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Match Group is suing Google over forthcoming Play Store policy change

App store fees are once again in the firing line although this time the target is Google’s Play Store.

The company taking a shot at Google is owner of Tinder and other dating services Match Group which is suing Google over “its strategic manipulation of markets, broken promises, and abuse of power in requiring Match Group to use Google’s billing system to remain in the Google Play Store”.

While developers can ask users to download an app without using the app store this not best practice. Side-loading an app can potentially expose users to risks they don’t have when using the Play Store.

Match Group is arguing that Google’s demand that it remove the ability to circumvent Play Store payment systems is unfair. Google is making changes to its Play Store policy which will ultimately force apps which fall under the “digital goods and services” category to use Google Play Billing exclusively.

Given that Google has previously allowed Match Group to circumvent these payment system, this is not a good look for Google.

“They [Google] control app distribution on Android devices, and pretend that developers could successfully reach consumers on Android elsewhere. It’s like saying ‘you don’t have to take the elevator to get to the 60th floor of a building, you can always scale the outside wall.’ It’s not legitimate. This lawsuit is a measure of last resort. We tried, in good faith, to resolve these concerns with Google, but their insistence and threats to remove our brands’ apps from the Google Play Store by June 1 has left us no choice but to take legal action,” Match Group chief executive officer, Shar Dubey, said in a statement.

What is bizarre is that, according to Match Group, Google has already began rejecting updates that feature the alternative payment option despite it still being May as of time of writing.

There will be comparisons drawn between this matter and the one involving Apple and Epic Games. Unlike Epic Games however, Match Group appears to be towing the line Google laid out for it and as such, it could stand a better shot at winning. You may recall Epic Games both won and lost its matter with a judge ruling the developer/publisher knowingly broke Apple’s rules.

The firm has laid out its case in a dedicated website it calls End the Google Tax and it contains a wealth of information including a timeline of Google’s behaviour over the past few years.

However, Google has also fired back saying that Match Group’s lawsuit is only being launched to protect its own interests.

“This is just a continuation of Match Group’s self-interested campaign to avoid paying for the significant value they receive from the mobile platforms they’ve built their business on,” Google spokesperson, Dan Jackson, told The Verge.

“Like any business, we charge for our services, and like any responsible platform, we protect users against fraud and abuse in apps. Match Group is currently attracting regulator concerns over things like deceptive subscription practices, and with this filing they continue to put money ahead of user protection. Match Group’s apps are eligible to pay just 15% on Google Play for digital subscriptions, which is the lowest rate among major app platforms. But even if they don’t want to comply with Google Play’s policies, Android’s openness still provides them multiple ways of distributing their apps to Android users, including through other Android app stores, directly to users via their website or as consumption-only apps,” Jackson added.

Match Group is asking a judge to grant it an order that allows it to offer its own payment systems for users, prevent Google from retaliating against Match Group and to pay its legal fees.

While the firm has demanded a jury trial we’ll have to wait to see if the matter goes that far.

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