The Google Giant
Hotline executive editor John Mercurio writes:
A decade ago, Google took over the World Wide Web. Now, the Internet behemoth wants to conquer something even bigger -- Washington.While President Obama already has CEO Eric Schmidt on speed dial, the California-based search giant is moving quickly to expand its influence in the capital in ways that are starting to bear fruit. Google increased the money it spends on lobbying in the first quarter by 57 percent over the previous year, paying $1.4 million to influence lawmakers and regulators, according to Consumer Watchdog, a nonpartisan, nonprofit public interest group that has been critical of Google's activities.
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Google has dramatically expanded its D.C. staff and government affairs operations. In 2009, the computer and Internet industry employed the third-most lobbyists of any industry -- only the pharmaceutical and education industries had more, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Industry lobbyists outnumber members of Congress more than 2-to-1.
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Campaign finance experts said Google's activities represent the "next wave" of the computer industry's inevitable arrival as a Washington power player. "The computer industry, by virtue of its personality, has always wanted to keep Washington at arm's length," Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, told me this week. "They've found they can't, so they have jumped in."Google's increased investment appears to be paying dividends. Over the past few years, Google has prevailed on issues like net neutrality, hacking and Chinese Internet privacy. Just this month, after initially raising doubts about Google's $750 million purchase of AdMob, a mobile advertising start-up, the Federal Trade Commission approved the deal.
And on Tuesday, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., chairwoman of the Senate small business committee, stood alongside Google execs as they released a report estimating that they helped generate $54 billion in economic activities for U.S. businesses last year.
"These businesses are growing, and Google is thrilled to play a role," said Claire Hughes Johnson, Google vice president of global online sales.
Read the whole column here.
