Is Google being petty, or are its reasons completely justified. That's what we're wondering after it's been announced that Google is removing YouTube access from the Echo Show as of today and the Fire TV device from 1 January 2018.
Google's reasoning? Amazon insists on not selling rival products from Google, such as the Chromecast streaming device and various Nest smart home products, as well as not making Amazon Prime Video available as a streaming option on Chromecast. Google's official statement says: "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."
Nest products can be controlled using Alexa on an Amazon Echo device, yet Amazon chooses to not sell the full range, so we think Google has a fair argument on its hands.
Amazon has responded to Google's actions, 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."
However, according to The Verge, the web support is being removed as well.
The move is undoubtedly a huge blow for Amazon but we hope that the situation can eventually be resolved.