a lot of associate vs a lot of associates

Some examples from the web:

• A lot of his friends and a lot of his associates just left him.
• It is variable and also depends on a lot of factors concerning the associates.
• He's caused a lot of trouble for my associates and me over the years.
• A businessman may offer his associates a lot of money, on the condition they remain loyal to him.
• Really particular garments to which one can associate a lot of adjectives, but one thing is for sure, the wearer will feel catapulted directly into the carefree and disillusioned world of the beloved Alice.
• But they are saints compared to Bill Ponderosa and the sordid lot of degenerates he associates with.
• 'Cause he looked a lot like your business associate Lee.
• This is a social map of the hijackers and their associates who perpetrated the 9/ was produced by analyzing their communications patterns using a lot of these tools.
• As the second city in France, Marseille is known for a lot of things. Oddly enough, people never seem to associate the city with beaches.
• Despite a little favorable climatic conditions we met a lot of cycle-tourists and a lot of bikers.
• There's not a lot of glory, but a lot of squatting.
• Requiring a lot of effort a lot of attention.
• I wrote a lot of checks to a lot of companies.
• There's a lot of people who smoke a lot of pot and have had quite a lot of success.
• I have experiences the aftermath of the "revolution" that has generated a lot of expectations and a lot of hope, but also a lot of clutter.
• What a lot of beauty in such a little tessera, a lot of charm, but also a lot of technology to combine aesthetic and functionality.
• A lot of people who are in a lot of different jobs a lot of different professions.
• You lost a lot of evidence.
• But I got a lot of moving parts.
• I was thinking about a lot of unusual things.

Some examples from the web:

• A lot of his friends and a lot of his associates just left him.
• It is variable and also depends on a lot of factors concerning the associates.
• He's caused a lot of trouble for my associates and me over the years.
• A businessman may offer his associates a lot of money, on the condition they remain loyal to him.
• Really particular garments to which one can associate a lot of adjectives, but one thing is for sure, the wearer will feel catapulted directly into the carefree and disillusioned world of the beloved Alice.
• But they are saints compared to Bill Ponderosa and the sordid lot of degenerates he associates with.
• 'Cause he looked a lot like your business associate Lee.
• This is a social map of the hijackers and their associates who perpetrated the 9/ was produced by analyzing their communications patterns using a lot of these tools.
• As the second city in France, Marseille is known for a lot of things. Oddly enough, people never seem to associate the city with beaches.
• Despite a little favorable climatic conditions we met a lot of cycle-tourists and a lot of bikers.
• There's not a lot of glory, but a lot of squatting.
• Requiring a lot of effort a lot of attention.
• I wrote a lot of checks to a lot of companies.
• There's a lot of people who smoke a lot of pot and have had quite a lot of success.
• I have experiences the aftermath of the "revolution" that has generated a lot of expectations and a lot of hope, but also a lot of clutter.
• What a lot of beauty in such a little tessera, a lot of charm, but also a lot of technology to combine aesthetic and functionality.
• A lot of people who are in a lot of different jobs a lot of different professions.
• You lost a lot of evidence.
• But I got a lot of moving parts.
• I was thinking about a lot of unusual things.