The Toronto-based video-sharing company filed a lawsuit against Alphabet’s Google on Monday, alleging Google has been “unfairly rigging its search algorithms” to prioritize YouTube above Rumble in search results. The alleged rigging, according to the lawsuit, has cost Rumble a significant number of viewers and money. A Google spokesperson called the claims “baseless.” (The Wall Street Journal)
Talking point: Rumble’s video-streaming site, which has gained popularity among prominent conservative and far-right commentators like Sean Hannity and Dinesh D’Souza, is seeking over US$6 billion in damages for losses that “greatly exceeded US$2 billion.” The lawsuit also argues that Google’s ability to preinstall the YouTube app on mobile devices run by its Android operating system unfairly deprives Rumble of potential viewers. A Wall Street Journal investigation last July found that Google did appear to prioritize YouTube videos in its search results, over other video-streaming services—Rumble cited the report in its lawsuit. Google is facing several other anti-competitive lawsuits in the U.S., a couple of which centre upon the dominance of its search engine.