To be in the Google app store, or in the Apple store, you have to comply with some rules, and one of them is to pay a percentage of the payments that are processed from within the platform.
That means that if we buy something from an app, and Google charges us, a percentage goes to Google and another to the application developer.
The app could offer payment systems that don’t depend on Google, but for that, it would have to negotiate with Google first so that there is a win-win for both parties.
That is the basis of the problem between Match, the company that owns Tinder, and Google. They do not agree, and that could make Google remove Tinder from its app store, forcing users to directly download the apk from outside the store (managing updates manually if it does not depend on another app store ).
Earlier this year, Match sued Google alleging antitrust violations with the Play Store’s billing system. Now Google has countersued Match seeking money damages and a judgment that would allow it to ban Tinder and the group’s other dating apps from the Play Store.
In May, Google and Match reached a temporary agreement that allows Match to remain in the Play Store and use its own payment system. Tinder would put Google as one of the available billing systems, but it would not be the only one. Now it appears that Match Group doesn’t want to pay Google anything at all, not even its 15 to 30 percent Play Store fees, so Google has decided to take the matter to court.
According to Match Group, Google’s Play Store policies violate federal and state laws, and they expect a decision in their favor by the courts early next year.
Google’s Play Store fees, like Apple’s, remain controversial. They are high, 15 percent for the first million dollars and 30 percent after that, although we would have to verify if that money would still come in being outside the most used store on android devices around the world.
