Archive · 14 Aug 2025
Google's Lobbying Tactics Questioned by Critics
Google, tired of being the top spender on lobbying, may have found a way to report less.
They moved their lobbyists into a new company, which means they might not have to reveal how much time their top bosses, like the CEO, spend lobbying.
This lowered how much lobbying spending they reported.
Some people think this is a clever trick, but Google says they're following the rules.
Basically, they might be trying to keep their lobbying spending a secret.
Google reorganized its lobbying structure to potentially exclude senior executive lobbying expenses from public disclosures.
The move, starting in 2019 and completed in 2020, involved moving in-house lobbyists into a subsidiary.
This change reportedly lowered Google's reported lobbying expenditures and kept it off the top of the corporate lobbying charts.
Critics suggest this restructuring may violate the spirit, if not the letter, of lobbying disclosure laws.
Google denies any wrongdoing, stating it complies with all relevant laws.
- Who
- Google and its parent company, Alphabet Inc.
- What
- Google reorganized its lobbying activities.
- When
- The reorganization began in 2019 and was completed in 2020.
- Where
- Washington D.C.
- Why
- To potentially exclude the value of lobbying by senior executives from disclosures.
Critics
Compliance with Laws
Critics
Google's restructuring flouts the spirit of disclosure laws.
Google follows all relevant disclosure laws.
- Company
- Google/Alphabet Inc.
- Action
- Reorganization of lobbying structure
- Year of Change
- 2019-2020
- Reported Spending Decrease
- From over $22M (2018) to $8.9M (2020)
- Subsidiary
- Google Client Services LLC
- Google CEO Compensation (2022)
- $225 million+