Revolving door and regulation
Google has spent $11.85 million in lobbying efforts so far this year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The company enjoyed unusually close ties with the Obama administration, according to watchdog group Google Transparency Project. Obama named former Googler Megan Smith as the U.S. chief technology officer in 2014.
"The Obama administration was very tech friendly and tech savvy," said Daryanani.
Trump has expressed his disdain for over-regulation which suggests he could be more friendly to mergers and acquisitions, though he has flip-flopped on the issue. That said, the Federal Communications Commission is also expected to overturn some Obama administration policies that seemed to favor Google in fights with telecoms and cable companies, Reuters reported.
The president-elect named Republicans Jeff Eisenach and Mark Jamison to oversee his telecom policy at the FCC, which is expected to reject Chairman Tom Wheeler's plans to open up the $20 billion market for rented pay-TV set-top boxes, according to Reuters sources. Cable companies opposed the measure, which would allow competition from companies like Google.
Under a Trump administration, Obama's net neutrality rules — which require internet service providers to treat all data equally and were championed by internet companies — may be rolled back, analysts speculated. Both Eisenach and Jamison and most Republicans oppose the rules.
Google is facing an antitrust investigation from the European Union. It is unclear how Trump's protectionist proposals, if enacted, could alter sentiment toward U.S. companies and play into the investigation, analysts said.
Given Google's European antitrust issues and the potential for new U.S. Federal Trade Commission antitrust regulations, Trump could get more aggressive in terms of going after large companies like Google, said Daryanani.