Source The Drum
Google has upped the stakes in a bitter ongoing feud with Amazon after decreeing that its YouTube service would no longer be available on Fire TV or the Echo Show video device from 1 January.
At issue is a perceived lack of ‘reciprocity’ with Amazon failing to offer equal access to Google’s products and services, prompting the dramatic rebuke.
Explaining the measure, Google said in a statement: “We’ve been trying to reach agreement with Amazon to give consumers access to each other’s products and services. But Amazon doesn’t carry Google products like Chromecast and Google Home, doesn’t make Prime Video available for Google Cast users, and last month stopped selling some of Nest’s latest products.
“Given this lack of reciprocity. We are no longer supporting YouTube on Echo Show and FireTV. We hope we can reach an agreement to resolve these issues soon.”
An Amazon spokeswoman countered that the service had done nothing wrong however, saying: “Echo Show and Fire TV now display a standard web view of YouTube.com and point customers directly to YouTube’s existing website. Google is setting a disappointing precedent by selectively blocking customer access to an open website. We hope to resolve this with Google as soon as possible.”
Google and Amazon’s differences have been laid bare in recent months; notably when YouTube pulled a previous disappearing act from Amazon’s Echo Show gadget in September amidst claims that it violated its terms of service – only to return to the fold last month.
