Between Amazon and Google, things haven't been going great lately. Amazon stopped selling Chromecast and Nest products on its website, while Google removed YouTube from the Echo Show and eventually the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick.
However, the tide is about to change, as the two are reportedly in "productive discussions," plus the listings for Chromecast and Chromecast Ultra are back up over at Amazon.
Amazon, Google Discuss Matters
A Google spokesperson told The Verge that the company is in talks with Amazon, aiming for "an agreement for the benefit of our mutual customers."
This comes at a time when Amazon is putting up product pages of the Chromecast and Chromecast Ultra on its website again, along with the Apple TV and two models of the Apple TV 4K.
"I can confirm that we are assorting Apple TV and Chromecast," an Amazon spokesperson told CNET.
To put two and two together, this seems to be the retailer's way of playing nice with Google, a move that benefits all three companies involved, one of which is Apple.
In turn, Google is open to discussions in terms of retaining YouTube on the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, and perhaps there's a possibility for the video streaming platform to make a return to the Echo Show, even after it has been removed from the device twice already.
The Tech Feud
Back in 2015, Amazon took down product listings of the Chromecast and the Apple TV, claiming that it was just to "avoid customer confusion." Now Google recently announced that YouTube was no longer going to support the Fire TV because of a "lack of reciprocity."
Arguably, these are business moves. Both companies are starting to tread on each other's turfs, Amazon with online advertising and Google with smart speakers, which may be significant factors that sparked the ongoing feud between the two.
In short, Amazon and Google are turning into direct rivals in more ways than one, and the measures they have taken — removing Chromecast from its website in the former's case and pulling out YouTube on the Echo Show in the latter's — led to this conflict.
Fast-forward to today, the two are working things out to ease the tension. That means Chromecast and Chromecast Ultra, along with the Apple TV and Apple TV 4K, might be going back up on Amazon soon, while YouTube could stick around the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick and maybe make a comeback to the Echo Show.
