Match Group, the company that owns Tinder, is suing Google over the company’s Play Store policy wherein a company is liable to pay up to 30 percent of sales made via the their app listed on Google’s app store. Match calls this a “last resort” action to prevent being removed from the storefront.
Match’s lawsuit, filed in California, accuses Google of violating America’s antirust laws, and seeks to bar their behaviour. This lawsuit comes on the back of other similar legal filings made by Fortnite developer Epic Games, as well as dozens of U.S. State Attorneys and others that believe Google’s Play Store policies violate antitrust laws.
“This lawsuit is a measure of last resort,” said Match chief executive Shar Dubey. “We tried, in good faith, to resolve these concerns with Google, but their insistence and threats has left us no choice.”
In response, Google said that it was only looking for fair value in providing Play Store services. “Like any business, we charge for our services, and like any responsible platform, we protect users against fraud,” Google said.
Notable about this situation is the fact that Match’s mobile apps have actually been exempt from a lot of Google’s policies over the years, which is why a sudden shift would cost them hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue loss.
According to the lawsuit, Google has threatened to block downloads of all Match’s apps by June 1, unless Match shifts their payment system to Google and starts sharing revenue.
