Google is rapidly increasing how much it spends on lobbying in the United States as the internet giant’s size and ambition put it in the firing line.In 2009 Google spent $4.03 million (£2.58 million), up from $2.84 million in 2008 and $1.52 million in 2007, making the company one of the five biggest internet and technology lobbyists in Washington, according to an analysis of US Senate figures by the Centre for Responsive Politics.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article7025681.ece