Microsoft, Google Quibbling Over Lack Of YouTube On Windows Phones

Microsoft has become a major player in the video sharing game, and the tech giant seems be picking fights with the big boys. Microsoft VP Dave Heiner has written a blog post accusing Google of intentionally failing to design a YouTube app for Windows phones. “You might think that Google would be on its best behavior given it’s under the bright lights of regulatory scrutiny on two continents…that is not the case.” asserted Heiner, “Google continues to prevent Microsoft from offering consumers a fully featured YouTube app for the Windows Phone.”

Given the hubbub caused by Google losing its place as the Iphone’s nascent video sharing app, this kind of stuff is serious business. It’s unclear if Google is purposefully delaying its Windows mobile YouTube app as a way to kick down Microsoft or if they are trying to figure out the best way to make money via mobile advertising. Of course, it’s also possible Google is struggling to build the app, but that’s obviously unlikely given the number of smart people who work there

Microsoft has previously accused Google of blocking its efforts to build a YouTube app, and now insists even YouTube wishes to implement more than the bare-bones app currently in place. “Microsoft has continued to engage with YouTube personnel over the past two years to remedy this problem for consumers. As you might expect, it appears that YouTube itself would like all customers — on Windows Phone as on any other device — to have a great YouTube experience.” said Heiner. “But just last month we learned from YouTube that senior executives at Google told them not to enable a first-class YouTube experience on Windows Phones.” Now that’s juicy. Fasten your seatbelts–it’s gonna be a bumpy night.