Google's YouTube faces calls for competition investigation

Advocacy groups expressed concern about YouTube's growth as a competitor to cable and streaming services and its pre-installation on smartphones and TVs sold in the US

'YouTube has a decade-long record of using its dominance across numerous markets to crowd out competitors, lock in customers, and force the purchase of bundled services,' the groups wrote.

Tech and competition watchdog groups have called on the US Department of Justice to probe YouTube, saying the video-streaming platform could enable Google and its parent company, Alphabet, to dominate home entertainment.

In a letter to the US Justice Department competition chief Jonathan Kanter, the American Economic Liberties Project, Demand Progress and nine other groups expressed concern about YouTube's growth as a competitor to cable and streaming services and its pre-installation on smartphones and TVs sold in the US.

The groups called on the regulator to investigate YouTube, which is among the top streaming services in the US. Google already dominates the internet search market and is a leader in online advertising technology.

"YouTube has a decade-long record of using its dominance across numerous markets to crowd out competitors, lock in customers, and force the purchase of bundled services," the groups wrote.

The growth of YouTube TV, the company's subscription streaming service, increases Google's "prospects for living room dominance", the groups said.

"Anyone looking for something to watch can see this space is very competitive," said a YouTube spokesperson, adding the company goes head to head with both streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+ and other video platforms like Meta's Instagram and TikTok.

In April, Alphabet reported YouTube quarterly ad revenue of more than $8bn (€7.4bn), up 21% from the same period last year.

Google executive Philipp Schindler said at the time the platform had been the most-watched US streaming service for more than a year, citing data from audience analytics firm Nielsen.

Google is already fighting two competition lawsuits brought by the Justice Department and several states. One claims the company monopolises the online search market and another that it dominates the market for digital advertising technology. Google has fought both cases, saying its successes came by lawful means.

YouTube, according to the advocacy groups, is "the third leg of the stool that supports Google's monopoly". 

Lee Hepner, a lawyer at the American Economic Liberties Project, compared the groups' concerns about YouTube to the conduct challenged in the search case, where competition enforcers have alleged multibillion-dollar revenue sharing agreements with smartphone makers have allowed Google to maintain online search dominance.

"What is Google TV if not principally a distribution system for Google's own streaming service?" Hepner said. 

Competition concerns over big tech have spanned administrations, with a case against Google and one against Facebook parent Meta Platforms filed under president Donald Trump's administration.

President Joe Biden's competition enforcers have followed with a second case against Google and cases against Amazon. 

Reuters