The announcement reflects a deepening relationship between Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), Truth Social’s parent company, and Rumble, a Canadian video-sharing platform that caters to conservatives.
Rumble had already been working with TMTG for months in a role that was described internally as a key strategic partnership but not clearly defined to staffers, according to two people with knowledge of TMTG operations.
The two sides had already struck a “technology and cloud services” deal in December that would include video and streaming for Truth Social.
Truth Social restored Trump’s presence on social media more than a year after he was banned from Twitter Inc, Facebook and Alphabet Inc’s YouTube following the Jan. 6, 2021, US Capitol riots, after he was accused of posting messages inciting violence.
It launched in the Apple App Store on February 21 and has yet to become available in the Google Play Store for Android users.
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Advertising is key to TMTG’s business. In a May 27 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Digital World Acquisition Corp, the blank-check firm taking TMTG public, said that TMTG “may rely on the sale of advertising services for the substantial majority of TMTG’s revenue.”
Both Rumble and TMTG are positioning themselves as alternatives to Big Tech firms such as Google and Facebook.
In its August 23 announcement of its new ad platform, Rumble described it as competition to Google’s AdSense and Ad Exchange advertising programs.
As of August 23 Trump had 3.89 million followers on Truth Social, compared to the more than 88 million he had on Twitter when he was banned.
