Google vs Amazon: YouTube services no longer available on Fire TV
Tuesday, January 2, 2018 IST
Google has blocked YouTube on Amazon's Fire TV earlier than expected amid growing rivalry between the two tech giants as their businesses continue to overlap.
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The move is in retaliation for Amazon's refusal to sell some Google products that compete with the retailer's gadgets, and Fire TV devices now encourage people to access YouTube via one of the gadget's web browsers instead, the Dailymail reported.
"YouTube and millions of other websites are accessible by using a web browser like Firefox or Silk on Fire TV," Amazon was quoted as saying.
Earlier this month, Google had warned Amazon that it would pull the YouTube app from Fire TV devices on January 1, if the two firms could not come to an agreement on the access of Google's apps on Fire TV devices.
"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," The Verge quoted a YouTube spokesperson as saying.
"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," the spokesperson added.
Amazon pointed towards the unfair nature of Google of effectively blocking access to the YouTube web site based on the type of device being used to access it, Engadget reported.
"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," Amazon was quoted as saying.
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