Google’s complicated relationship with Tinder parent

The Match Group vs. Google case will go up for hearing in April 2023, and until then their relationship status will remain complicated.

Tinder owner’s ten-year long relationship with Google has gone sour. Match group filed a lawsuit against the search giant earlier this month, accusing it of illegally monopolising app distribution in Android mobile devices.

 “Ten years ago, Match Group was Google’s partner,” the lawsuit alleged. “We are now its hostage.”

At issue is how a dating app’s user pays for the service. Google wants in-app payments to go through its billing system. Tinder owner is against the idea.

Match group says that Google’s arbitrary and discriminatory tax on subscription and in-app payments has to go, and that it should provide an alternative to user to make payments.

The Texas-based company runs Tinder, OkCupid, Hinge, Meetic, Azar and several other brands. Tinder is the group’s superstar, accounting roughly 56.4% of Match Group’s overall revenue, which was $2.9 billion in 2021.

The group distributes its apps to iOS users via Apple’s App Store, and to Android users via Google’s Play Store. While the apps are free to download on the digital distribution platforms, Match Group makes money from selling monthly and annual subscriptions, and other add-on services.

According to the company’s March ending quarter earnings statement, on average, it made $16 in revenue from each paid user. And a large part of this income came from selling two different types of services: subscription and a la carte features.