Google Sends Mr. Schmidt To Washington

Feb 7, 2007 at 9:23am ET by Barry Schwartz

Google Still Searching For Recognition in D.C. from the Washington Post covers how Google sent CEO Eric Schmidt to Washington yesterday. Schmidt had meetings with several important politicians and decision makers, but the article says Google’s still working to gain respect.

The attention Google gets in the technology world and on Wall Street is the polar opposite in terms of the attention they get in Washington. As the article illustrates with its opening:

Two minutes before his introduction on stage yesterday, Google chief executive Eric Schmidt walked across the ballroom of the Willard Intercontinental Hotel unnoticed by most of the pinstriped crowd dining on crab cakes and tenderloin.

Google has transformed the Internet. But the executives who have made billions from Internet searching — and who get mobbed by geeks in the San Francisco Bay area and praised by analysts on Wall Street — barely stir the kind excitement in Washington generated by, say, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her outfit at the State of the Union address.

The article also said that his message of “free expression across the globe” through the internet glazed over some eyes and that about a third of the audience had left by the time his 25-minute speech ended.

Schmidt lobbied for many things in his talk, including a bill to remove taxes on internet access and e-commerce, net neutrality, government initiatives to help small businesses with technology and to improve education in math, science and engineering and more.

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.

See more articles by Barry Schwartz >

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Chris Parente, February 8th, 2007 at 12:10 pm ET:

This is not the first Post article to portray Google as a babe in the woods when it comes to DC:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/06/AR2006060601723.html

My take — it much suits Google’s culture to be seen as an outsider to the ways of Washington. Google wants to be seen as conquering through innovation and sheer tech brilliance, not cutting deals or inserting language into legislation.

Google Sends Mr. Schmidt To Washington

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