Google makes its websites faster than rival services by taking an “unfair” share of internet traffic using special code to dominate networks, it has emerged.

Researchers have revealed that a Google algorithm can annex almost half of an internet network’s capacity, even when there are multiple online services vying for connections.

It means that data-heavy Google sites such as YouTube could stream video faster than competitors such as Netflix if multiple users are sharing the same internet connection, one of the researchers said.

The algorithm is available to other services, meaning its speed boosts are not only reserved for Google, but the research puts a spotlight on Google’s role in managing internet traffic as the company is under increased scrutiny over its central role in much of the plumbing of the internet.

Internet services use congestion control algorithms (CCAs) to efficiently share bandwidth when there is a potential bottleneck, and “throttle”, or slow down, certain functions when capacity is stretched.

For example, if several people are using a Wi-Fi network at an airport or coffee shop to stream videos, the algorithms will restrict the internet capacity available to each user, and reduce video quality.

But researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and software company Nefell Networks found that Google’s algorithm, known as BBR, takes up 40pc of internet capacity even when multiple services are competing for traffic.