Google, Match Group Reach Settlement in Play Store Antitrust Case

Tech giant Google has reached a settlement with Match Group, the dating app provider behind Tinder, Hinge, and OkCupid, in the app store antitrust case.

As part of the settlement agreement, Match Group will be able to implement "user choice billing" by March 31, 2024.

This feature allows users to pay with other systems besides Google's own. "We are pleased to reach a settlement agreement with Match Group. 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," a Google spokesperson said in a statement.

The Google and the Match Group’s settlement will allow the dating app company to offer alternate in-app payment options, reports The Verge. "Today, the Match plaintiffs and Google informed the court that they have reached a binding term sheet for a settlement of their respective claims against each other in the Match Group, LLC et al vs. Google LLC et al lawsuit," Match Group said in a statement late on Tuesday.

"Under the terms, the $40 million placed in escrow will be returned to Match Group and no other amounts will be owed by the Match plaintiffs to Google relating to the claims in the lawsuit for the period ending December 31, 2023," the statement added.

Match had sued Google in May 2022, alleging the company "illegally monopolized the market" for app distribution with Google Play and imposed an "extortionate tax" with the fees it takes from transactions on the marketplace.

Meanwhile, the antitrust case between Google and Fortnite publisher Epic Games will continue. The trial starts next week where Epic alleges that Google Play's payment policies are "anticompetitive".

"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," Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney posted on X on Wednesday.