Tinder Owner Match Group Sues Google Over Play Store Payment Processing
Online dating conglomerate Match Group is suing Google over its Play Store billing system, alleging the company's "dominance and anticompetitive conduct" violate federal and state antitrust laws.
The lawsuit (PDF) focuses on a policy Google plans to implement next month, which would require all Android developers to process digital goods and services payments through the Play Store billing system. The requirement contradicts what Tinder, OkCupid, and Hinge owner Match Group claims Google previously agreed to, specifically, that if Match enabled in-app purchases, it could use its own payment systems.
"Ten years ago, Match Group was Google's partner. We are not its hostage," the complaint said, asserting that Google has begun preemptively rejecting app updates and threatened to remove its apps from the Play Store if Match doesn't comply with an upcoming policy change.
"This lawsuit is a measure of last resort," Match CEO Shar Dubey said in a statement to Engadget. "We tried, in good faith, to resolve these concerns with Google, but their insistence and threats to remove our brands' apps from the Google Play Store by June 1st has left us no choice but to take legal action."
The firm is seeking injunctive and "other appropriate relief" for the material, irreparable harm Google's "manipulation of markets, broken promises, and abuse of power" have caused. Match, according to the search giant, is eligible to pay a 15% commission on in-app purchases—a rate Google told Engadget is lowest among "major app platforms."
"This is just a continuation of Match Group's self-interested campaign to avoid paying for the significant value they receive from the mobile platforms they've built their business on," a Google spokesperson said.
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