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Tinder to End Aged-Based Pricing

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  • Monday, March 21 2022 @ 10:20 am
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Dating app Tinder said that it would be ending the controversial aged-based pricing structure for its premium service Tinder Plus by the end of the second quarter.

The news follows a recent UK study that found users were paying wildly different prices to access Tinder’s premium service, typically based on age, which raised questions about discriminatory pricing.

According to Buzzfeed, the Mozilla Foundation and Consumers International took up where the UK consumer watchdog Which? and Australian consumer advocacy organization Choice left off when they first pointed out the issue of price discrepancies on the app. The researchers at Mozilla and CI didn’t find statistically different prices based on race, gender or sexual orientation, but did find it among different age groups.

Apple Refuses to Comply with Dutch Authorities Over App Store Practices

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  • Friday, March 11 2022 @ 08:59 am
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Tech giant Apple faced another hefty fine this week from Dutch regulators over its non-compliance with a December ruling regarding its Apple Store operations. The company now owes over 25 million euros for failing to change its practices, according to Tech Crunch. 

The Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) ordered Apple to allow dating apps to use third party payment systems for in-app purchases. Prior to the ruling, developers had no choice but to go through the Apple Store for payment processing, and in addition, Apple charged them a thirty percent commission for all in-app purchases. Match Group had joined other companies in asking for an investigation into the company’s practices, claiming they were losing revenue and were unable to directly help customers with billing questions.

The ACM ordered Apple to pay the Authority five million euros per week until the issue is fixed, which has now gone unresolved five weeks past the deadline, bringing their total fines to about 25 million euros, according to Tech Crunch. Apple has fought the ruling, although it did make adjustments to its Store and allowed dating apps to use third-party payment platforms. However, Apple made the process difficult by forcing the app developers to pay a 27 percent fee on sales made through third parties, so dating app developers would still take a financial hit.

Apple Charging New Commission in Response to Dutch Authority Ruling

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  • Friday, February 25 2022 @ 10:02 am
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Apple has complied with the rules of Dutch regulators to allow third party payment systems for dating apps instead of going through the Apple Store. However, it will be charging a 27 percent commission to allow these platforms to operate.

Tech Crunch reported that dating apps in the Netherlands are no longer required to go through the Apple Store for handling payments and billing questions, nor are they required to pay Apple 30 percent for each transaction made over a dating app. The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets previously fined Apple $5 million euros per week until it complied with its order.

However, dating app developers who use a third-party payment system are now required by Apple to pay a new commission of 27 percent, just slightly below the old charge. Apple is also requiring app developers to send a report of digital sales so they can invoice. And  as Tech Crunch pointed out, dating app developers looking to expand offerings to the Netherlands will have to submit two different apps for approval – the Dutch app and non-Dutch app.

Apple Fined 5 Million Euros Per Week for Non-Compliance

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  • Saturday, February 19 2022 @ 09:20 am
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Apple has been fined five million euros for not complying with a recent ruling regarding dating apps leveled by the Authority for Consumers and Markets, a watchdog agency in The Netherlands.

The ACM said that Apple had not yet complied with its order to allow third-party payment options for dating apps on the Apple Store platform, which was issued in late December. The agency also said that it would continue to fine Apple five million euros per week (roughly $5.6 million US) until it properly complies with the order, up to $50 million euros in total, according to The Verge.

The issue is that while developers can now let Apple know if they are interested in using third party payment systems in their apps, Apple has not provided a straightforward way to do this, and there is very little technical support in place from Apple to help developers move forward. Another issue is that Apple is forcing developers to choose between two options: directing users to a third-party site to complete transactions outside of the Apple Store, or to stay in the Store’s ecosystem if they want to keep in-app purchases as an option for users.

Tinder is charging Older Users in the UK Almost 50% More For Premium Service

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  • Monday, February 07 2022 @ 08:54 am
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An investigation by a UK consumer rights group found that dating app Tinder is charging users over 30 as much as 48 percent more for its premium service Tinder Plus.

The advocacy group Which? said its findings show that Tinder may be discriminating against older users, a “potential breach of UK law,” according to The Daily Mail. The group has reported its findings to the EHRC (Equality and Human Rights Commission) and the Information Commissioner’s office (ICO) and asked them to investigate. The EHRC found the findings “concerning,” according to The Daily Mail.

Which? asked a sampling of 200 people to create real profiles on the dating app and to find out the pricing for the premium services like Tinder Plus, which unlocks certain popular features like unlimited likes and the ability to “rewind” or go back to check out a profile you already swiped left on.

Apple Agrees to Let Dating Apps in The Netherlands Use Outside Payment Options

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  • Friday, February 04 2022 @ 09:55 am
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Netherlands Authority for Consumers & Markets Logo

Following a ruling by The Netherland’s privacy watchdog, Apple has agreed to allow dating apps that operate in the country use payment options outside of the Apple Store, according to Reuters.

Previously, all payments made through the apps had to go through Apple’s payment platform, which meant that app developers had little control over billing issues or questions from their customers. But also (and perhaps more importantly to the developers), a certain percentage of every sale (from 15 to 30 percent) was collected by Apple, cutting into their profits.

Match Group partnered with other app developers in lodging the complaint, which resulted in The Netherland’s watchdog agency Authority for Consumers and Markets to investigate. The agency ruled against Apple, so the tech company went to court in December to seek an injunction against the order, according to Tech Crunch. However, the court rejected Apple’s arguments, saying that the company had until January 15th to comply with offering payment options outside of its platform to dating app users, so Apple agreed to the terms.

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