On May 9, Match Group, an online dating app, filed a lawsuit against Google, alleging that the tech giant has monopolized Android by forcing apps to use its billing system.
Match Group, which owns 45 dating sites around the world, including Tinder, PlentyOfFish, and OKCupid, claims that Google’s in-app payment policies are anti-competitive.
Google Holding Companies are being held “hostage,” according to a lawsuit filed in Northern California district court by Match Group:
“Ten years ago, Match Group was Google’s partner. We are now its hostage. Once it monopolized the market for Android app distribution with Google Play… Google sought to ban alternative in-app payment processing services so it could take a cut of nearly every in-app transaction on Android.”
According to a Match Group announcement, Google charges apps a service fee of 15-30% for in-app purchases on top of monetizing the personal data of billions of digital app users.
“These exorbitant ‘fees’ force developers to charge users more for their services and divert resources from our employees, technologies, and user-requested features,” Match Group said in a statement.
Google Responds To Match Group’s Attempt To Freeload
In response to the lawsuit, Google published a blog post accusing Match Group of attempting to take advantage of Google’s platform investments for free.
According to Google’s blog post:
“After years of reaping the benefits of Google Play, Match Group is doing all it can to avoid paying for the enormous benefits it receives–including misusing the courts, lobbying policymakers and even suggesting to investors that alternative billing systems would exempt them from paying for the valuable services they receive from Google Play.”
Google denies the allegations, claiming that its fees are the lowest among major app stores and that they cover all Google Play services, not just payment processing.
In its response, Google also emphasizes that Android is the only mobile platform that provides alternative distribution options and that apps are not required to be distributed through Google Play.
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