Contributed by: kellyseal on Wednesday, November 08 2023 @ 05:11 pm
Last modified on Wednesday, November 08 2023 @ 05:21 pm
Dating app company Match Group announced it had settled a lawsuit with Google concerning the tech giant’s payment requirements for its Play Store.
Under the terms of the settlement, $40 million currently in escrow will be returned to Match, according to The Verge. Interestingly, Match Group also agreed to Google’s “user choice billing system,” which still allows for Google to get a cut of all transactions, even if Match users pay via Match Group’s payment systems.
Specifically, the settlement notes that by the end of March 2024, Match’s apps will implement the user choice billing system, which means that when dating app members opt to pay using Match’s payment systems, the company will give Google an 11 percent cut of its subscription fees and a 26 percent cut of all purchases. Or for users that go through Google’s in-app purchase system, Match Group will pay Google its standard fees (15 percent and 30 percent, respectively) for transactions.
Both parties also filed a voluntary notice for dismissal of the suit, according to The Verge.[*1]
In May of last year, Match Group sued Google for “illegally monopolizing the market” for app distribution with its Google Play platform, and imposed what it called an “extortionate tax” with the fees that it charged for every purchase taking place on its platform. The claim joined with Epic Games’ lawsuit as well as lawsuits filed by state attorneys general. (The states also settled out of court in September.)
Epic Games will still be going forward with its lawsuit, in a trial that begins in early November.
Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, specifically called out Google on his Twitter account, stating: “Match and Google have settled their dispute. Epic will go to trial against Google alone. We reject Google's so-called "user choice billing", in which Google controls, surveils, and taxes transactions between users and developers.”
“We are pleased to reach a settlement agreement with Match Group,” Google spokesperson Danielle Cohen said in a statement to The Verge. “This ensures we can continue to provide our shared users the secure, seamless and high quality experience people expect from apps on Google Play while maintaining Google’s ability to invest in the Android ecosystem and deliver value across an app’s full lifecycle.”
Match Group said in its letter to shareholders: “The parties will enter a new partnership agreement that will provide value exchange across their broad relationship, which we expect will essentially offset the additional costs that Match Group brands expect to incur over the three years starting in 2024 associated with the implementation and continued use of User Choice Billing in compliance with Google’s payment policy during that period.”