OK, try to follow along here—
Last August, Rumble, a YouTube competitor that’s popular with conservative creators, announced it was suing major advertisers, including WPP and GroupM, alleging they conspired to withhold ad revenue through the now-defunct GARM. The lawsuit claims GARM’s safety standards were used to justify an advertiser boycott, violating antitrust laws and inflating ad prices.
Now, per Business Insider, the defendants filed a motion on Friday to dismiss the case, arguing Rumble is trying to “weaponize” antitrust law to force brands to run ads on its platform. They insist there was no coordinated boycott and that advertisers simply avoided Rumble due to its laissez-faire approach to content moderation. The defendants also argue that “forcing” them to advertise on Rumble could violate the First Amendment.
Meanwhile, in Rumble v. Google, another case, where Rumble accuses Google of unfairly favoring YouTube in search rankings, the judge today denied a motion to move the trial to the fall (hat tip to Chamber of Progress’ Vidushi Dyall). The latest available trial date is August 1, 2025, but unless everyone requests a continuance by Thursday, the case will proceed in May (despite the overlap with the DOJ v. Google remedies proceedings).
Rumble, indeed! And busy times for Google.
Why This Matters:
Would you believe us if we told you—it gets even more complicated?
Yesterday, President Trump named Dan Bongino deputy director of the FBI. Bongino also owns the Dan Bongino Show, one of Rumble’s most popular podcasts. In fact, the conservative firebrand accepted the role live on his show today. Keep in mind, Bongino’s podcast was demonetized by YouTube and Google a few years ago, which led him to fully embrace Rumble as his platform of choice.
Google has to be sweating right now, no?
Experts React:
Yesterday, the CEO of Rumble, Chris Pavlovski, posted the following on X:
Our Take:
A pretty fascinating story with a lot of moving parts. One random thought: can anyone deny the power of podcasts in the 2024 election? From Joe Rogan to Call Her Daddy to The Dan Bongino Show, podcasts might be the most underrated advertising opportunity out there. (Experts agree.)
