YouTube App to Disappear from Next Version of iOS
As far as I can remember, all iPhones have come with a YouTube app. But when iOS 6 appears, that app will be missing. Why?
One word: ads.
If you’ve been using YouTube to search for music videos, you’ll know that it’s getting harder and harder to view a video that doesn’t feature some kind of pre-roll add.
From what I understand (and please correct me if I’m wrong), Google/YouTube has a tool for rooting out copyrighted material like music videos. Rather than take them down, Google/YouTube just sticks a non-skippable ad before the video starts. That view equals revenue for someone.
This is annoying to Apple. And the fact that it annoys Apple puts Google/YouTube in a snit–especially since you don’t always get the ads and pre-rolls when you watch a video on an iOS device.
All Things Digital says this:
Here’s some insight from an industry executive who works with both companies, and suggests that you’ll increasingly see YouTube take control of all its apps, for the reasons discussed above: Ad dollars and user experience. “YouTube [has] decided they didn’t want third-parties building apps,” says my source. “Their strategy has changed. They want to control their destiny more.”
Apple to Google: "Re-encode your YouTube site to get rid of Flash."
Google to Apple: "Sure, but you have to let us put one of the first apps on your new iDevice."
Adobe to both: "Uh, guys."
Apple to Google: "No problemo friendo."
Adobe to Apple: "Your iDevice sucks! People want Flash!"
Google to Apple: "We're done. Anything else?"
Apple to Google: "How's that HTML5 thing going?"
Adobe to the people: "We're getting rid of Flash on mobile devices."
Apple to Google: "Man, those ads are annoying, am I right?"
Google to Apple: "We put them there to help off-set copyright violations."
Apple to Google: "Yes, of course. How's that bed of money feeling?"