Head of Google's Washington office stepping down

WASHINGTON, USA: Alan Davidson, the head of search giant Google Inc's Washington office is leaving the company later this month, according to an internal Google email seen by Reuters.

Davidson's departure comes as Google faces a broad antitrust probe into its business practices.

In an email to colleagues, Davidson said that after six-and-a-half years in the post he was ready for a new challenge.

"I've decided it's the right moment for me to leave my current role at the company. Starting later this month, I will be taking a sabbatical to explore other opportunities," Davidson said.

Google was not immediately available for comment.

The Federal Trade Commission, which investigates violations of antitrust law, is looking into complaints that Google's search results favor the company's other services, among other issues.

Google, which runs an estimated 69 per cent of Web searches worldwide, can make or break a company depending on its search ranking.

Google hired 12 lobbying firms this summer in the wake of the FTC probe, after previously hiring six other lobbying firms.

A company spokeswoman had then said the firms would be working on the FTC investigation as well as on several other issues of interest to Google.

Government filings show Google has lobbied on issues as disparate as copyright, taxes, cybersecurity, privacy and patent reform.