YouTube app pulled early from Amazon as Google negotiations continue

The YouTube app on Amazon's Fire TV product has been pulled ahead of the Jan. 1 cancellation date set by Google earlier this year, Fast Company reports. Google said earlier it would pull YouTube access from Fire TV in response to Amazon's unwillingness to sell Prime Video on Chromecast. YouTube will still be accessible on Amazon through Silk or Firefox browsers.

Why it matters: Amazon just announced two weeks ago that it would resume selling Chromecast, among other Google products, and Apple TVs. Google announced in response that "productive discussions" were taking place between the two companies. An early cancellation could indicate that negotiations between the two tech giants aren't moving as quickly as previously suggested.

The backstory: Per Axios' Ina Fried: "There's a lot of frenemy stuff at play here, with Google, Apple and Amazon all selling their own streaming devices, but also looking to offer their own services on one another's devices. Apple doesn't offer its programing on rival devices, but does move a lot of hardware through Amazon."