From a Rumble to a whimper.
Today, a federal judge granted Google’s motion for summary judgment against video platform Rumble, effectively ending the upstart’s antitrust lawsuit against the Big Tech behemoth just months before the case was set to go to trial.
Vidushi Dyall, Director of Legal Analysis at the Chamber of Progress, has a great thread on X breaking down the decision, which you can see here:
Rumble, which is very popular among conservative creators, had accused Google of unfairly favoring YouTube in its search results and advertising ecosystem. The case, originally filed in 2021, alleged anticompetitive behavior dating back to 2014. Unfortunately for Rumble, the court found the claims were both too vague and filed too late under antitrust law, which requires suits to be brought within four years of the alleged injury.
Why This Matters:
Rumble’s effort to take on YouTube and Google is part of a broader trend of conservative-leaning media companies pushing back against Big Tech. Elon Musk’s campaign against top advertisers and GARM, of course, best represents this, but Rumble has also been a prominent player here.
In addition to its YouTube lawsuit, last August, Rumble announced it was suing major brands, including their agency brethren, WPP and GroupM, alleging they all conspired to withhold ad revenue via the now-defunct GARM. The lawsuit claimed GARM’s standards were used to justify an advertiser boycott, violating antitrust laws and artificially inflating ad prices.
FWIW, U.S. Vice President JD Vance is an early investor in Rumble. Also, popular Rumble podcaster Dan Bongino was recently named deputy director of the FBI.
Experts React:
Forbes published a great video explaining Rumble and its ascent a few months ago, which you can see here:
The video highlights how Rumble has outgrown the “YouTube competitor” moniker, working to build out other tech and adtech tools.
Our Take:
This ruling is a clear and RARE win for Google given the mounting losses recently. Some will say this is emblematic of the difficulty smaller platforms face in challenging dominant players. Others will say this was a bad lawsuit. Either way, with antitrust scrutiny of Big Tech showing no signs of that slowing, we’re sure Google will be back in court soon enough. It’s simply in the air right now.
