Google
is the biggest search engine in the U.S. and one of the largest
search engines in the world. The company has the most lucrative
online advertising program around which fills its coffers with money
and allows the company to take on projects which normally aren't part
of its core search focus.
Google for instance spends a lot of
money on lobbying in Washington on issues that could affect its
business. Spending money to convince lawmakers to see things Google's
way isn't illegal, but some are calling for Google to be more
transparent about where and how it spends its money on political
campaigns.
The New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio
has called
on Google to be much more open about how its spends its
money on lobbying and elections. De Blasio is calling for Google to
fully disclose direct and indirect spending on political issues and
has made a video, ironically on YouTube. The video is called
"Searching for Transparency."
De Blasio said, "You
can find almost anything using Google, except for its own political
spending. Many other companies, including several of Google’s
competitors, have taken steps to reform their spending practices, but
surprisingly Google is behind the curve. I urge them to join the
growing number of companies that are doing the right thing and
demonstrate their true commitment to transparency and
accountability."
New York City Public Advocate is an
elected position and is the second highest-ranking elected position
in New York City. The job includes the management of the
retirement system for NYC city workers with a total of $30 billion in
assets.
Information
Week reports
that de Blasio is pushing Congress to pass
a bill known as the Disclosure Act. The Disclosure Act would
require companies to disclose how they invest in political campaigns
and prevent companies like Google and others from participating in
certain types of political ads.
De
Blasio noted that Google spend $4 million on lobbying efforts in
2009, which is 50 times more than it spent on lobbying on 2003.
