Roku is notifying users via email that YouTube TV may be removed from its platform.

A dispute appears to be brewing between Google and Roku over what Roku calls "anti-competitive demands." According to Roku, it is Google that is threatening to remove YouTube TV from its platform, and this decision is intended to force it to provide preferential access to customer data.

The threat extends only to YouTube's TV service and not to ad-supported content on YouTube.com The TV service costs $64.99 per month and allows users to record programs to the cloud, watch broadcast networks like ESPN, NBC, and CBS, and watch up to three different streams simultaneously.

Currently, Roku is prominently featured on YouTube TV's website, where it is first mentioned as compatible hardware alongside Google's own hardware products and those from Apple, LG, and Samsung. Roku may not have the same influence as these companies It may not have, but according to Protocol, it has a 38% share of the hardware market thanks to its standalone boxes and TVs with built-in service.

Roku claims that Google has asked it to provide search results dedicated only to those found on YouTube; according to Axios, this would not only give YouTube search results a more prominent position, but also a column showing only YouTube search results This is called the "YouTube Search Results. Google also sought to exclude other providers from search results when customers are within the YouTube app.

Even stranger, Roku requires the use of certain hardware within the device. According to the company, this includes chipsets and memory, forcing them to increase the price of their products.

In the email, the company urges customers to contact Google directly and ask for an agreement to be reached that would allow Roku to continue offering the YouTube TV app. It also urges owners to request that Google adhere to "industry practices that promise not to request access to sensitive search data."

Google denied the accusations, telling The Verge, "We have worked in good faith with Roku to reach an agreement that benefits our viewers and their customers. Unfortunately, Roku often uses such tactics in negotiations."