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Roku says it may lose YouTube TV app after Google made anti-competitive demands

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Re: Roku says it may lose YouTube TV app after Google made anti-competitive demands

#91

Post by SirFatty »

fra wrote: post #14
s3r3nity wrote: post #2

> Roku alleges Google has asked it to favor YouTube music results from voice commands made on the Roku remote while the YouTube app is open, even if the user's music preference is set to default to another music app, like Pandora. > Roku says Google has threatened to require Roku to use certain chip sets or memory cards that would force Roku to increase the price of its hardware product, which competes directly with…

I'm not quite ready to take out the pitchforks... > Roku says Google has threatened to require Roku to use certain chip sets or memory cards that would force Roku to increase the price of its hardware product, which competes directly with Google's Chromecast. This could simply mean Google is requiring chips with hardware VP9 support > Roku alleges Google has asked it to favor YouTube music results from voice commands…

I agree, it does seem to make sense... and this isn't just with YT, it also affects YT TV. On my Smart TV, with a Roku remote, I don't want to switch out of the current app (YTTV in my case).

Re: Roku says it may lose YouTube TV app after Google made anti-competitive demands

#92

Post by dcow »

SR2Z wrote: post #81
agilob wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>This is both what many users would expect So if your default search engine in firefox is duckduckgo, but you're currently on google.com/maps reading reviews of a car service, firefox should use google for your next search request?

This is a bad comparison. There's only ever one voice search button on the remote, but there are multiple easy-to-click search bars when you're viewing maps. IMO, even if I had Spotify on a Roku, I would be fine with this change. It's not difficult at all to press the home button and then the search button to signal you want to search outside of YouTube. A big chunk of YouTube's utility is that it has music videos.

Shouldn't it be up to Roku, not Google, to decide how their product experience works?

LGs TVs have a prominent omni search button. If you’re in the YT app and use the omnisearch it searches across all content services you have connected. It’s an amazingly useful feature and makes the TV experience actually feel integrated. First time I’ve been happy with a “smart” TV experience.

I’d say it’s a fair comparison.

Re: Roku says it may lose YouTube TV app after Google made anti-competitive demands

#94

Post by johncena33 »

aklemm wrote: post #4

I'm just about sick of YouTube and YouTube TV not playing well with whatever device I've decided on. First it was YouTube and the Firestick, now it's YouTube TV and Roku. Frankly, how did Google end up with a good TV service? I'd rather not be relying on Google for TV streaming.

> First it was YouTube and the Firestick

The whole spat started because Amazon removed Chromecast devices from their retail platform.

Re: Roku says it may lose YouTube TV app after Google made anti-competitive demands

#95

Post by pythonaut_16 »

Nadya wrote: post #52
pythonaut_16 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's clearly suggesting making context aware search an option. "When searching within an app, favor results from that app" vs "When searching within an app always favor my default"

>"When searching within an app, favor results from that app" vs >"When searching within an app, favor results from a related app" There is a big difference between these two things. "Youtube" is not the same as "Youtube Music" in the same way that "Xbox" is not the same as "Xbox Live". As p49k explained it - if you were trying to send an email from YouTube would you expect Gmail to come up or your preferred email app…

Sending an email is a different interaction than doing voice search.

Sending an email is an explicit intent - open whatever app I use to send emails.

Searching is an open query - find the most relevant results. What results are most relevant is subjective, hence why you would give the user a choice for what results to favor.

The separation between Youtube and Youtube Music is a technical minutia, they're both Youtube just different apps. If you want a technical solution, Roku should probably implement a search API such that doing a voice search would let the Roku query whatever app is currently running for results. Then any app can provide more relevant, context aware results.

Re: Roku says it may lose YouTube TV app after Google made anti-competitive demands

#96

Post by izacus »

s3r3nity wrote: post #2

> Roku alleges Google has asked it to favor YouTube music results from voice commands made on the Roku remote while the YouTube app is open, even if the user's music preference is set to default to another music app, like Pandora. > Roku says Google has threatened to require Roku to use certain chip sets or memory cards that would force Roku to increase the price of its hardware product, which competes directly with…

Last I checked YouTube requires VP9 support for HDR. Why is requesting that new devices support the format to avoid fragmentation a problem?

Apple also demands certain format support for their video streams to work (not to mention a browser).

Re: Roku says it may lose YouTube TV app after Google made anti-competitive demands

#97

Post by arghwhat »

fra wrote: post #14
s3r3nity wrote: post #2

> Roku alleges Google has asked it to favor YouTube music results from voice commands made on the Roku remote while the YouTube app is open, even if the user's music preference is set to default to another music app, like Pandora. > Roku says Google has threatened to require Roku to use certain chip sets or memory cards that would force Roku to increase the price of its hardware product, which competes directly with…

I'm not quite ready to take out the pitchforks... > Roku says Google has threatened to require Roku to use certain chip sets or memory cards that would force Roku to increase the price of its hardware product, which competes directly with Google's Chromecast. This could simply mean Google is requiring chips with hardware VP9 support > Roku alleges Google has asked it to favor YouTube music results from voice commands…

> This is both what many users would expect (if I have an app open, voice search works within that app), and a pretty reasonable ask for any business (don't show competitor's offering when searching within my app).

Only if I search using the in-app search feature do I expect it to be restricted to only that app.

If I'm watching a YouTube video and ask my device to play music, I expect Spotify to open as that's what I use and pay for.

The platform should prioritize the user, not the app developers.

Re: Roku says it may lose YouTube TV app after Google made anti-competitive demands

#98

Post by spoonjim »

smt88 wrote: post #27
fra wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not quite ready to take out the pitchforks... > Roku says Google has threatened to require Roku to use certain chip sets or memory cards that would force Roku to increase the price of its hardware product, which competes directly with Google's Chromecast. This could simply mean Google is requiring chips with hardware VP9 support > Roku alleges Google has asked it to favor YouTube music results from voice commands…

> This is both what many users would expect (if I have an app open, voice search works within that app) No, it's not. Most YouTube users have a different primary music app. Google is trying to artificially force a marriage of YouTube and YouTube Music because they have utterly failed to do it in the product experience and user base themselves. If I'm watching a random YouTube video and then want to switch to music, I…

Clearly, users differ on this matter, so vendors should be able to choose their approach and let users vote with their wallets, not have everyone’s hand forced by Google.

Re: Roku says it may lose YouTube TV app after Google made anti-competitive demands

#100

Post by paxys »

fra wrote: post #14
s3r3nity wrote: post #2

> Roku alleges Google has asked it to favor YouTube music results from voice commands made on the Roku remote while the YouTube app is open, even if the user's music preference is set to default to another music app, like Pandora. > Roku says Google has threatened to require Roku to use certain chip sets or memory cards that would force Roku to increase the price of its hardware product, which competes directly with…

I'm not quite ready to take out the pitchforks... > Roku says Google has threatened to require Roku to use certain chip sets or memory cards that would force Roku to increase the price of its hardware product, which competes directly with Google's Chromecast. This could simply mean Google is requiring chips with hardware VP9 support > Roku alleges Google has asked it to favor YouTube music results from voice commands…

I doubt users expect that. Voice assistant search on every device/platform today is always global.
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