Leaked Email Allegedly Shows That Google Did Ask Roku For Special Treatment For YouTube

Yesterday, Roku told customers that it's unable to strike a deal to bring YouTube and YouTube TV apps to its channel store, citing anti-competitive demands in carriage agreements. These included 'asking Roku to create a dedicated search results row for YouTube within the Roku smart TV interface and demanding certain features on Roku that they don't insist on getting from other streaming platforms,' reports Axios. Now, a leaked email has surfaced allegedly showing that Google did in fact ask Roku for special search treatment for YouTube, an allegation that Google had previously called 'baseless.' 9to5Google reports: CNBC reports that an email from a Google executive to Roku called a 'dedicated shelf for [YouTube] search results' a 'must.' The email was sent in 2019, well before the current fight between the two companies went public. Prior to this report, Roku has said on multiple occasions that 'Google continues to interfere with Roku's independent search results.' Google, in response, has denied those allegations and called them 'baseless' while also claiming that it was Roku who decided to renegotiate the contract between the two companies. A previous statement from Google reads: 'To be clear, we have never, as they have alleged, made any requests to access user data or interfere with search results. This claim is baseless and false.'

This email puts the statements of both companies in a new light. It's possible Google did end up dropping this request between when the email was sent in 2019 and when the contract negotiations started, but it's also very possible the company is bending the truth around this request. Whatever the case, Google said that it 'never' made such a request, but this email allegedly proves otherwise. ['The email from the Google executive to Roku reads: 'YouTube Position: A dedicated shelf for YT search results is a must,'' reports CNBC.]

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