Google blocks YouTube access from Amazon’s streaming devices I Google blocks YouTube on Amazon devices in escalating feud I Google lashes out at Amazon, blocks YouTube access from the Fire TV, Echo Show

Alphabet Inc.’s Google pulled support for its YouTube video service from Amazon.com Inc.’s streaming-media devices, citing the internet retailer’s failure to make Amazon Prime Video available through Google’s gadgets and the recent halt of the sale of some Nest products on its website.

Google is pulling its popular YouTube video service from Amazon's Fire TV and Echo Show devices in an escalating feud that has caught consumers in the crossfire.

Alphabet Inc.’s Google pulled support for its YouTube video service from Amazon.com Inc.’s streaming-media devices, citing the internet retailer’s failure to make Amazon Prime Video available through Google’s gadgets and the recent halt of the sale of some Nest products on its website. Google blocked YouTube access via the Echo Show, Amazon’s smart speaker with a touchscreen, on Tuesday and will stop supporting YouTube on Amazon’s Fire TV set-top box on Jan. 1. In a statement, a Google representative said it’s taking the action because the YouTube apps on Amazon products aren’t made by Google, like the YouTube app on the iPhone is, and the retail giant doesn’t sell some Google products, such as Chromecast and Google Home.

“We’ve been trying to reach agreement with Amazon to give consumers access to each other’s products and services,” Google said in a statement. In its own statement, Seattle-based Amazon said its gadgets now send users to the YouTube website, and the company hopes to resolve the dispute as soon as possible. The rivalry between Google and Amazon has heated up as the search giant and online retailer have moved quickly into hardware and internet services. In the past few years, both have introduced multiple new home devices, including speakers and home-security products. Both have also been pushing their own video and music-streaming services as well as competing video-control platforms. They also both offer corporate cloud-computing services, a market where Amazon leads by a wide margin.

The video-streaming access fight has been brewing for some time. In September, Google blocked YouTube support for the Echo Show and at the time said Amazon’s implementation “violates our terms of service, creating a broken user experience.” This was resolved in November for Echo Show users, when Amazon began forwarding people using that device to a stripped-down third-party app that leveraged the YouTube website, instead of a native app. Then, last month, Amazon pulled Nest’s latest devices, including its cheaper thermostat, from its online store. The Chromecast streaming product was removed from Amazon.com in 2015.

“Echo Show and Fire TV now display a standard web view of YouTube.com and point customers directly to YouTube’s existing website,” Amazon said in the statement. “Google is setting a disappointing precedent by selectively blocking customer access to an open website.” Mountain View, California-based Google isn’t the only competitor that has seen its products blocked from Amazon’s site. After being pulled from the No. 1 e-commerce site in 2015, the Apple TV box reappeared on the retail website in September, only to vanish again. Apple Inc., meantime, said Amazon Prime Video would become available as an app for Apple TV by the end of the year, but it hasn’t yet been released.

A rare public spat in the technology industry escalated 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.

The feud is the latest in Silicon Valley to put customers in the crossfire of major competitors. Amazon and Google, which is owned by Alphabet Inc, square off in many areas, from cloud computing and online search, to selling voice-controlled gadgets like the Google Home and Amazon Echo Show. 

The stakes are high: many in the technology industry expect that interacting with computers by voice will become widespread, and it is unclear if Amazon, Google or another company will dominate the space. Amazon's suite of voice-controlled devices has outsold Google's so far, according to a study by research firm eMarketer from earlier this year. 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. The break has been a long time coming. Amazon kicked the Chromecast, Google's television player, off its retail website in 2015, along with Apple Inc's TV player. Amazon had explained the move by saying it wanted to avoid confusing customers who might expect its Prime Video service to be available on devices sold by Amazon.

Amazon and Apple mended ties earlier this year when it was announced Prime Video would come to Apple TV. Not so with Google. In September, Google cut off YouTube from the Amazon Echo Show, which had displayed videos on its touchscreen without video recommendations, channel subscriptions and other features. Amazon later reintroduced YouTube to the device, but the voice commands it added violated the use terms and on Tuesday Google again removed the service.

The Fire TV loses access to its YouTube app on Jan. 1, Google said. Amazon has sold that device for longer than the Echo Show, meaning more customers may now be affected. 

Google blocks YouTube access from Amazon's streaming devices