Truth Social Partners With Rumble To Get Ads As A Source Of Income

JAKARTA - Former US President Donald Trump's social media platform, Truth Social, will join a new ad platform from the video-sharing company, Rumble. This was revealed on Tuesday, August 23, when Trump's group attempted to sell ads while avoiding big tech companies like Google.

The announcement reflects the deep relationship between Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the parent company of Truth Social, and Rumble, a Canadian video-sharing platform that has been serving Republican conservatives.

Both Rumble and TMTG position themselves as alternatives to Big Tech companies; in the announcement of their new ad platform. Even Rumble describes it as competing with advertising programs like Google AdSense and Ad Exchange.

The two sides reached a "cloud technology and services" deal last December that would include video and streaming for Truth Social.

Rumble has also worked with TMTG for months in a role described internally as a key strategic partnership but not clearly defined to staff, according to two people familiar with TMTG's operations.

Truth Social restored Trump's social media presence more than a year after he was banned from Twitter Inc, Facebook, and YouTube following the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riots. During the rioting, Trump was accused of posting messages that incited violence.

Truth Social was launched on the Apple App Store on February 21 and is not yet available on the Google Play Store for Android users.

Advertising is the key to TMTG's business. In a May 27 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Digital World Acquisition Corp, the blank check company that announced TMTG, said that TMTG "may rely on sales of advertising services for the majority of TMTG's revenue."

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 on the social media platform.