Google's on a lobbyist hunt in Europe

A quest for global domination? Maybe. The Financial Times is reporting that Google is seeking to expand its European influence by starting a network of lobbyists. It's reportedly seeking out representatives in at least ten cities.

According to the Financial Times article, Google is simply trying to gain traction in Europe with regard to issues like "privacy, freedom of expression, copyrights, competition and security, regulation of online content, advertising and technology." Nevertheless, it should be noted that Google has its fair share of legal and political issues in Europe, like Gmail trademark problems in Switzerland, a copyright case in Belgium, and conflicts with open-source projects. Then there's that Google phone...

In the U.S., Google has already contracted some very well-connected lobbying firms and hired its own in-house lobbyists in order to bolster its political influence.