"The Google Interview could become the 21st-century equivalent of the candidate's pilgrimage to the General Motors plant," says the Associated Press, reporting on John McCain's appearance at Google the day after the first Republican presidential debate.
For the candidates, the Google Interview is likely to be especially appealing because California has moved its primary up to February 2008, a step the state hopes will force the campaigns to spend more time here. It is also a chance for the company to tell potential presidents what matters to them.
"It's extremely valuable," said Adam Kovacevich, a Google spokesman. "We think it's important that America's next president understand the importance of the high-tech economy and keeping America competitive."
Among those issues are "net neutrality," the idea that all Web sites should have equal access to any Internet user; education; and immigration reform that would allow more skilled workers into the country, Kovacevich said.
The candidate visits also include a private tour and a talk with company executives. Kovacevich said lobbying on issues important to the company is not part of those discussions.
With what is expected to be the most expensive presidential campaign in history under way, there is big money at stake, too. Google and other search-engine companies stand to make heaps of it by selling "keyword ads" to the candidates, putting sponsored links to campaign Web sites atop the Google results page.
But most candidates have not bought those terms up, said Erick Obeck, an analyst at SendTec Inc., a search engine marketing ad agency.
As the campaign intensifies, companies like Google could take in millions of dollars each month from the campaigns, he said. Kovacevich said such salesmanship is not part of the agenda during the private meetings, either.
The Google Interview is yet another piece of evidence of the growing power of Google in the political process, which influences political donations, media coverage and what individuals learn about candidates as they do their political research online. And Google is not a Republican-friendly power - political contributions tied to Google heavily favor Democrats. Robert Cox, president of the Media Bloggers Association, has written two essays on how the Right is losing in the online world, in which Google plays a very influential role:
When will the right recognize the cost of conceding Web 2.0?
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