Tinder owner Match settles spat with Google over payments

Match Group said Friday that Alphabet’s Google will allow the dating apps maker to offer users a choice in payment systems, eliminating Google’s control over user data.

Match sued Google earlier in May, calling the action a “last resort” to prevent Tinder and its other apps from being booted off the Google Play store for refusing to share up to 30% of sales. 

The company said it has withdrawn its request for a temporary restraining order against Google after it made a number of concessions that would prevent Match’s apps from being removed from the Play store for offering alternate payment options.

Google did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Match’s lawsuit came against the backdrop of ongoing cases brought by “Fortnite” maker Epic Games, dozens of US state attorneys general and others in targeting Google’s allegedly anticompetitive conduct related to the Play store.

Google had said it will block downloads of some of Match’s apps by June 1 unless they used only Google’s payment system and shared revenue, according to the lawsuit.

Match has raised concerns over Apple’s App Store fees and payments policies as well.

Apple has also been criticized for building its App Store into a “walled garden” meant to extract fees from developers who want to access users on the iOS ecosystem.

Google and Apple charge developers hefty commissions and impose controls on software developers, forcing them to pay a sum when the in-app payment systems are used.