Sending lobbyists to represent your issues to the U.S. Government has long been seen as a part of the status quo, but it’s never been very kindly looked upon. Increasing lobbyist spending is usually an indicator that the company is pushing for something morally, or at least politically, gray. As such, more than a few eyelids are raised as Google, the “don’t be evil” company, shows a dramatic lobbyist push.
A report takes a look at the figures for lobbyist spending from Google, which tallied to $1.24 million in the fourth quarter of last year alone, and $5.16 million total throughout the year. This is a $1.16 million increase from the year prior, which translates into a 29% increase. The first half of the year saw the greatest lobbying pushes, at $1.38 million and $1.34 million for the first and second quarter, respectively.
Of course, the presentation from Google has been done in a manner designed for the best PR impact, and the line has long been about “openness and competition in the online services market.” However, despite some notable contributions to renewable energy, freedom of expression, and so on, much of Google’s push has been clearly biased to its own efforts.
One excellent example is the Google ITA acquisition, a $700 million purchase which would put several competitor services directly in Google’s hands, allowing the company to interfere with competitors on a whim. Here, Google discussed free trade. However, in other efforts throughout the year, they had cited the same values that competitors pushed against the ITA deal: fair competition. The ITA deal looks like it will fall through, but some of Google’s efforts have been successful. For example, they managed to get their way with the net neutrality laws passed last year, creating a ruling that favored Google’s Android platform
