Facebook, Google Break Their Lobbying Spending Records
FILE - This file photo taken April 9, 2010,, shows a Google sign at the company's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, file) (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Facebook and Google hit records for spending on lobbying in the second quarter as the tech giants increase their Washington footprint, our colleague Josh Smith reports over at Tech Daily Dose.
Facebook spent an all-time high $960,000 in the second quarter of 2012, $300,000 more than was spent in the first quarter and three times as much as the $320,000 spent in the second quarter last year. The social network has upped its lobbying efforts amid scrutiny of its privacy policies, as well as increased efforts to use the website for government and political services.
Google, whose spending now rivals more entrenched powerhouses like Verizon and Comcast, spent $3.9 million in the second quarter. That's nearly twice as much as was spent in the same period last year, but not as much as the $5 million spent during the months of 2012 when Google was lobbying hard on antipiracy legislation, as well as hitting back over privacy and antitrust concerns.
Take a look at other lobbying-expenditure disclosures here.
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