Verizon's Oath signs distribution deal to place four of its apps, Newsroom, Yahoo Sports, Yahoo Finance, and Go90, on Samsung Galaxy S9/S9+ devices in the US
(Reuters) - Verizon Communications Inc's Oath Inc subsidiary has signed a deal to place four of its most popular apps on millions …
Context & Ripple Effects
Go90 has been searching for an audience since its 2015 launch as a free ad-supported video app, and in February Oath CEO Tim Armstrong already signaled the retreat from standalone ambitions by saying Go90 programs would be redistributed inside Oath outlets like HuffPost and Yahoo Finance. The Samsung deal extends that logic from content to apps: instead of waiting for downloads, Newsroom, Yahoo Sports, Yahoo Finance and Go90 ride onto millions of Galaxy S9/S9+ home screens at launch.
It also slots into Verizon's broader push to turn Oath's media assets into owned distribution — the company was separately reported to be building an OTT video service based on Oath content and a live TV package, so guaranteed placement on one of the year's flagship Android phones is leverage for those plays too.
First-order effects
- US buyers of the Galaxy S9 and S9+ get four Oath apps preinstalled out of the box, giving Yahoo Sports, Yahoo Finance, Newsroom and Go90 immediate scale that app-store discovery alone had not delivered.
- Go90 gains a fresh install base on new flagships just as Armstrong winds down its standalone programming in favor of redistribution across Oath properties.
Second-order effects
- Rival handset makers and US carriers now face pressure to strike similar preinstall bundles for their own media partners, making default placement a negotiable asset rather than a given.
- Preinstalled reach strengthens Verizon's hand as it prepares the separate live TV package and Oath-based OTT service reported earlier, since advertisers can be sold a bundled audience across phone, app and video service.
Third-order effects
- If carrier-OEM preinstall deals become the norm, mobile media competition shifts from who builds the best app to who can pay for the default slot — favoring vertically integrated owners like Verizon over independent publishers.
- The arc from Go90's standalone failure through redistribution and preinstalls points toward media brands surviving as features of platform bundles rather than destinations, a path that later culminates in Verizon folding its franchises into subscription products like Yahoo+.
The trend: Mobile media distribution is consolidating around negotiated defaults — carrier-and-OEM preinstall deals replacing app-store discovery as the way big media portfolios reach users.