Google-Amazon rift gets really personal

Google has announced blocking YouTube on Amazon’s Fire TV and its Echo Show amid growing rivalry between the two tech giants as their businesses continue to overlap.

“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 late on Tuesday.

“Given this lack of reciprocity, we are no longer support- ing YouTube on Echo Show and FireTV. We hope we can reach an agreement to resolve these issues soon,” the spokesperson added.

Meanwhile, Amazon responded, pointing towards the unfair nature of Google 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. The tech titans have been battling around the implementation of YouTube on the Echo Show since last past few months. Earlier in September, YouTube was blocked over Google’s concerns about how the app looked on Amazon’s device. It reinstated at the end of November.

Amazon Echo Show is a smart speaker that is part of the Amazon Echo line of products. It is designed around the company’s virtual assistant Alexa but additionally features a 7-inch touchscreen display.

Amazon Fire TV is digital media player and its microconsole remote developed by Amazon. IANS