June 6 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc., the Web-search company whose motto is ``Don't be evil,'' now has to confront the realities of Washington to propel its stock further.

The 8-year-old company with a $162 billion market value didn't open a lobbying office in the U.S. capital until 2005. Now, as expansion plans invite government scrutiny, Google is stepping up efforts to master a game political foes such as AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. have played for decades.

Google came to dominate Silicon Valley with its Web search, beating rivals to products, acquisitions and job candidates. As the company pushes into new areas to sustain growth, the key to success may be in Washington, 3,000 miles away. Google is playing catch-up, hiring insiders from Capitol Hill and the administrations of Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

``For a company with so much money, they are not as far along as they should be,'' said Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, a Washington- based policy research group funded by companies including Hewlett-Packard Co. ``It takes new companies a long time to see that they have to take Washington seriously.''

At stake is whether Google can get rules passed to bar Internet-access providers including AT&T, the largest U.S. phone company, from passing on billions of dollars in network costs to Web companies. Google's $3.1 billion purchase of Web advertising company DoubleClick Inc. also has been challenged by rivals such as Microsoft Corp. Google is relying on acquisitions to extend sales growth after an average 83 percent jump over two years.

``The more businesses they get into and the more prominent they become, the more a big, red bull's-eye grows on their corporate back,'' said Art Brodsky, spokesman for the Washington- based consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge.

K Street

Shares of Google, owner of the most-visited group of Web sites, rose sixfold in the first 27 months after the company went public. The shares lost 59 cents to $518.25 at 4 p.m. New York time on the Nasdaq Stock Market and earlier reached $520.78, a new record.

``Their success or failure in Washington certainly could have a long-term impact on their stock,'' said Blair Levin, a Washington-based media and telecommunications policy analyst with Stifel Nicolaus & Co.

Part of the challenge is cultural. On Washington's K Street, lobbyists in power suits toil over the details of bills that can take years to become law. At the Googleplex in Mountain View, California, whiz kids in shorts drive electric scooters and play volleyball between meetings.

`Uncompromising Sensibility'

Tradeoffs that are routine in Washington -- making a concession on one issue to win on another -- may prove difficult for Google, Levin said. A company will typically lend support to a lawmaker who backs one of its initiatives, even after finding the official's views on other items ``abhorrent,'' he said.

``Google has a certain kind of uncompromising sensibility that will be tested in this context,'' Levin said.

The company formed a temporary office in the capital city in 2005, hiring head lobbyist Alan Davidson, a Democrat who was associate director of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington-based free-speech and privacy advocacy group that Google helps fund.

Google expanded its Washington staff to 13, including five lobbyists, and then scored a victory this week with the hiring of its sixth: Johanna Shelton, senior counsel for telecommunications and the Internet to Representative John Dingell. Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, is chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees media, telephone and Internet issues.

Toned Down

The only evidence of Google's freewheeling culture on display during a recent visit to its temporary Pennsylvania Avenue digs was an office with a green bean-bag chair and a bookcase with Pop Tarts, soft drinks and bananas.

Google's personality may emerge more fully by October, the company's target date to move into a permanent location. The office will be a showcase for Google, which plans to hire at least three more staff lobbyists by year-end, spokesman Adam Kovacevich said.

``We're trying to bring a little bit of Google to Washington,'' Kovacevich said.

The $1 million Google spent lobbying in 2006 trails the $19.1 million AT&T spent on a broader set of issues, according to documents submitted to the U.S. Senate. Verizon and Verizon Wireless spent $12 million combined, and Microsoft spent $8.8 million. Each has more than a dozen in-house lobbyists. Kovacevich declined to discuss Google's spending plans for this year.

The purchase of DoubleClick, while likely to win regulatory approval, will be the ``first real test'' of the search giant's clout in Washington, Levin said.

FTC Probe

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating the DoubleClick agreement, urged on by San Antonio-based AT&T and Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft, the world's biggest software maker. The companies say it would give Google too much control over prices in the $28.8 billion global online ad market. Privacy advocates also have challenged the deal, concerned about the amount of user data Google will control.

The company last week retained outside lobbyist Makan Delrahim, former deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's antitrust division, to help win approval.

Former Republican Senators Dan Coats and Connie Mack, both partners in the Washington law firm King & Spaulding, began lobbying for Google last year, as did the mostly Democratic Podesta Group.

Google staffers include Republican lobbyist Jamie Brown, a former Bush aide whose job included lobbying senators on the confirmations of Supreme Court Justices John G. Roberts and Samuel Alito; and Democrat Robert Boorstin, a former speechwriter for Clinton on national security issues.

Powerful Opponents

Another big priority -- getting so-called network neutrality rules passed -- pits Google against New York-based Verizon, the second-largest phone company, as well as AT&T and cable operators including the largest, Comcast Corp. The issue may shape economic ground rules for sending and receiving information on the Internet.

Content companies including Google want rules that would bar Internet service providers from charging new fees to let some sites' data reach consumers faster than other data.

Phone and cable companies will probably succeed in blocking such a ban, Levin said. He expects them to seek to recoup some of the billions of dollars they spent building broadband networks.

As a result, costs would rise for sites such as Google's YouTube, which lets consumers send large video files over the Internet. Google is also concerned that smaller Web sites will be hurt. That may in turn affect its advertising, Levin said.

Wireless Web Battle

Google lobbying concerns extend to the sale of government airwaves to be used for high-speed Internet access. The government estimates the airwaves to be auctioned by the Federal Communications Commission by January will fetch as much as $15 billion.

While Google has no current plan to bid, it seeks auction rules that would lead to more competition in providing wireless Web services, said Richard Whitt, a 12-year veteran of MCI Inc. who joined Google as a lobbyist in January.

One Google proposal would allow spectrum holders to resell unused airwaves in a process that resembles how its search engine sets ad prices, according to the company's FCC filings. This would allow more companies to compete with phone and cable companies in providing broadband access, including in the home.

``It serves Google's interest to have as many different broadband platforms out there as possible,'' Whitt said.

`Cool Factor'

Though new to Washington, Google has a ``cool factor'' that gives it built-in political appeal, said Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge, which sides with Google on network neutrality.

In that respect, Google's experience may mirror Microsoft's relationship with Washington in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Microsoft grew its business with little government interference until 1993, when the Justice Department began investigating its software dominance. Microsoft now has 16 staff lobbyists in Washington.

``People would like to be on Google's side because it's an amazing phenomenon, but that can turn very quickly'' if the company's growth alarms policymakers, Sohn said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Molly Peterson in Washington at mpeterson9@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 6, 2007 16:24 EDT