Google, the world«s biggest Internet-search company, hired 12 lobbying firms after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission began a review of its business practices.
The company has enlisted Akin Gump, Bingham, Capitol Legislative Strategies, Chesapeake Group, Crossroad Strategies, Gephardt Group, Holland & Knight, Normandy Group, Prime Policy, the First Group, the Madison Group and the Raben Group. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company received a subpoena on June 23 “relating to a review by the FTC of its business practices, including search and advertising,” according to a regulatory filing last week. Google said it is cooperating with the probe.
Regulators across the U.S. and in Europe are stepping up their scrutiny of Google, which has the largest share of the Web-search market. -AP
