The Washington Post has an excellent article up right now about the growth of Google's lobbying power in DC, "How Google is transforming power and politics."
Google's federal lobbying expenditures ranked 213th in 2004. They now rank 2nd, surpassed only by GE.
One chart in the piece I found particularly revealing was the one on Google's donations to outside groups.
The Post article divides the donations into seven categories: business-related public policy, education and nonpartisan think tanks, constituency groups, Internet technology and related public policy, copyright and intellectual property, political interest/public policy, and advertising and marketing.
Let's look at the political interest/public policy category:
American Action Forum
American Antitrust Institute
American Conservative Union
American Constitution Society for Law and Policy
American Enterprise Institute
American Legislative Exchange Council
Americans for Tax Reform
CATO Institute
Center for a New American Security
Center for American Progress Action Fund
Center for the Rule of Law
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Federalist Society
Free State Foundation
George Mason University Law School Mercatus Center
Heritage Action
Heritage Foundation
International Center for Law and Economics
New America Foundation
People for the American Way
Progressive Policy Institute
R Street Institute
Ripon Society
Searle Center on Law, Regulation, and Economic Growth
Texas Public Policy Foundation
Washington Legal Foundation
That's right: CAP Action and Heritage Action share funders. ALEC and PFAW share funders.
Google, which has been hit for antitrust violations by the EU, is a funder of the American Antitrust Institute.
DC in a nutshell.