The video-sharing platform Rumble is suing Google, accusing the YouTube owner of abusing its power in the search and mobile market by promoting its own platforms.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Canadian Rumble, has accused Google of ‘unfairly targeting its search algorithm’ and preferring video content offered on YouTube over competing platforms. Rumble has become a popular video hosting platform for conservatives in the US who claim that the established technology platforms are engaged in censorship.
Rumble’s decision to sue Google comes as pressure has been put on the technology giant over the past few months over antitrust issues. This lawsuit argues that it’s unfair to pre-install YouTube on many mobile devices, including Google’s own Android operating system, as it diverts potential traffic from YouTube’s competitors.
The lawsuit states that “through its search engine, Google could illegally drive large amounts of traffic to YouTube, depriving Rumble of the additional traffic, users, uploads, brand awareness and revenue it would otherwise receive.”
A Google spokesman said WSJ that they will “defend us against these unfounded claims.” A previous investigation by the WSJ found that Google’s own search results often favor videos presented on YouTube over those of competing platforms. This is apparently the basis for Rumble’s decision to sue the search giant.
In response to this prior investigation, Google has suggested that YouTube content will not be preferred over other platforms or providers within Search.
The bulk of Rumble’s earnings come from licensing video content. Rumble claims that syndicated videos presented on YouTube have been viewed more than 9.3 billion times since 2014, generating $ 4.3 million in advertising revenue. Much of the basis of this lawsuit depends on the principle that, although not all views would be counted on their dedicated platform, a portion would have been if Google had not preferred YouTube content over Rumble content.
The Canadian firm also made the bold claim that advertising revenue lost due to possible “missing” views would yield “more than more than $ 2 billion”.
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