negative. They’re filling a void of optimism.”

The top ten companies on the list were:

1. Amazon.com

2. Wegmans Food Markets

3. Tesla Motors