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Google still best company to work for, says Fortune

The search giant retains its top perch in the latest rankings. So what makes Google special?

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Lance Whitney Contributing Writer
Lance Whitney is a freelance technology writer and trainer and a former IT professional. He's written for Time, CNET, PCMag, and several other publications. He's the author of two tech books--one on Windows and another on LinkedIn.
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Lance Whitney
One of the cafes at the Googleplex, where employees can get free meals.
One of the cafes at the Googleplex, where employees can get free meals. James Martin/CNET

Google is once again the best company to work for in the United States, at least according to Fortune.

The magazine's 2014 list of its 100 favorite employers placed Google on top for the third year in a row after leaping ahead of software developer SAS in 2012. The companies are ranked based on how they treat their employees. Fortune revealed a few reasons why Google continues to be No. 1:

Google's stock climbed past $1,000 in 2013 -- a boon for Googlers, all of whom are stockholders. CEO Larry Page urged them to be "audacious," especially in philanthropy. Google donates $50 for every five hours an employee volunteers. Last year a new program sent employees to Ghana and India to work on community projects.

Former top dog SAS found itself in second place, cited by Fortune for its onsite health facilities. The company's health center boasts 53 medical professionals, including three doctors, 11 nurse practitioners, a psychologist, and 3 physical therapists.

Other tech players who made the top ten include Salesforce.com at No. 7 and Intuit at No. 8. Further down the list of 100 were Ultimate Software, a designer of HR and payroll software designer; Rackspace Hosting; Qualcomm; and NetApp.

Among some of the best-known tech players, Cisco was No. 55, Adobe was No. 83, Intel No. 84, and Microsoft No. 86.