Google is hiring a “senior European government affairs and public policy leader�.

The Friday edition of the UK based Economist has an interesting one page ad from Google.

� Google is searching for a senior European government affairs and public policy leader,� it says, a person that can become the head of �Public Policy and Government Affairs for Europe�.

This says a lot about the new challenges facing Google in the 21st century.

Google’s political power

First: Google has now the political power of a small state.

It controls the search services for a majority of online searches.

It delivers online storage for a large number of services (mail, photos, text files etc.) and for a significant number of people world wide.

Moreover, it is actively going beyond the world of Internet searching, trying to make google.com the default destination for as many people and as many information based activities as possible.

In a world economy powered by knowledge based innovation and global politics strongly influenced by peoples’ access to information (and in particular alternative information) Google becomes very influential indeed.

The new political scene

Until recently old, computer illiterate, men controlled the world — politicians and policy makers who left the Internet surfing to their kids and secretaries.

Now Google is facing men and women who use Google daily, knowing the potential of the Google search form.

For these politicians and civil servants web searching is an as interesting policy field as defense, education, health and social services, and if necessary they will implement laws, regulations and policy measures to stop the harmful effects of searching and stimulate the positive ones.

Among the most pressing issues are:

1. Search engine results and censorship.

In Europe and North America this applies to pornography and other types of material “unsuitable� for children (and for some of them all people).

On the international arena Chinese censorship of search engine results has become an embarrassment. The “Don’t do evil� company Google is now actively helping the Chinese communist/fascist party keeping the truth from Chinese citizens.

2. Trust in online storage.

Google’s vision is to become the online hard disk of everyone, storing not only web pages and other types of online material, but also your mail, documents, and pictures, ultimately replacing your hard drive.

In this way Google becomes the default search engine not only for searching the web, but also for searching your personal files. This means more text ads and more revenue for Google.

People will not embrace online storage, however, unless they can trust the privacy of their files.

In the US we have seen several examples of the government trying to get access to search results in order to track down terrorists and criminals. It is imperative for Google to restrict this access as much as possible to protect the privacy for their users.

3. Net neutrality

Net neutrality is the principle that all companies delivering data packets (i.e. transporting information from one server to another) treats all types of information equally.

In the US the Federal Communications commission and various telecom firms want to introduce a two tire system, where data from paying companies are given priority over others, this in order to ensure quick delivery of in particular video files.

This is not yet and issue in Europe, but may easily become one, and Google needs a woman or man in Europe that knows the policy systems and knows how to argue for a free and open Internet.

4. Intellectual property reform

Google has gained a general acceptance for the legality of linking to web sites without asking for their permission. However, the Google cache, whereby Google delivers online copies of web pages, is not equally accepted.

And in the case of Google Books, where Google scans printed material and makes it search-able online, many Europeans are outright hostile.

In the ad these issues are referred to as “privacy and data protection, free expression, intellectual property reform and efforts to regulate online content, advertising and technology.�

A lobby amateur?

Google is apparently also trying to learn from its mistakes in Washington D.C. where they have found it hard to convince the right politicians, especially Republicans.

However, the European Google advocate is to go beyond policy makers. She or he is also to face Google users, partners and customers, journalists, academic experts and internatinal intergovernmental and treaty organisations.

Looking for “outstanding analytical and advocacy skills�

So what does it take to become a European Google Policy leader?

According to the ad Google is looking for a �strategic thinker and a personable speaker�.

They are clearly thinking of a senior politician, civil servant or policy expert, as they ask for a person who has played �a leadership role in government and public affairs in Europe, with experience on policy issues related to the Internet, technology and media.�

He or she will work with a team of EU and national level policy counsels and advocates.

See also: Google & Yahoo! Expand Policy Teams (The 463 on Google and Yahoo hiring policy advisers).