[azakai]

The difference is scale. As the article says,

> But Weismann said the scale of Google’s influence was almost unprecedented. “The revolving door isn’t unique to Google,” Weismann said. “What’s surprising is how aggressively the company has hired public officials, and how little attention it has received.”

Google isn't the first or the last to do this. But it's doing it a lot more than others, and with almost no pushback.

We saw a similar thing with lobbying in the US, where Google is among the top spenders (and the top among tech companies), but Google's public image seems to prevent much criticism from being aimed at it.