As Amazon and Alphabet, Google, continue to argue about transferring products from one to the other, Amazon may be planning to launch its own version of YouTube.
Alphabet made the decision in early December to remove YouTube from the Amazon Echo Show and will soon remove it from Amazon Fire streaming devices. The move came after Amazon refused to port some Google hardware, including the Google Chromecast and Google Home, and did not support Amazon Video on Google's Chromecast hardware.
Two patent filings from Amazon, first spotted by the website TV Answer Man, describe services called “Amazon Tube” or “Open Tube” that would create “online network services that allow users to share content, photos, videos, text, data, images, and other electronic works.” The two patent filings are identical, except for the name of the service. Amazon’s patents were filed on December 5th — the same days that news broke that YouTube was being removed from Amazon’s software.
That doesn't necessarily mean Amazon will actually build something like YouTube—big companies like Amazon and Google often file patents for products and services that never see the light of day. And building a video-sharing service isn't easy. Allowing users to share content quickly creates a host of problems that need to be solved around user-generated content, from creating a smooth process for uploading videos to screening inappropriate or violent content. YouTube's rival Vimeo has struggled for years, and even YouTube itself has struggled to make a profit in recent years.
This move could therefore be purely selective, intended to signal that Amazon is willing to leave YouTube behind. Still, while Amazon is usually more than willing to lose money in pursuit of market share, trying to compete with the undisputed giant of online video is still a daunting prospect. Plus, it should think of a better name than “Amazon Tube”!
