Transparency
Our Principles and Standards of Business Conduct
At Google, we believe it is important to have a voice in the political process to ensure the Internet remains a powerful engine for growth and innovation. Our engagement with policymakers and regulators is guided by a commitment to ensuring our participation is always open, transparent and clear to our users, shareholders, and the public.
Public Policy Engagement
We believe in the empowering and democratizing effect of putting information in the hands of everyone, everywhere. We started over two decades ago with the goal of organizing the world’s information and making it universally useful and accessible. Since then, the Internet has grown and evolved more than anyone could have imagined, and yet there are still many information challenges in the world today. We champion public policy and regulatory approaches that ensures the Internet continues to be a vehicle of growth and innovation serving the widest range of people possible.
Learn more about the key issues steering our public policy work below:
Oversight and Compliance
Google’s Public Policy and Government Affairs team interacts with government and elected officials to explain our products and advocate for policies that promote innovation and the growth of the web. In the United States, this team and the activities they undertake are overseen by Karan Bhatia, Global Head of Google’s Government Affairs and Public Policy, who works directly with Google’s Senior Vice President for Global Affairs & Chief Legal Officer, Kent Walker, who reports to Google’s CEO.
Our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of our Board of Directors, comprised entirely of independent directors, regularly oversee the company’s corporate political activity. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee reviews Google’s corporate political policies and activities, including expenditures made with corporate funds, Google’s NetPAC contributions, direct corporate contributions to state and local political campaigns, and our policy prohibiting trade associations and other organizations from using Google funds for political activities. In the advocacy space, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee similarly annually reviews the lobbying activities of our Public Policy and Government Affairs Team.
Google's Office of Compliance and Integrity ensures compliance with all relevant political laws, including those governing lobbying activities and political contributions. The Office of Compliance and Integrity has implemented approval processes to ensure that Google’s political contributions and lobbying activities are undertaken, tracked, and disclosed in compliance with all applicable laws and rules.
Like all Google employees, our Public Policy and Government Affairs team follows Google’s Code of Conduct.
Political contributions
To date, Google has chosen not to use corporate resources to make independent expenditures or fund electioneering communications in support of, or opposition to a federal, state or local candidate’s election. In the future, if Google makes any direct independent expenditures, we would disclose such expenditures on this website and public campaign disclosure reports.
NetPAC
In 2006, we created Google NetPAC, a federal political action committee. NetPAC allows Google employees, through their personal funds, to join together and support candidates who share Google's positions on important issues.
The NetPAC board bases its giving decisions on a number of factors, most importantly, the policy stances of individual candidates, committees, and organizations. Other factors the NetPAC board considers:
- demonstrating a commitment to an open Internet
- serving as congressional leaders
- serving on committees that work on legislation that is important to Google and our users
- serving in states and congressional districts where Google has operations and employees
The Google NetPAC Board of Directors —a bipartisan group of Google employees—makes all decisions about the contributions made by NetPAC. NetPAC complies with all federal election laws and discloses its donations on a monthly basis (see below, also publicly available at fec.gov). Additionally, NetPAC campaign contributions are never made in return for, or in anticipation of, an official act.
Contributions to Other Political Organizations
Where permissible by law Google makes direct corporate contributions to non-federal entities, including state and local candidates, committees, and organizations. These contributions are closely overseen by Google’s VP of Public Policy & Government Affairs, and are also reviewed by Google’s Ethics & Compliance team. These contributions are made to promote the interests of the company and the private political preferences of Google executives, directors and employees do not influence them in any way. Corporate campaign contributions are never made in return for, or in anticipation of, an official act.
You can view a detailed report of Google’s corporate political contributions to 527 organizations and state and local candidates, parties, and committees below. The report covers contributions made on or after January 1, 2016, and is updated quarterly:
- 2016 - 2024 Non-federal, state, and local activity report
- 2010 - 2015 Non-federal, state, and local activity report
National Committees and Organizations
Google has made corporate contributions to other national political committees and organizations:
- 60th Presidential Inaugural Committee
- 59th Presidential Inaugural Committee
- 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee
- Trump for America Presidential Transition Team
- Governors Inaugural Fund 2019
Lobbying disclosure filings
Google regularly discloses information on our federal, state, and local lobbying activities. Our state and local lobbying disclosure reports are filed in each jurisdiction where we engage in lobbying activity. These disclosures are publicly available in all jurisdictions with public access portals. You can view our federal lobbying disclosures for the past several years below:
- 2024
- 2023
- 2022
- 2021
- 2007-2020 Filings
Memberships
Google belongs to a number of trade associations and other organizations, representing the broad range of issues that we care about. We also provide support to a number of independent third-party organizations whose work intersects with technology and Internet policy. We respect the independence and agency of trade associations and third parties to shape their own policy agenda, events and advocacy positions. Google’s sponsorship or collaboration with a third-party organization doesn’t mean that we endorse the organizations’ entire agenda, its events or advocacy positions nor the views of its leaders or members.
We prohibit trade associations and other tax-exempt organizations such as 501(c)4s to use dues or payments made by Google for political expenditures. We inform trade associations and third-party organizations of this policy by sending an electronic transmittal letter outlining the parameters of our prohibition with every payment we make. In order to ensure that organizations are abiding by our policy, Google also informs organizations that we reserve the right to terminate all payments immediately if we find that any portion of our contributions have been used for political expenditures during our annual review of our trade association and third party memberships and sponsorships.
Below is a listing of politically-engaged trade associations, independent third-party organizations and other tax-exempt groups that receive the most substantial contributions from Google’s U.S. Public Policy and Government Affairs team. We are committed to updating this information on a regular basis.
Trade Associations and Membership Organizations
Page last updated: February 2025