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Google Pulls Access to YouTube on Amazon's Echo Show Smart Speaker

Enabledobject said:
I must be in the minority not understanding the hype about amazon. I’ve only ever ordered a couple few things from them. Mostly because they don’t take PayPal.
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Where do you shop that’s not a master class is frustration, partial selection, and poor service? Nearly every brick and mortar I go to for the past couple of years seems to have serious issues with the quality of the staff, and there’s no pricing advantage or real value to using gas and time to go there.
 
Amazon and Google need to be split up, they have become too much of a monopoly. Time for the government to bring up anti-trust charges and split them.
 
MacRumors said:



Google pulled access to YouTube through Amazon's display-based Echo Show smart speaker on Tuesday, a move that appears to have angered Amazon and led to conflicting public statements by both companies over the sudden move.

"Currently, Google is not supporting Youtube on Echo Show." That's the message Alexa started giving Echo Show owners yesterday afternoon when they tried to access the video service. An Amazon spokesperson later confirmed to The Verge that YouTube was no longer available on Echo Show devices, and offered a statement implying that Google's decision had been an unwelcome surprise.

amazonechoshow-800x618.jpg
Google issued its own statement to The Verge shorty afterwards, contradicting Amazon's assertion that the move had been made without fair warning.
The move comes as a blow to Amazon's hopes for its Echo Show smart speaker, given that it has been marketed with a heavy emphasis on the device's display, which lets users see details related to their Alexa queries and watch online video - food recipes for instance, which are often hosted on YouTube.

Google's decision to pull access reflects similar moves by the company to protect its vision of how the YouTube service should function and appear to users. Earlier this month, Google forced popular iOS app ProTube off the App Store after serving the developer multiple takedown requests because it said the app violated YouTube's terms of service.

Article Link: Google Pulls Access to YouTube on Amazon's Echo Show Smart Speaker
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[doublepost=1506514849][/doublepost]I just called Amazon wanting to get a refund because of this YouTube madness...they refunded me with Amazon credit and told me to keep the Show.
Well that works too.
 
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Seems only logical, You Tube is Google IP, if someone wants to display it you have to play by their rules. Amazon does the same type of things. Go try to buy a Chromecast or Google Home on Amazon. First results are an amazon Echo and Fire Stick with no sign anywhere of Google devices. Can’t even watch amazon prime video on Android because Amazon is being crazy about it. At least if you search for amazon products on google they are nice enough to show you proper results unlike Amazon.
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NIKKG said:
Amazon and Google need to be split up, they have become too much of a monopoly. Time for the government to bring up anti-trust charges and split them.
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Really don’t see either as a Monopoly. Although aid Amazon keeps buying stores they will get that way.. you have choices though for alternatives to both, which means not a monopoly. I shop on Target more now for example. Their subscribe options are much better.
 
Why do people want to watch YouTube on the Echo Show? Mind you, I'm not a fan of any of these personal AI devices in the first place, but with so many other ways to watch YT, I don't get it. "Hey Alexa...show me stupid cat videos while I make breakfast"?
 
mixel said:
Very fast delivery (with prime) - sell pretty much everything. Often very good prices. Good music and video streaming services. Better than average hardware. Things like the amazon basics lines are interesting too, Amazon make the best lightning cables I’ve ever owned, bizarrely.

They deliver about 40% of my groceries too.

They do so much now it’s hard not to find something to like, even if they are a tax dodging megacorp of dubious moral standards.
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All of this plus amazing customer service. They do have people you can speak to and those people fix your problems. We purchased a wine fridge that sat in the box for a couple of months whilst we finished our kitchen renovation. Finally got it plugged in and it wouldn't maintain the 25F temperature separation they advertised (dual zone model). Contacted the manufacturer and they were insistent that I needed to ship it to California (at my expense) for a warranty repair. Contacted Amazon and they swapped the unit for a new one, no questions, no cost to me!
 
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dmylrea said:
Why do people want to watch YouTube on the Echo Show? Mind you, I'm not a fan of any of these personal AI devices in the first place, but with so many other ways to watch YT, I don't get it. "Hey Alexa...show me stupid cat videos while I make breakfast"?
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The Echo Show on a worktop in the kitchen, with youtube recipes- this saves marriages. As dishwashers do.
"The way to a man and womens heart is through their stomach."
 
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dmylrea said:
Why do people want to watch YouTube on the Echo Show? Mind you, I'm not a fan of any of these personal AI devices in the first place, but with so many other ways to watch YT, I don't get it. "Hey Alexa...show me stupid cat videos while I make breakfast"?
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It's in the article, if you read it, the example they give is a video of recipe you might want to follow as you try cooking a new dish.
 
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Thank goodness Google are here to protect my user experience

[Warning: obligatory car analogy]

I'm just waiting for Shell to refuse to allow me to use their petrol in my car if they feel my car is going to provide a sub-standard driving experience.
 
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Enabledobject said:
I must be in the minority not understanding the hype about amazon. I’ve only ever ordered a couple few things from them. Mostly because they don’t take PayPal.
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I love Amazon as a retailer. Good prices. Quick and efficient shipping. Painless returns with credit as soon as the return package is scanned.

I long ago stopped doing business with PayPal, except as absolutely required, and then only with credit card payments. (I deleted all of our bank account information.) They are anti-consumer, and I don't trust them with my money.
 
This kind of business model starts to get dirtier and consumers is the end loser of all these. Apple getting kickbacks from carriers and carriers getting money from non Apple products sold. Obviously Google want some money from Amazon from these devices. The consumers ended up paying for all of these.
 
End of the day, all about them. Amazon did exactly the same stunt with Apple on their video app, "user experience" why no app for Apple TV. If anyone gets thrown under the bus, it will be the users. Shame actually.
 
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Glassed Silver said:
ftfy, Google.

That's not the metric for user experience, otherwise ProTube wouldn't have delivered what you are unwilling to deliver yourself to iOS users.

This is all about the dollar.
What ticks me off more though is that they get away with it and nobody is reporting stories like these with the decent share of WHY customers get shafted yet again.

Also, if you think this is tech news, no it isn't. Stories like these belong on newspapers, dare I say front-page even, because YouTube has an unmatched large audience and whatever they do on that platform directly translates to how people consume not just funny cat videos, but also news, shows, educational content, etc...

YT is bigger than good ole TV for an entire generation so as long as they want to reap the benefits of a close-to-monopoly status they should be held to very high standards of accessibility.

Glassed Silver:mac
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Google has no legal obligation to make its services available on all platforms or devices.
 
Enabledobject said:
I must be in the minority not understanding the hype about amazon. I’ve only ever ordered a couple few things from them. Mostly because they don’t take PayPal.
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The Amazon marketplace is very convenient. You are right, they do not take PayPal which is a downside. I have tested Amazon Prime Now. Two hour delivery, really! I have used Amazon Prime Pantry. I filled a box with groceries and had it delivered. Since I maxed the weight out, I am sure my mail lady loved me. The two day Prime delivery is something that I have grown very accustomed to using.

Other benefits of Prime membership, I enjoy include Audible Channels. Every morning, I get select headlines from The Washington Post, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal read to me. I use Alexa so often that I actually do not even think about it any more. In the kitchen, I use timers, recipes, measurement conversions, and of course music or news. Kids sometimes use Amazon Prime movies, I'm not a really big fan there, limited selection. What about the Amazon Prime Photos? Unlimited storage included with your Prime membership! It's a great back up to iCloud. Again, seamless and easy.

I am a true Apple Fanboy but Amazon Prime to me is certainly worth the fee. Of special note, if someone in your house is a student with an EDU email address you get a wicked discount on the annual fee.
 
RichTF said:
No need for the fix, it's correct in the original. Remember that their primary users are the advertisers, and those watching YouTube are the "product" that it's selling to its advertiser "customers". ;)
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Spot on observation, but unfortunately that directly contradicts Googles dubious decision. If "eyes on the video" is the product they are selling - and the price is based on the total number of eyes - then all removing access to a platform accomplishes is to reduce the number of eyes.
 
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once you see that you can buy a chromecast on amazon youll see youtube back on the show device.
Amazon stopped allowing sales of the chromecast on amazon a year or so back . amazons reason that they posted was to not create user confusion by having the chromecast.
how could anyone believe such a stupid comment.
they sell zillions of items that play different video and audio content.
 
applesith said:
Google has no legal obligation to make its services available on all platforms or devices.
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I did not state they do.

I do however think that they abuse their market position quite a lot considering YouTube's importance.

It's called anti-trust and a court COULD, if evidence was found and judged on, find that Google IS breaking the law.

Not because they don't literally invest own work to be on any platform, but because they might invest effort to block competitors.

Glassed Silver:mac
 
chiefsilverback said:
It's in the article, if you read it, the example they give is a video of recipe you might want to follow as you try cooking a new dish.
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My wife uses her cheap Amazon Fire tablet next to her cookbook for the exact same purpose. I guess people would rather spend $230 instead of $50.
 
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