(image) Nearly everyone is gunning for something in today’s Signal — Google and Facebook spent big bucks in Q1 lobbying for what they want (we’re not even bothering with linking to the Facebook acquisition of AOL’s patents); The New Yorker touts its interest in intellectualism with a piece questioning Stanford’s connection to the Valley; Ad Age covers the battle being fought for the dollars going into Facebook and Twitter ads; and, chasing consumers with a large presence on YouTube, Google launches AdWords for Video. Plus, the Internet gets a Hall of Fame, books aren’t the escape vehicles they used to be, and Coachella puts another year under its belt. Here now, the links…

Google, Facebook Spent Record Amounts On D.C. Lobbying In Q1 2012 (TechCrunch) Google’s lobbying spend hit an all-time high again this quarter, with spending tripling from the same period a year ago, reaching $5.03M. Meanwhile, Facebook doubled down its lobbying efforts, spending $650,000 in Q1 2012 (up from $230,000 in the same quarter last year). As expected, the two giants are pushing similar issues — privacy regulations, patent reform, etc.; but, according to TechCrunch, “this quarter brought the most variety of issues Google has publicly tackled in Washington D.C. so far.”

Ken Auletta: Will Stanford and Silicon Valley Transform Education? (New Yorker) In this long but extremely informative article, Ken Auletta writes about how and why Stanford University has established itself as the intellectual nexus of the information economy. Oh, and questions whether the university is a bit too cozy with industry…

Social Media Advertising Is Set to Explode. Who Will Control It? (AdAge) In a world where the “content is the ad and the ad is the content,” a battle has begun. At stake are the fees from companies pouring dollars into Facebook and Twitter ads. The warriors — PR firms and social media agencies — are gunning for their clients’ ad budgets. AdAge’s Michael Lazerow suggests you beware of the fatal flaws of social media marketing, identifying three specific problems that are keeping SM marketing from truly thriving.

Google Makes Its Big Video Push With AdWords For Video (TechCrunch) It’s official: On Sunday, AdWords for Video began integrating video campaigns into the AdWords dashboard. Rather than approaching video ad campaigns with trepidation, small businesses can now treat them as just another action they’re running with Google.

Confessions of an Ad Tech Exec (Digiday) Brian Morrissey interviews a colorful and un-named “leader in the ad tech world” to get an executive’s take on the state of the industry today. What’s the biggest problem in ad tech right now, according to the anon exec? “Crappy inventory” and confusion surrounding money. “There’s too much money going to agencies who don’t know how to navigate and effectively buy online. The marketer’s lazy, the agency is scared and plays defense.”

The Internet Gets a Hall of Fame (Including Al Gore!) (Wired) After 30 years, my only questions is, What took so long? The first group of  influentials to be inaugurated into the Internet Society’s Hall of Fame includes the fathers of the Internet, Robert Kahn and Vinton Cerf; internet standards sage Jon Postel; web inventor Tim Berners-Lee; encryption pioneer Phil Zimmermann; and Mozilla’s Mitchell Baker. And, yes, as the title indicates, even Al Gore is being inducted. All fall into three categories: Pioneers who were key to the early design of the internet; innovators who built on the net’s foundations with technical innovations and policy work; and global connectors who have helped expand the net’s growth and use around the world. Congratulations to all!

Tomgram: Lewis Lapham, Machine-Made News (TomDispatch) “The book, almost alone, has resisted that great colonizing form of our age, the ad,” writes Tom Engelhardt. “That, in turn, meant you could be assured of one thing when you opened its covers: that you were alone in the book’s world and time. No longer.” The bestsellers that we turn to when wanting to escape our own busy corners of the word are not what they used to be. Tom Engelhardt offers an exclusive online first look at Lewis Lapham’s “elegant little history of the word and the machine.”

Coachella: Beautiful music, Not Enough Bandwidth … (TastemakerX) Coachella, the music festival that attracts those who want to “drop out of real life and immerse themselves in a different world for three glorious days,” is over. Here’s one man’s take.

#####

FM’s program of the day is our CM Summit in New York, this May14-15. It’s the kickoff event to Internet Week, and features some of the best minds in Internet media and marketing.

If it suits your information consumption goals, sign up for Signal’s email newsletter or RSS feed on the Signal home page (upper right box).