Tinder owner Match Group sues Google in “last resort” to prevent app-store booting

Match Group filed a lawsuit against Alphabet’s Google on Monday, calling the move a “last resort” to keep Tinder and its other applications off the Google Play store after they refused to share up to 30% of their sales.

Match’s complaint follows on from lawsuits filed by Epic Games, dozens of US state attorneys general, and others alleging anticompetitive behaviour by Google with the Play store.

The Match Group was allegedly aiming to avoid paying for the enormous value it received, according to Google.

“Like any business, we charge for our services, and like any responsible platform, we protect users against fraud,” Google said. It has said its payment tool helps deter scams.

Match’s complaint accuses Google of breaking federal and state antitrust laws and aims to prohibit such behaviour.

It’s notable since for the past decade, some of Match’s apps have been exempt from Google regulations. According to the lawsuit, Google has stated that it will restrict downloads of certain apps by June 1 unless they exclusively use its payment system and split revenue.

“This lawsuit is a measure of last resort,” Match Chief Executive Shar Dubey said. “We tried, in good faith, to resolve these concerns with Google, but their insistence and threats has left us no choice.”

The Match Group is betting on hundreds of millions of dollars in income that would otherwise have to be paid to Google.

According to the lawsuit, the majority of Tinder users prefer Match’s payment mechanism, which allows for instalment plans, bank transfers, and other services not offered by Google.

To address concerns, Google noted that developers can skip the Play store and that it has decreased fees and launched other initiatives.

Going around Play, according to Dubey, was unviable.

“It’s like saying, ‘you don’t have to take the elevator to get to the 60th floor of a building, you can always scale the outside wall,’ ” she said.

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