Comcast’s video ads business Freewheel has accused Google of hiding behind privacy concerns as a means to prevent it from selling ads for clients with YouTube channels.
Reuters reported that Comcast is using its comments, made to a congressional task force last month, to take a stance against Google replicating its success with the online advertising market within the video ad business.
It’s the first time that a large media company has made a move against Google.
“FreeWheel would embrace a solution that allowed it to continue to meaningfully serve its clients when they publish their content on YouTube, as it had for over a decade on that platform,” Comcast said in a statement released to Reuters. “Unfortunately, the actions to remove or degrade FreeWheel’s capabilities on YouTube fall well short of that.”
The issue is that Freewheel’s clients receive less data from Google placed ads than they might if buying direct from Google.
The fears are said to reflect wider concerns within the cable and advertising industry.
The difference here is that unlike smaller companies, who fear to speak out because of their reliance on Google’s services, Comcast has a formidable lobbying organisation. It is said to have spent several million dollars lobbying on net neutrality in the last decade.
Google says that it is co-operating with the investigation.
