Last Tuesday (11), the Wall Street Journal published the results of a report by Compaign for Accountability that show that Google paid professors to publish articles that support the company's views on public policy issues.
The report cites that the company disbursed from $5.000 to $400 for work and research. Some of the work ended up being used by Google to influence US government officials.
"Google's strategic recruitment of like-minded professors is one of the most sophisticated programs in the technology industry and includes funding for conferences and research by trade groups, think tanks and consulting firms, according to documents and interviews with academics and lobbyists," the newspaper said through the publication.
Google, in response to the matter, said that Compaign for Accountability is a biased organization promoting the "anti-Google" campaign. However, the search giant has admitted that it funds research as well as other things.
"The irony of discussing transparency and disclosure with 'Campaing for Accountability' is the fact that this group constantly refuses to say who its founders are. And those funders don't reveal themselves either. The only one everyone knows is Oracle, that is campaigning against us. On its own behalf and using proxies, Oracle has released hundreds of articles, surveys, symposia and reports. And it is not alone - you can find similar activities from companies and companies founded by our competitors, [ ...] with several jobs attacking us directly," Google said.
