Letter to The Honorable Makan Delrahim, Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice & The Honorable Joseph Simons, Chairman of the Federal Trade Comission - Tillis Leads Bipartisan Push to Protect Content Creators from Anticompetitive Practices

Letter

Dear Chairman Simons and Assistant Attorney General Delrahim:
We write you today regarding allegations of potentially anticompetitive practices and conduct by
online platforms toward content creators and emerging competitors. With public venues of all
kinds closed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, now, more than ever, content creators are
dependent upon revenues from streaming and other online sources. Unfortunately, public
reporting suggests that some online platforms are using their market dominance to provide
preference to their own streaming services, skewing marketplace pricing and competition.
As both of you know, in the last several years, streaming services have become an increasingly
preferred method by which audiences consume entertainment. From movies to music to
audiobooks, our creative communities have embraced streaming, creating a wide range of
options for audiences to access works digitally. This has become even more pronounced during
COVID-19, as shelter-in-place orders have closed theaters and delayed new releases, making
streaming services an even more vital part of consumers' lives. During this time, with so many
filmmakers, musicians, and other artistic communities dependent on digital streaming services as
their only sources of revenue, it is in the national interest to keep the streaming marketplace
competitive, open, and fair.
Recently, The Wall Street Journal reported that Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google
and YouTube, has designed Google Search to specifically give preference to YouTube and other
Google-owned video service providers.1 There is no public insight into how Google designs its
algorithms, which seem to deliver up preferential search results for YouTube and other Google
video products ahead of other competitive services. While a company favoring its own products,
in and of itself, may not always constitute illegal anticompetitive conduct, the Journal further
reports that a significant motivation behind this action was to "give YouTube more leverage in
1 Sam Schechner, Kirsten Grind & John West, Searching for Video? Google Pushes YouTube Over
Rivals, The Wall Street Journal (July 14, 2020).
2
business deals with content providers seeking traffic for their videos…." This exact conduct was
the topic of a Senate Antitrust Subcommittee hearing led by Senators Lee and Klobuchar in
March this year.2
It is even more worrisome that this alleged conduct is occurring at a time when YouTube is
bringing in record revenues from advertisements. According to information released earlier this
year, YouTube received more than $15 billion in advertising revenue last year alone--or
approximately twelve percent of what advertisers pay across the entire Internet.
3 In total, over the
past three years YouTube received more than $34 billion in advertising revenue.
4
When viewed in the context of YouTube's advertising revenue, the allegations raised by The
Wall Street Journal are even more troubling. Accordingly, we ask that you thoroughly review
this situation to determine whether Google's algorithm is giving preference to YouTube and/or
other Google owned video service providers, and whether such conduct violates the antitrust
laws. We also ask that you inquire as to whether Alphabet/Google is using its resulting market
dominance to gain leverage in business deals with content providers.
Of course, we do not presume that any such conduct has occurred or if it has that it automatically
constitutes a violation of antitrust laws. However, given the concerns raised by this report, we
ask that you review the allegations in question to determine whether there is anticompetitive
conduct that should be addressed through potential antitrust enforcement.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. If you have any questions, please do not
hesitate to contact us. We stand ready and willing to work with you.
Sincerely,
_______________________ _______________________
Thom Tillis Mike Lee
United States Senator United States Senator
2 "Competition in Digital Technology Markets: Examining Self-Preferencing by Digital Platforms,"
March 10, 2020, https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/competition-in-digital-technology-marketsexamining-self-preferencing-by-digital-platforms.
3 Internet Advertising Bureau, 2019 Internet Advertising Revenue Report (May 28, 2020),
https://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/FY19-IAB-Internet-Ad-Revenue-Report_Final.pdf. 4 Julia Alexander, Creators finally know how much money YouTube makes, and they want more of it, The
Verge (2020).
3
_____________________ _______________________
Amy Klobuchar Richard Blumenthal
United States Senator United States Senator
_______________________ _______________________
Marsha Blackburn Josh Hawley
United States Senator United States Senator
_______________________ _______________________
Elizabeth Warren Mazie Hirono
United States Senator United States Senator
_____________________
______________________ ______________________
Cory A. Booker Ted Cruz
United States Senator United States Senator