Facing Scrutiny, Google Steps Up Lobbying

Google (GOOG) spent $950,000 lobbying lawmakers, regulators and the White House on issues ranging from cloud computing to copyright in the second quarter, according to public lobbying disclosures.

The sum tops the $880,000 it spent in the first quarter and represents a 30 percent increase from the second quarter of 2008, when it spent $730,000.

So what’s Google worried about? Most issues are pretty predictable, like potential regulation related to online advertising, expanding internet access and increasing the adoption of cloud-computing technologies. (It talked to the Department of Defense about the latter).

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