Match's lawsuit follows ongoing cases brought by Fortnite
maker Epic Games, dozens of US state attorneys general and others in targeting
Google's allegedly anticompetitive conduct with the Play store.
Google said Match was attempting to dodge paying for the
significant value it receives.
"Like any business, we charge for our services, and
like any responsible platform, we protect users against fraud," Google
said. It has said its payment tool helps deter scams.
Match's lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in
California, accuses Google of violating federal and state antitrust laws and
seeks to bar such behavior.
It is notable because some of Match's apps have been
exempted from Google policies for about the past decade. Now, Google says it
will block downloads of those apps by June 1 unless they solely offer its
payment system and share revenue, the lawsuit states.
"This lawsuit is a measure of last resort," Match
Chief Executive Shar Dubey said. "We tried, in good faith, to resolve
these concerns with Google, but their insistence and threats has left us no
choice."
At stake for Match is what it describes as hundreds of
millions of dollars in revenue that would have to be paid to Google.
The majority of users on Match's most popular app, Tinder,
prefer its payment system, which allows for installment plans, bank transfers
and other features not provided by Google, according to the lawsuit.
Google said that developers can bypass the Play store and
that it has lowered fees and created other programs to address concerns.
Dubey said that going around Play was unviable.
"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,'" she said. © Reuters