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posted by Fnord666 on Thursday December 07 2017, @02:38AM   Printer-friendly
from the he-started-it dept.

Google pulls YouTube from Amazon devices, escalating spat

A rare public spat in the technology industry escalated on Tuesday when Google said it would block its video streaming application YouTube from two Amazon.com Inc devices and criticized the online retailer for not selling Google hardware.

[...] In a statement, Google said, "Amazon doesn't carry Google products like Chromecast and Google Home, doesn't make (its) Prime Video available for Google Cast users, and last month stopped selling some of (our sister company) Nest's latest products. "Given this lack of reciprocity, we are no longer supporting YouTube on Echo Show and Fire TV," Google said. "We hope we can reach an agreement to resolve these issues soon."

[...] Amazon said in a statement, "Google is setting a disappointing precedent by selectively blocking customer access to an open website." It said it hoped to resolve the issue with Google as soon as possible but customers could access YouTube through the internet - not an app - on the devices in the meantime.

Meanwhile, Amazon Prime Video has come to the Apple TV.

Also at The Verge and Variety.

Previously: Google Pulls YouTube off of the Amazon Echo Show
Google's "Manhattan" to Compete With Amazon's Echo Show


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by ledow on Thursday December 07 2017, @09:17AM (2 children)

    by ledow (5567) on Thursday December 07 2017, @09:17AM (#606727) Homepage

    Lads, I like you both. I have Google Play Movies and Amazon Prime videos.

    I have a Google Chromecast.
    I subscribe to Amazon Prime.

    And I've always played both through the Chromecast. Admittedly a one-button solution would be nice rather than having to stream the tab from Chrome, but that's neither here nor there.

    Fact is, I bought the Chromecast from Google because I couldn't buy it on Amazon. You could have shared in your rival's profit but you wanted to make it difficult for me, and you also allowed a lot of Chromecast-related spam to sit in its place to trick people.

    And I subscribe to Amazon because there's no similar Google Play offering.

    However, the bottom line is this: If you force me to choose, I will. Permanently. That means I won't "lose" my videos that I bought. I'll still demand that you use your resources to send them to me whenever I want them. But you won't see a penny more of my money. Whoever "loses", misses out on that money I'm currently spending. Then I'll give it to their direct rival instead.

    So.. bicker if you like. One of you will lose, and you will both miss out over time as my confidence in purchasing via any such service erodes if you guys just keep falling out to this extent. I know precisely which one it is I would choose. I won't be damaged by it at all. But I'll spend nothing with the loser, and I'll spend less with the winner and any similar service going forward.

    When you have an answer, give me a shout. Because I think if you look, the only answer is "both stop being petty and support each other's gear". That means you get a percentage of everything your rival sells, if you negotiate it right, which is never a bad thing.

    The alternative - the separation that you're threatening - ends well for no-one. And with two big players losing out, it means that you could break that industry as a whole. Or certainly hurt as a result.

    Amazon - stock the Google hardware at the same prices as every other retail store, allow a Chromecast button to be put on if viewed by a Chrome browser, etc.
    Google - you have support for the fire stick, right? And you'll let them have YouTube like everyone else?

    Honestly, when you start talking to multi-billion dollar corporations like children, there's something drastically wrong with their negotiating skills or attitude to business.

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  • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday December 07 2017, @05:58PM

    by Freeman (732) on Thursday December 07 2017, @05:58PM (#606898) Journal

    So much this, but I have slowly been leaning toward the negative for both companies. The whole spiderman "with great power comes great responsibility" thing. Except, where corporations are concerned, all I ever see is "great power" and "government bail-out" or "Quarterly Financial". How about "giant corporation X to devote some previously unheard of sum/resources" to help the homeless, or something that would directly benefit society as a whole. You know other than the whole, I have lots of money, I like to roll in it, and "Oh, can you help train this H1B?", thanks.

    --
    Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 07 2017, @06:34PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 07 2017, @06:34PM (#606926)

    "I have Google Play Movies and Amazon Prime videos."

    well, that's depressing.