I've never heard of The Consumerist until I read an article about a competition they are running in my local paper. The competition is Worst Company in America 2008. The past two winners are RIAA and Halliburton. Currently they stand at the "Elite 8" portion of the contest. The companies that remain are: Comcast, Exxon, Diebold, CapitalOne, American Airlines, Bank of America, and Countrywide.

I took a look at how they came up with the original list and it was by popular vote on the website. Personnally, I would like to see some sort of criteria for the selection, but I guess that is the point the website - populist consumer feedback. But since the method for qualification isn't stated then there appears to be a damned if you do and damned if you don't situation. I guess the main component is the reach. All these companies span the entire US.