[ethana]

Google is no angel themselves. What they did to Windows Phone is no different than Amazon's behavior. I'd imagine Windows Phone might as well died even if there were Google apps on it. But by actively preventing third-parties from porting their services to WP, Google intentionally tried to kill it. Now they now practically own the global market of smartphones. Not saying any of this is right, but I've less empathy for them.

[notatoad]

>But by actively preventing third-parties from porting their services to WP

[citation needed]

The only history i'm aware of with google blocking app development on windows phone is when they sent C&Ds to people developing apps that stripped all the ads off youtube and played background audio. They also consistently take down and block android apps that violate the TOS in this way, and i don't see anybody saying that google is trying to kill android.

[microtonal]

Google blocked the web version of Google Maps in Internet Explorer for Windows Phone:

https://mashable.com/2013/01/05/google-maps-windows-phone/#g...

Maps worked fine with exactly the same Trident engine on the desktop. Moreover, if you change the user agent string, maps also worked fine with Windows Phone.

[thaumasiotes]

That seems like a pretty simple fix for Microsoft to make on behalf of every Windows Phone user... Google can't compel MS to identify its phones for Google's benefit.

[arcticfox]

Google would just change the user-agent they were blocking to whatever Microsoft changed it to. It was intentional.

[thaumasiotes]

Again, there's no rule that says devices must have unique user-agents. Once you've established that Google wants to block Windows Phone from using maps, you can send the user-agent string of something they don't want to block.

[zeusk]

Hahaha

https://www.theverge.com/2013/8/15/4624706/google-blocks-win...

https://www.theverge.com/2013/8/15/4625502/microsoft-respond...

Google pulls this same bs with consoles as well, both PS4 and Xbox One (S/X) have a shitty HTML5 app that just doesn't fit well with rest of the system.

[oceanstone]

Really? I've used the ps4 YouTube app a bunch to watch videos, and movies purchased from the play store. My phone can cast to it as well. Seems to work as well as the Netflix app. I've had more issues with the ps4 store app honestly.

[snuxoll]

So does Apple TV now after the most recent update, and it’s absoultely terrible.

[snuxoll]

Nobody stripped ads offf YouTube videos - Google doesn’t provide an API you can use to display them in the first place and they had no desire to make a native application themselves to remove the necessity.

The background audio stuff, sure - that happened.

[hota_mazi]

If you do a Google search for "Alexa" or "dot echo", the first hits will be Amazon's products.

As long as this is true, Google is acting a lot more objectively than Amazon and its anti-competitive behavior.

[pjc50]

Shady anti-portability tactics against Microsoft is just karma.

[pkaye]

I'm sure Microsoft could have worked out a deal with Google. For example there were some patents for filesystems that Microsoft was enforcing for a while on Android phones.

[jd20]

Not to mention when Google blocked YouTube from Echo Show devices. This almost seems like retaliation.

[mooman219]

The block was because Echo Show devices don't support various features like ads. Also at the time, the YouTube block could be seen as retaliation for Amazon de-listing ChromeCast.

[Buge]

That was the first block. Then Amazon re-implemented it to just be a browser that views youtube.com so ads show just as on the normal website, and Google blocked their user agent.

[sincerely]

"features"

[oh_sigh]

Ads are a feature which allow the various companies involved to provide content for free to the consumer.

[cloudwalking]

This should not be downvoted. YouTube does not have a viable competitor because serving video is incredibly expensive.

Edit: This is being downvoted as well. Downvoted is for off-topic or inflammatory comments, not for comments you disagree with. If you disagree, leave a comment and explain why!

[leoedin]

Is that true? What about Vimeo, Dailymotion, and the countless streaming sites which pop up to serve pirated content?

I don't doubt serving video to an audience as large as YouTube's is very expensive, but then with an audience as large as YouTube's there's a lot of money to be made. Bandwidth cost scales with views.

Surely YouTube's advantage is a network effect. They make it easy and quick to upload videos which then have the potential to be viewed millions or billions of times. Plenty of people use Vimeo, but there's not the same potential for virality.

[Buge]

>Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

If you want to agree with a downvoted comment, simply say you agree and give some reasons why. Don't mention the downvotes.

[ma2rten]

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=658683

[Buge]

Google blocked Echo from viewing Youtube in retaliation for Amazon not listing Chromecast. If Amazon agreed to list Chromecast, all the blocks could be eliminated and the war could end.

[yellowapple]

Or when Google blocked YouTube from Fire TV devices, after which Amazon stopped selling Chromecasts. Or maybe it was the other way around.

This is - in other words - not the first time Amazon and Google got in a spat like this, and probably ain't the last.

[notatoad]

that was the other way around.

and amazon's rationale for not selling chromecasts was because the chromecast didn't support amazon prime video. which was, of course, a decision that amazon had made.

[scarface74]

It wasn't Google that didn't support Amazon Prime Video, Amazon didn't add support. It was the same reason the Amazon gave for not selling the Apple TV 3rd and 4th generations. Apple worked with dozens of other providers to add apps to the 3rd gen ATV and a time could write an app for the 4th gen TV.

The proof is that there is now an Amazon Video app for the 3rd and 4th gen ATV. It was a surprise to almost everyone that Amazon/Apple ported Amazon Video to the 3rd Gen ATV after it had been discontinued for over a year.

[karavelov]

I don't think it's Amazon decision to not allow Prime video on the google chromecast devices - it's available of consoles, Roku and other 3rd party devices.

[vanviegen]

Sure it is. Chromecast offers an API everybody can just use, without asking Google for permission.

[kuschku]

Nope.

Chromecast only offers an API if you already have a license to the Google Play Services, which does require Google’s permission.

And this license only allows sending Chromecast streams – it does not allow the FireTV to receive any.

[Slansitartop]

> Google is no angel themselves. What they did to Windows Phone is no different than Amazon's behavior.

That's why breakups or heavy regulation needs to seriously considered for these companies. They have too much market power and have shown a proclivity towards abusing it in anti-competitive ways. The market has developed, and I don't think leaving it unregulated is working anymore.

[tyler_larson]

http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism