Match Group sues Google The parent company of tinderMatch and OkCupid dispute the high level of Play Store commissions, defining the Google marketplace as a “illegal monopolyIt’s yet another legal dispute that has arisen in the app distribution market: two years ago, Epic Games sued Apple for very similar reasons.
Google requires developers to pay for one 30% commission on all in-app transactions. Commissions drop to 15% if the app is developed by a company with a turnover of less than $1 million. The same favorable conditions also apply to subscriptions and transactions in favor of streaming music platforms, such as Spotify.
“Ten years ago the Match Group was a partner of Google, today it is the hostage,” reads the document presented in court. “Google lures developers to its platform by falsely promising consumers the freedom to choose the payment method they want,” the company said. «And yet, after monopolizing the distribution market for App on AndroidGoogle has chosen to ban alternative payment methods, in order to keep a piece of almost every transaction in the app ».
Match Group also claims – like Epic Games a few years ago – that Google’s policies harm consumers by promoting an overpriced marketplace and limiting the ability of smaller developers to invest. The company also disputes Google’s data processing policies, claiming that it allows the giant to collect information about the identity of consumers and credit cards. Information it would use to its advantage, to further strengthen its monopoly position.
Like Spotify, the Match Group is also part of the Coalition of App Fairnessan association that brings together several companies created to ask for more favorable conditions within the market for digital products and services.
Source: Lega Nerd
