Google put pressure on legislators to stay quiet at WCNC-TV reports that during Google’s negotiations with North Carolina to house a huge server farm, lawmakers in North Carolina were pressured to keep quiet about Google’s tax break demands. State Commerce Secretary Jim Fain was told that if it was not kept quiet, Google would possibly end negotiations with the state. Jim Fain said it “bothered me” for having to “work in the dark” and that Google did not “respect the laws of the land” during the process. In the end, North Carolina did win Google’s business and Google did get their tax break.

Related Topics: Google: Offices

About The Author: Barry Schwartz is Search Engine Land's News Editor and owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry's personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here. For more background information on Barry, see his full bio over here. See more articles by Barry Schwartz