The parent company of dating apps is suing the company, claiming that it exerts too much control over payments through its app marketplace.
The company is accused of using anticompetitive tactics to maintain a monopoly on the mobile device market.
Ten years ago, Match Group was Google’s partner. We are now its hostage. Google lured app developers to its platform with assurances that we could offer users a choice over how to pay for the services they want.
But once it monopolized the market for Android app distribution with Google Play by riding the coattails of the most popular app developers, Google sought to ban alternative in-app payment processing services so it could take a cut of nearly every in-app transaction on Android.
Match's lawsuit is the latest instance of app developers demanding relief from Apple and other tech giants over the 30 percent standard cut for in-app payments. In 2020 there was tension around the issue because of a case that didn't result in a clear-cut victor but did force Apple to allow developers to point their users to alternative payment options.
Facing pressure over its restrictive payment choices, Google recently launched a pilot program that would allow apps to offer an alternative payment option. Match claims that the company has refused to sign up, despite being named as a participant in the pilot program.
The deadline for cracking down on apps that circumvent its billing systems is June 1. Match Group CEO Shar Dubey called the lawsuit a "measure of last resort" for the dating app company after the deadline.
They control app distribution and pretend that they can reach consumers on other platforms.
Even if they don't want to comply with the terms of the lawsuit, it was dismissed as a self-interested campaign.
Match Group is a member of the Coalition for App Fairness, a developer advocacy group that calls attention to the ways that Apple and Google's dominance over the mobile software market negatively affects app developers. The group was formed in 2020 around the time that Epic Games began to complain.
Developers tired of paying a hefty cut of their in-app earnings to Apple and Google are stepping up the pressure on those companies, but governments around the world are also taking an interest in the issue.
The Open Markets Act in the U.S. would open the app store for both the iOS and Android platforms, upending the dominance of Apple and Google in the mobile software world. The bill moved out of the Senate committee earlier this year and is poised to become law.
A new Senate bill would totally upend Apple and Google’s app store dominance
A competition complaint in the Netherlands against the Play Store from Match Group prompted a preliminary investigation into the company's potential anticompetitive practices. The Authority for Consumers and Markets in that country has ordered Apple to allow dating apps to offer alternative payment options, as well as sparring with the company over its own app payment processes.
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