Video sharing site Rumble Inc. In a lawsuit, accused Google of misusing the power of its search engine and mobile operating system to bolster its YouTube video service against rivals, the latest allegation of anti-competitive behavior against Alphabet Inc.’s unit.
Toronto-based Rumble, which has become popular among conservative pundits, filed an antitrust suit in California federal court on Monday alleging that Google is “unfairly modifying its search algorithms” to rank YouTube above Rumble in its search results. Rumble said Google’s behavior has cost it significant numbers of viewers and advertising money.
The lawsuit also alleges that Google’s deals to preinstall a YouTube app on mobile devices running Google Rumble’s Android operating system falsely robbed viewers.
“Google could falsely divert massive traffic to YouTube through its search engine, depriving Rumble of the extra traffic, users, uploads, brand awareness and revenue it would otherwise have received,” the lawsuit said.
“We will defend ourselves against these unfounded claims,” said a Google spokeswoman.