Google, Amazon Hike Lobbying Efforts Amid Growing Antitrust Probe: Bloomberg

Technology firms including Alphabet Inc’s GOOG GOOGL Google, and Amazon.Com Inc AMZN spent $2.7 million and $4.8 million on lobbying in the first quarter of 2021 following growing U.S. Congressional antitrust scrutiny, Bloomberg reports.
Google and Amazon’s lobbying spending rose 49% and 11% year-over-year.
Google’s lobbying focused on issues ranging from patents and copyright to privacy and consumer protection.
Google also disclosed lobbying on competition issues in online advertising following antitrust complaints. The Justice Department and a group of states slapped antitrust lawsuits on Google for alleged influencing of internet search results. A Texas lawsuit alleged Google of provoking competition in the digital advertising market.
Senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Mike Lee of Utah sought extensive reforms for the tech sector.
Amazon’s lobbying topics included logistics, cloud computing, and a communications satellite program, reflecting its extensive business interests.
Interestingly, Facebook Inc FB and Apple Inc’s AAPL lobbying spending declined 9% and 32% to $4.8 million and $1.5 million respectively for the quarter.
The Federal Trade Commission and multiple state attorneys-general had slapped lawsuits on Facebook last year for allegedly abusing its online dominance through acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.
Price action: GOOG shares traded higher by 2.05% at $2,315.50 on the last check Friday.