Google pulling YouTube from Echo Show and Fire TV

A couple of weeks ago, YouTube reappeared on the Amazon Echo Show and while it wasn’t quite as nice as the version that got pulled by Google, it was still YouTube working on the Echo Show again. Unfortunately, it looks like that version of YouTube is about to disappear from the Echo Show, too.

Google confirmed today that it’s yanking YouTube from both the Echo Show and the Fire TV. The video service will be pulled from the Echo Show today, while Fire TV owners will lose access to it on January 1, 2018.

As for why it’s pulling YouTube access from Amazon hardware again, Google cited a “lack of reciprocity”. Google explains that while Amazon uses YouTube on its devices, the retailer doesn’t sell Google products like the Chromecast and Google Home, nor does it offer Prime Video for Google Cast users.

Google’s full statement to The Verge looks like this:

“​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.”

This news is disappointing and hurts Amazon and Google’s customers. It’s understandable that Google is frustrated by Amazon using its service but not selling its products, but pulling YouTube from Amazon’s devices means that Google is making it harder to use YouTube on Amazon’s hardware. Hopefully the two companies can work out a deal soon and YouTube can return to Amazon’s devices.

source: androidandme