Google's decline in spending disclosed

Google Inc., subject of a US antitrust investigation, increased its lobbying costs by 88% to move into the top 10 of spenders seeking to influence the federal government even as the total price of persuasion declined for the second straight year.

Mountain View, California-based Google spent $18.2 million last year, including $1.7 million by its Motorola Mobility subsidiary acquired in May. That was up from $9.7 million in 2011, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based group that tracks lobbying expenditures aimed at lawmakers, the White House and federal agencies.

Other technology companies such as Facebook Inc, which has had to confront concerns over privacy, also ratcheted up their lobbying. Facebook spent $4 million in 2012, up from $1.4 million a year earlier.

Total spending on lobbying fell to $3.28 billion last year, compared with $3.33 billion in 2011 and $3.52 billion in 2010.
"It's a continued slide, but there are industries that are ramping up, like the tech industry, where some companies are opening up shops and some are expanding," said Viveca Novak, editorial and communications director at the Center for Responsive Politics.
Novak suggested that the total decline in 2012 lobbying spending reflects partly the economy and partly that in an election year, "Congress wasn't doing very much."

Even so, the National Association of Realtors almost doubled its expenditures to $41.5 million from $22.4 million, and Northrop Grumman Corp. spent $17.5 million, up from $12.8 million in 2011.
Northrop Chief Executive Officer Wes Bush has called on the U.S. to relax export restrictions that prevent overseas sales of drones like Global Hawk, one of the issues the company reported lobbying on.
"As a leader in global security, Northrop Grumman believes it is important to participate in the democratic process at the federal, state and local level," said Randy Belote, a spokesman for the Falls Church, Virginia-based company. "The primary goal of our activities is to provide information to decision- makers."




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