Microsoft Scandalized over YouTube App, Doesn't Allow Any Browser on Mobile Windows

Microsoft has been on a tirade against Google for the past few years. Not when it comes to products, anything it does to compete with Google ends up failing, but a PR tirade. It attacks the company at every chance it gets, it lobbied hard to get the FTC to investigate Google over antitrust issues.

The FTC has just concluded its two-year investigation and found nothing. The only slightly serious thing it found wrong had to do with Motorola, which Google acquired officially only a few months ago.

But Microsoft is not giving up, the most recent issue is over the YouTube Windows Phone app, or rather, the lack of one. There is an official YouTube app, but it's just a wrapper for the mobile website.

Microsoft now claims that Google is deliberately preventing Microsoft from creating a great YouTube app by limiting its APIs. In fact, it claims that Google seniors specifically forbade YouTube from doing a better app.

While, as far as antitrust or monopolist behavior goes, this is inconsequential at best, it's still a somewhat serious accusation.

Coming from anyone but Microsoft, it may even be plausible. But it is coming from Microsoft, the same company that the FTC did actually find guilty of monopolistic behavior.

While the past may be the past, Microsoft is no better today. While it complains that the YouTube app for its second-tier mobile platform may not be to its liking, it blocks third-party browsers from even being available on Windows Phone and Windows RT. While there are web browsers available, they're all basically just reskinned versions of IE.

It's ironic, or maybe a better word is misleading, for Microsoft to be complaining about a YouTube app while at the same time blocking a much more important type of app, the web browser, entirely.

It may very well be that Google execs persuaded YouTube to not invest in Windows Phone, but it's got more to do with the fact that no one actually uses Windows Phone, not because of the poor YouTube app mind you, than with any grand conspiracy. 

At the same time, there's no Microsoft office for Android or iOS, despite plenty of evidence that Microsoft has been working on the apps for a long time.

The rumor is that the only reason there is no Office is because Microsoft is not happy with the revenue split it gets in the app store, the same one every other developer gets.

All in all, Microsoft's doggedness against Google doesn't look like perseverance, it smells of desperation. And plenty others are smelling it too.