Google just got spurned by Apple, once again. The latter had previously dropped Google Maps from its upcoming iOS 6.

Apple, currently with 316 million iOS devices sold in the world, ditched the Google's YouTube app in the new version of its operating system. YouTube would not be offered in iOS devices by default.

There was a time when the YouTube app wasn't as workable on Apple's iPad and iPhone. It did feature the standard app, but the Flash plug in does not work on these devices. So, Apple partnered with Google, one of its competitor, to develop a special app for YouTube that will allow owners of Apple devices to watch their favorite video from YouTube.

YouTube is one of the more important property of Google. According to an analyst from Citi, it generated as much as $1.3 billion in gross revenue in 2011 and is expected to generate as much as $1.7 billion by the end of 2012.

As of January this year,YouTube has more than 300 million accounts, making it the premiere video web site in the world. It streams 4 billion videos daily, with about 200, 000 videos upload ever day.

Apple's partnership between Google, who executive chairman Eric E. Schmidt sat on Apple's board, hit a sour note with Google's push into mobile devices, with its own operating system Android. This move from the search giant famously infuriated the late Steve Jobs.

Google is reportedly working on a replacement for the ditch YouTube app. It comes as no surprise as it's in its interest to maintain YouTube's presence on iOS devices. While YouTube, as of January this year, attracted 152 million viewers with rest of the pack sharing with 45 to 52 million viewers, more and more people are watching videos online using their mobile devices and tablets, a trend likely to be sustained in to the future. As of September last year, data from Comscore showed that people, specifically Americans, watch online videos 30% longer using their tablets.

This trend is primarily the reason why Google acted lightning fast on Apple's non-inclusion of the YouTube app, at its present form, in the iOS 6. Apple dominates the tablet market with 68.2% market share, selling 25 million units of the iPad in the second quarter of the year alone. By comparison, Samsung, Google's primary partner for Android, has a 9.6% market share.

If you are not convinced by the sheer number of potential YouTube viewers using iOS devices, then the quality of the demographics owning the iPad should do the trick. A study, by the Pew Internet Project released earlier this year, showed that iPad owners are wealthier and older than users of other tablet. The study showed that more than 40 per cent of iPad owners have a household income of $100,000 or more. By comparison, only 26 per cent of non-iPad owners belong to this household income bracket.

Owners of iPhone watched videos more often than Android owners, too. Statistics gathered by Vid.ly last year showed, of the 5 million videos it monitored, 62. 5% of these were watched by iPhone users. By contrast, only 24% of these videos were watched using Android phones.

YouTube simply have to be accessible in Apple devices. The market seems to agree. When news that Apple will be ditching YouTube from iOS 6, shares of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) fell 0.6 percent to $639.21. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) wasn't spared. Its shares declined 0.4 percent to $620, after all it's 152 million YouTube viewers they are consequently spurning. That's another selling point gone for Apple devices!