Google, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft spent together $11.7 million on lobbying for Q2, according to disclosure forms filed with the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Google ranks the highest for the biggest amount spent at $4.69 million, although it was also the company that most trimmed its spending on lobbying by 13%, compared to $5.29 million spent in Q2 2014.
A watchdog said that Amazon was the company that most increased its spending, footing an extra 103% of funds. The company spent $2.15 million in Q2 2015 from $1.06 million in the comparable 2014 period.
Facebook used $2.69 million in the last quarter, up 27% from $2.12 million in Q2 2014. It topped the firm’s Q1 spending of $2.44 million by 10%.
Microsoft reduced its lobbying expenditure by 4% compared to 2014’s Q2. The company spent $2.24 million in Q2 2015.
The watchdog also revealed that Apple spent $1.23 million in 2015, a 42% increase from $840,000 in 2014, while Cisco spent $530,000 this year, reducing its lobbying budget by 26% from $720,000 in the same period last year.
IBM disbursed $1.81 million and Intel spent $1.29 million, up 7% and 66% respectively compared to Q2 2014.
John M. Simpson, Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project director, said: "The massive amounts these companies are spending demonstrates how policymaking is now about who has the big bucks rather than who has the big ideas."
