Don't be surprised if Windows Phone's new YouTube app gets blocked soon
Yesterday, Microsoft released a new version of the YouTube app for Windows Phone 8, and the initial reaction has been pretty positive. The app is a huge upgrade, which wasn't that difficult since the stock YouTube app was just a link to the YouTube mobile site before, but the app is also breaking a couple key terms of service. So, don't be surprised if the app gets blocked soon.
PhoneArena user clevername let us know that the app offered an option to download videos to your device, and it has also been confirmed that the new app strips out the ads from YouTube videos. Both of these may be features that users enjoy, but both are also explicitly in violation of the YouTube terms of service. Section II of the ToS states:
Your API Client will not, and You will not encourage or create functionality for Your users or other third parties to:
[...]
11. store copies of YouTube audiovisual content;
[...]
7. modify, replace, interfere with or block advertisements placed by YouTube in the YouTube Data, YouTube audiovisual content, or the YouTube player;[...]
11. store copies of YouTube audiovisual content;
Microsoft has admitted that it had to "re-architect" the YouTube API in order to make the app work. Google has yet to comment on the situation, but it seems that the two companies may not be as good as we first thought when we saw the app update released. Google usually doesn't take too well to apps messing with ads, not only for its own revenue, but because YouTube content creators often rely on that ad revenue.
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