Google Learns Lessons in the Ways of Washington

The fight over the proposed Google-Yahoo partnership shows how much Microsoft, once the piñata of Washington regulators, has learned about operating in that town since its regulatory fights during the late 1990s, and how much Google has yet to learn. Microsoft's strength in Washington combined with Google's missteps there may have jeopardized a deal that — because it is a business partnership and not a merger — did not even require Justice approval in the first place. Lobbyists said that Google, which began directly lobbying in with Washington in 2005 when it hired a representative there, has made several wrong turns. Several suggested that Google thought its California spirit alone would charm Washington.