Google Is Being Sued Over Its Play Store Billing System
Google has started requiring all Android apps sold in the Play Store that use in-app payments to use Google’s Play Store billing system and nothing else — or leave the store. This hasn’t gone down well with the Match Group, creator of dating services including Tinder and the eponymous Match. The company is now suing Google over monopolistic and anti-competitive actions, alleging irreparable harm to Match’s business and calling the move to remove its app a “death knell threat” to their business.
Google had previously allowed Match’s apps, including Tinder, to opt out of using the Play Store’s billing system, but the company has changed its mind in recent months. Rather, it will be requiring all apps in the Play Store which support in-app Payments to use Google’s Play billing system without the option of a third-party payments processor. This will exclude apps that sell physical goods like Uber Eats and Amazon, but ensnare those which sell digital goods like Amazon’s Audible and Kindle apps. For Match, which had previously been allowed to run its own payment system side-by-side with Google’s, the move comes as a slap in the face.
