Google has been making Microsoft jump through hoops for months regarding the development of a YouTube app for the Windows Phone. Looks like Microsoft has finally had it.
Yesterday, a scathing blog post from Microsoft VP and deputy general counsel David Howard attacked Google for continuing to block its YouTube app for the Windows Phone. Google says the app wasn’t made according to Google’s guidelines and hence doesn’t give the user the “fully featured YouTube experience.” After months of going back and trying to fix the issue, the app briefly reappeared on Microsoft’s platform, only to be taken down again.
This time, Microsoft responded by openly questioning Google’s much touted commitment to openness and accusing it of having a different set of rules for Windows than it requires for Android and iOS.
In his post, Howard explains how Microsoft did everything to satisfy Google’s whims:
We temporarily took down our full-featured app when Google objected to it last May, and have worked hard to accommodate Google’s requests. We enabled Google’s advertisements, disabled video downloads and eliminated the ability for users to view reserved videos. We did this all at no cost to Google, which one would think would want a YouTube app on Windows Phone that would only serve to bring Google new users and additional revenue.
But apparently the one sticking point was Google’s request to have the app coded in HTML 5, which Microsoft says isn’t fair since they aren’t demanding the same from Android or iOS.
Google also says that we are not complying with its “terms and conditions.” What Google really means is that our app is not based on HTML5. The problem with this argument, of course, is that Google is not complying with this condition for Android and iPhone. Again, we’re happy to collaborate with Google on an HTML5 app, but we shouldn’t be required to do something that apparently neither iPhone nor Android has successfully figured out how to do.
Howard refutes each of Google’s complaints point by point, and ends by challenging Google to stop treating Microsoft like the unpopular kid in high school.
We think it’s clear that Google just doesn’t want Windows Phone users to have the same experience as Android and Apple users, and that their objections are nothing other than excuses.
Your move, Google.
