Being voted the best employer year after year sounds like a very good reason to me.

I have also applied several times for positions at Google and never heard back from anybody. A friend of mine who recently interviewed there(and did not get the job) told me that they use the company's name as a tactic not to pay the salary that the people deserve. Also the fact that he had to interview and impress 4 different people in one day makes it seem like you are applying for executive post, which he wasn't.

I've also heard this from multiple sources about pay and name.

They have a page buried in their website which tells you what to include and exclude on your CV. I think their "info@" job email is a black box to begin with - but if you have something that shouldn't be there (ex birth date), key words get picked up and it def would then go to no mans land. I had a referral from a senior IT guy who's worked there for years and it didn't get me anywhere

I see. My guess for its ranking is that there are a lot of not fully grown men who like to spend their time playing with toys and enjoy the google oh-so-smart working environment. Furthermore, those are the sort of people who enjoy going around with the google T-shirt, oh yeah...those are the voters!