SANTA MONICA, CA – Facebook continued its major effort to win friends in Washington, spending $2.45 million on lobbying efforts during the first quarter, a 277 percent increase from $650,000 a year earlier just filed disclosures show.
 
For all of 2012 Facebook’s spent $3.99 million on lobbying, according to records filed with the Clerk of The House of Representatives.
 
“Clearly Facebook has decided to buy its way into Washington,” said John M. Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project.
 
Google, after scoring a substantial victory in February when the Federal Trade Commission closed its antitrust investigation with a tap on the wrist, cut its first quarter lobbying spending by 33 percent to $3.35 million. The Internet giant had spent $5.03 million on lobbying in the first quarter of 2012.  Still, Google’s 2013 spending far surpassed the $1.48 million it spent in 2011. Google spent $16.48 million on lobbying in 2012.
 
“It’s all about buying what you want,” said Simpson. “Google trimmed its efforts when they accomplished what they wanted on the antitrust front.”
 
Lobbying disclosure filings were due to be filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives Monday.  Several companies did not file until late Monday night.  Check the Clerk of the House of Representative’s lobbying expenditure database here: http://disclosures.house.gov/ld/ldsearch.aspx
 
Here are the amounts spent on lobbying by other tech and telecommunications companies:
 
— Microsoft spent $2.53 million a 41 percent increase from $1.79 million in 2012.
 
— Verizon spend $3.67 million, a 19 percent decrease from $4.51 million in 2012.
 
— AT&T spent $4.26 million a 40 percent decrease from $7.05 million in 2012.
 
— Amazon spent $859,831 a 32 percent increase from $650,000 in 2012.
 
— Apple spent $720,000 a 44 percent increase from $500,000 in 2012.
 
— Oracle spent $1.37 million a 25 percent increase from 1.1 million in 2012.
 
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