Google struck a similar deal with the company best known for Tinder

Google struck a similar deal with the company best known for Tinder
This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices.
WHATABOUTISM: Google counterattacks Tinder operator, says Match Group just wants to make it harder for users to cancel subscriptions with its ‚deceptive approach‘: app store antitrust case
Sometimes the best defense is a strong (counter)offense. That’s the spirit of Google’s answer and counterclaims to Match Group’s antitrust action in the Northern District of California over the Google Play app tax. Here’s the document, and I’ll comment further below:
Less than two months ago, Google acted defensively and agreed to keep Bandcamp, a music marketplace recently acquired by Fortnite maker Epic Games, on the Google Play app store for Android despite its use of a third-party payment system. Google changed its rules (though it mislabeled it as a mere clarification) to the effect that everyone, even such media marketplaces and dating apps, would henceforth have to use Google Play Billing. Near-simultaneously with Epic’s motion for a temporary restraining order (which Judge James Donato of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California didn’t have to rule on as Google backed down, thereby mooting the motion for the time being), Match Group also brought an antitrust complaint against Google in the same district and sought emergency relief.
Two months ago, Google issued a rapid response to Match Group’s complaint on its website. I criticized Google’s blog post, parts of which I said were „somewhere between grossly misleading and utterly nonsensical.“
Now Google has filed its formal answer to the complaint, and it is countersuing Match Group for damages. Continue Reading