Chris Pavlovski, CEO of Rumble, a video-sharing platform, has escalated his company’s ongoing battle with Google, alleging unfair treatment in search results. In a series of posts on X, Pavlovski criticized Google for not listing Rumble in searches related to “Dan Bongino” or “Dan Bongino Show,” despite the show’s exclusive live stream on Rumble and Bongino being one of the top podcasters in the US.
Rumble only appears in Google’s search results when paid for as a sponsored listing, despite ranking as the #2 result on other search engines like DuckDuckGo and Bing and on the first page of Google Search competitor Brave.
The accusation adds fuel to an already fiery legal dispute between Rumble and Google. Rumble filed a lawsuit earlier this year against the tech giant for alleged antitrust violations, focusing on Google’s digital advertising products and practices that Rumble claims harm competition and consumer choice.
Rumble’s lawsuit, filed in May, 2024, accuses Google of monopolistic and anticompetitive behavior, specifically within its “ad tech stack.” The lawsuit claims that Google has manipulated the system by owning companies along the ad chain, representing both ad buyers and sellers, and controlling the exchange that connects these parties. This, Rumble argues, is akin to insider trading, as it allows Google to unfairly dominate the space and impose excessive fees, costing Rumble over $1 billion in damages.
This legal action follows a 2021 lawsuit in which Rumble accused Google of favoring its own service, YouTube, in search results. According to Rumble, this pattern stifles competition and innovation in the tech and media landscapes.
A judge has already ruled that Google engages in monopolistic practices against competitors and has considered breaking up the Big Tech giant as a remedy.
