Top 50 rank: 2
Google's the second-most admired company overall, after Apple.
One big reason why: The search giant seems to always be innovating. Hunting for a recipe? Google will let you customize and filter search results to show only the ingredients you have. Afraid you'll send an embarrassing email when drunk? Gmail offers "Mail Goggles" -- math problems you have to solve that should keep you from hitting send while impaired.
NEXT: Amazon.com
Last updated March 08 2011: 6:02 AM ET