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Google continues its petty feud with Amazon
- The feud between the two multibillion-dollar companies deepens.
- YouTube on the Silk web browser is no longer optimized for Fire TV.
- These petty retaliatory moves end up hurting the consumers.
Amazon Fire TV users are reporting that YouTube’s usual TV-optimized interface on the Silk web browser is no more.
The feud between two multibillion-dollar corporations started when Amazon refused to sell Google’s products and offer Chromecast support on Prime Video on Android. Google subsequently removed YouTube from Echo Show devices and Fire TV as part of its retaliatory move, and although Amazon stated that it would start selling Chromecast devices again, that promise remains unfulfilled. Well, unfortunately for us consumers, it looks like the petty fight between these two won’t be ending any time soon.
Even after Google removed YouTube from Fire TV, users were still able to watch videos through the YouTube website. It’s arguably not as convenient as having a dedicated app, but the website’s optimized interface helped. However, according to The Verge, that is no more. Users who access YouTube on the Silk web browser on Fire TV will now get the good old desktop experience. The problem, of course, is that navigating through YouTube’s desktop website with the Fire TV remote requires an inhuman amount of patience.
Google previously said that it was holding productive talks with Amazon in the hopes that their feud wouldn’t negatively impact their mutual customers. Those talks, as it turns out, weren’t as productive as we had hoped.
What are your thoughts on Google and Amazon’s feud? Do you still use YouTube frequently on your Fire TV? Let us know by leaving a comment below!