This is one reason why the Roku is such a great streaming platform, they're neutral.
You can receive VUDU (Walmart), Prime Video (Amazon), and YouTube/Play Movies (Google). The only thing you cannot receive is Apple's ecosystem (but no non-Apple streaming hardware can as far as I know). Same reason why Spotify is so prevalent, they too are neutral in this war between titans.
I have no sympathy for Google or Amazon in this particular situation since both have a track record of blocking out competition when they can. I do have sympathy for customers who get caught in the middle of these little disputes.
I may be wrong but Google can block itself from being shown on Roku right? It seems weird to call Roku neutral when it's not them but Google calling the shots.
Google can block YouTube wherever it wishes because their YouTube clients are either:
- first-party, so they make them on platforms where they wish to be present on, and conversely withdraw from platforms on which they no longer wish to be present; or,
- third-party, such they are bound by the YouTube API Services Terms of Service [1], which reserves their right to terminate any client for specifically enumerated reasons, or any or no reason at all.
[1] https://developers.google.com/youtube/terms/api-services-ter...