It is the battle of giants and video is at the center of their conflict.
No sooner did Microsoft update its YouTube app for Windows Phone, then Google — the parent company that owns the popular video sharing service — issued a cease and desist letter, instructing the software giant to remove the YouTube app from the Windows Phone Store.
Google has demanded that Microsoft remove the app within a week’s time.
“We request that you immediately withdraw this application from the Windows Phone Store and disable existing downloads of the application by Wednesday, May 22, 2013,” the Google letter to Microsoft read.
What is at the core of this matter? The Microsoft YouTube application contains no ads, which Google claimed impacts those content creators that are paid via Google’s partner program. Google further alleges that this is a violation of the YouTube API terms and conditions.
“Content creators make money on YouTube by monetizing their content through advertising. Unfortunately, by blocking advertising and allowing downloads of videos, your application cuts off a valuable ongoing revenue source for creators, and causes harm to the thriving content ecosystem on YouTube,” the letter added. “We were surprised and disappointed that Microsoft chose to launch an application that deliberately deprives content creators of their rightful earnings, especially given that Windows Phone 8 users already have access to a fully-functional YouTube application based upon industry-standard HTML5 through the web browser.”
Microsoft had launched the YouTube app for Windows Phone on May 8, and while the Microsoft Windows Phone Store does not disclose the number of downloads for the app, the YouTube app was reportedly reviewed by more than 9,000 users and, as of this week, was the fifth-most-downloaded free app in the catalog......
