If price wars between Flipkart and Amazon is helping consumers get sweeter deals, the tide is turning for them as the bitter feud between Google and Amazon rages on. The multinational technology giants are engaged in a de-listing war which has seen each other’s products barred from their respective outlets. As of today, Amazon Fire TV and Echo Show users will not have access to YouTube. The popular video streaming portal, which had become the cornerstone for online streaming will be pulled off the Amazon devices from January 1, 2018, if an agreement is not reached.
"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 responded to the latest move accusing Google of setting up a "disappointing precedent".
The fight started with Amazon’s refusal to sell Google products on its portal such as Google Chromecast and its recent de-listing of Nest Secure and the E Thermostat. Amazon has also been engaged in a long-running tussle as it refuses to support Google Cast. Google has now decided to up its ante by refusing Amazon and its millions of existing Fire TV users of YouTube rights.
YouTube is a must-have for streaming devices, and blocking it would deal a heavy blow to Amazon. Amazon was also late in releasing the Prime Video app for Android in the Google Play Store. Previously, users had to install Amazon’s app store to access Prime Video, a move which was Amazon’s attempt at luring users to use its own Appstore.
This is the second time YouTube has disappeared from the Echo. The first time Google pulled down the service after complaining that Amazon violated its terms and conditions by overlaying Google’s voice controls with its own. This then resulted in users being denied of the Echo Show-friendly version of the streaming website and being presented with the full-blown website, which isn’t very user friendly.
Amazon has in the past thrown its weight and might around by refusing to sell Google products such as the Google Home on its web portal. Does it have the right to do so? Of course, considering it has a rival product Echo, on offer. But the multinational e-commerce giant took things a step further and even halted Chromecast as well as certain Nest hardware. Although, barring the Show from YouTube rights won’t create a big dent, it was still one of the feature that the smart device bragged about offering if you were in a kitchen and wanted to see cooking videos. The move will however, prove to be the Achilles’ heel for Fire TV, which will arguably see a dip in sales now.
Google has the upper hand here, no doubt, but the real sufferers would be consumers of both parties that have been caught in this imbroglio. Neither party has offered an apology to consumers for bring the feud to their doorsteps yet. Google’s latest notification for Amazon Fire TV users also just gives a soft ultimatum that the service would cease to exist come this new year, but does not offer an apology for the inconvenience caused. The petty bickering is sure to rub consumers the wrong way and an on-court settlement would be better advised for both. Since Amazon has come off worse in the feud, one would hope they reach a mutually acceptable solution soon.
(With inputs from Reuters)
