Roku Says It May Lose YouTube TV App After Google Made Anti-Competitive Demands

Sara Fischer, reporting for Axios:

Roku says Google is threatening the removal of YouTube TV to force Roku to grant preferential access to its consumer data moving forward.

  • It says Google has asked Roku to do things that it does not see replicated on other streaming competitors’ platforms, like creating a dedicated search results row for YouTube within the Roku smart TV interface and giving YouTube search results more prominent placement.

  • Roku says Google has also required it to block search results from other streaming content providers while users are using the YouTube app on Roku’s system.

  • Roku alleges Google has asked it to favor YouTube music results from voice commands made on the Roku remote while the YouTube app is open, even if the user’s music preference is set to default to another music app, like Pandora.

Maybe Roku shouldn’t have made all those remote controls with dedicated YouTube buttons.

★ Tuesday, 27 April 2021