The US Senate lobbying information disclosure database shows that Google’s US lobbying spending in 2021 will be 9.6 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 27%. Google’s lobbying spending last year was well below the more than $20 million it spent in 2018, but it was $2.07 million more than the $7.53 million it spent in 2020.
In the fourth quarter of 2021, Google spent $2.2 million on lobbying spending. Google’s lobbying spending fell in 2020 as it restructured its government relations team. Right now, the U.S. government is taking steps to curb the market power of big tech companies. Tech giants including Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple are all under pressure in Congress over allegations of abusing their enormous market power.
The lobbying efforts of these tech giants have also paid off. Although many bills were introduced to curb them, none became law. A bill to try to stop the platforms from favoring their own businesses passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday and still needs full House approval.