Amazon might be looking to compete with YouTube

Google and Amazon seem to have a hard time getting along, and recent trademark registrations hint that things could get even more heated. Amazon recently filed for trademarks on “AmazonTube” and “OpenTube”, suggesting it may be planning to take on video streaming behemoth YouTube.

If that seems like a stretch, the trademark filings describe the dissemination of “non-downloadable pre-recorded audio, visual and audiovisual works via wireless networks” that would “enable users to share content, photos, videos, text, data, images and other electronic works.” Sounds a lot like Google’s video service, right?

What exactly is going on here? How could anyone try to compete with something as huge as YouTube? Well, the truth is Amazon might be feeling like Google has backed it into a corner and forced it to at least try.

Google has blocked the YouTube app from the Amazon Echo Show, and has already posted a warning stating that it would block access to YouTube on Amazon Fire TV devices by January 1st. The warning came on December 5, the same day as Amazon’s trademark filings, making it seem like more than coincidence.

But we can’t simply frame Google as the bad guy here. The truth is both Amazon and Google have been playing the “who can do more” game for some time. Google’s actions are a response to Amazon’s practice of not selling devices seen as competing with its own products, like the Chromecast and Google Home. The Search Giant could also still be upset that Amazon Video refuses to play ball with Chromecast.

What’s going to happen? We don’t know for sure. Plenty of trademark filings never make it to market, so maybe Amazon is just covering its bases, or even bluffing. After all, Amazon has recently agreed to bring Apple TV and Chromecast back to its storefront, something that could ease the tension between the two tech titans.