Microsoft updates YouTube app after Google’s angry letter – but still no ads

Microsoft has updated its YouTube app for Windows Phone following demands from YouTube’s parent company, Google, that Microsoft immediately remove and disable the app. Google made its demand as a result of several features of Microsoft’s app, including giving users the ability to download YouTube videos and skip advertisements. According to The Verge, Microsoft issued […]

Andrew Sadauskas 24 May, 2013

Microsoft has updated its YouTube app for Windows Phone following demands from YouTube’s parent company, Google, that Microsoft immediately remove and disable the app.

Google made its demand as a result of several features of Microsoft’s app, including giving users the ability to download YouTube videos and skip advertisements.

According to The Verge, Microsoft issued an immediate update on the day of the deadline.

However, while offering to add in YouTube’s advertisements, the new version of the app still strips out all ads from videos.

“Microsoft updated the Windows Phone YouTube app to address the restricted video and offline video access concerns voiced by Google last week,” a Microsoft spokesperson says.

“We have been in contact with Google and continue to believe that our two companies can work together to hone an app that benefits our mutual customers, partners and content providers.”

Last week, SmartCompany reported YouTube’s director of global platform partnerships, Francisco Varela, reportedly sent an angry letter to his counterpart at Microsoft over the YouTube app.

“It appears that the application: (1) allows users to download videos from YouTube? (2) prevents the display of advertisements in YouTube video playbacks? and (3) plays videos that our partners have restricted from playback on certain platforms (e.g., mobile devices with limited feature sets). These features directly harm our content creators and clearly violate our Terms of Service,” Varela reportedly wrote.

“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.

“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.”