Yes, Hugo, companies pay to advertise, you know that, right? This is exactly the same as something like Best Lawyers, it neither means, nor implies anything.
No, that is not obvious at all. Please provide proof of your allegation. While you are at it, tell us how many of the 100 companies on the list paid.
"Can't believe how gullible people can be."
Gullibility is when someone believes something that someone else says even though there is no proof presented to back up the statement. So, it would take a gullible person to believe what YOU claim.
The least you could have done when trying to present a non proven allegation as an absolute fact is to insert your usual IMHO.