Amazon launches new video service to take on Google

New Delhi: Escalating its competition with Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Amazon Inc has launched a new service that allows users to upload their own videos.

The YouTube-style service, called Amazon Video Direct, will be hosted on Amazon's Prime streaming service.

Amazon account holders can upload original or their own licensed videos to the Video Direct service, the Seattle-based online retailer said on Tuesday.

Under the service, users have the option to designate whether their uploaded videos are free to everyone, or creators can make it available for rent or purchase.

According to the company's license agreement, Amazon will pay content creators 50 percent of the revenue earned from rental receipts or sale of the videos.

YouTube, which offers ad-supported music videos and even feature-length movies, pays its contributors through a selective partners programme.

Amazon Video Direct will be available to subscribers in the United States, Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom and Japan.