Google Boosts Lobbying Spending Amid Probes

[marmar]

(Bloomberg) Google Inc. (GOOG), the subject of a Federal Trade Commission investigation, is following Microsoft Corp. in ratcheting up its lobbying.

Google spent $5.9 million from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, a 51 percent increase over the $3.9 million spent during the same period a year earlier, according to reports filed yesterday with the House and Senate.

Mountain View, California-based Google has doubled its lobbying spending in the last two years and this year began an expansion of its political action committee, which is used to give donations to candidates. Both of these developments come as the owner of the world’s most popular search engine faces scrutiny from both federal regulators and U.S. lawmakers.

The actions are similar to those taken by Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft, one of Google’s biggest competitors, after it faced a Justice Department antitrust suit and congressional hearings in the 1990s. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-21/google-follows-microsoft-playbook-in-boosting-lobbying-spending.html