Tag: tinder

Google Agrees to Pay $8 Million to Settle Claims Against Deceptive Pixel 4 Ads

Google, a unit of Alphabet, has agreed to pay $8 million (roughly Rs. 65 million) to settle claims it used deceptive advertisements to promote the Pixel 4 smartphone, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Friday.

The search and advertising giant, which also makes Android smartphone software and owns YouTube, has been scrutinized for antitrust and consumer protection infractions by both the federal government and state attorneys general. The federal government has filed two antitrust lawsuits.

In this instance, Paxton’s office alleged that Google hired radio announcers to give testimonials about the Pixel 4 even though the company had refused to allow them to use one of the phones.

“If Google is going to advertise in Texas, their statements better be true,” Paxton said in a statement. “In this case, the company made statements that were blatantly false, and our settlement holds Google accountable for lying to Texans for financial gain.”

Google said in a statement that it takes compliance with advertising laws seriously. “We are pleased to resolve this issue,” said spokesperson Jose Castaneda.

Meanwhile, Google is also facing issues in India as the competition watchdog has begun an inquiry into the company after some companies alleged the service fee the US firm charges for in-app payments breaches an earlier antitrust directive, a regulatory order seen by Reuters showed on Friday.

Tinder-owner Match Group and Indian startups have asked the watchdog to investigate Google’s new User Choice Billing (UCB) system, which they alleged was anti-competitive.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Friday issued an order stating “it is of the opinion that an inquiry needs to be made.”

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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Apple Says to Allow More Payment Options for Dutch Dating App Developers

Apple on Friday laid out how developers of dating apps offered in the Netherlands can skip Apple’s in-app payment systems, a closely watched step by the iPhone maker in the face of global antitrust concerns about its control over the mobile app industry.

Apple has long mandated use of its in-app payment system, which charges commissions of up 30 percent that some developers like Tinder owner Match Group have argued are too high. The Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) last year ruled that Apple’s rules violated Dutch competition laws in the dating app market and required Apple to allow those developers to use third-party payment processors.

Investors are watching the developments in the Dutch antitrust case for the impact they could have on Apple’s App Store revenues, the biggest component of its $68.4 billion (roughly Rs. 5,347,30 crore) services business.

Under the rules, Apple said dating app developers will still have to pay it commissions for sales made outside of its in-app payment system, though it will give them a slight discount. Apple had previously said developers who were paying its 30 percent commission rate would owe it a 27 percent commission.

But some developers already pay Apple a lower 15 percent commission rate when they meet certain criteria such as retaining subscription customers for more than a year.

Apple’s previous rules did not make clear whether those developers would also get a discount when using third-party payment services. Apple on Friday said those developers will pay a 12 percent commission when using outside payment systems.

Apple on Friday also said that Dutch authorities mandated changes to how apps look when using third-party payments.

Apple’s system will show users a warning that says the user will have to contact the developer over payment problems such as asking for a refund. Apple had originally included a button that would allow users to back out of using the third-party payment option after being shown the warning, but the iPhone maker said Friday that Dutch authorities had rejected that button.

“We don’t believe some of these changes are in the best interests of our users’ privacy or data security,” Apple said in a news post. “As we’ve previously said, we disagree with the ACM’s original order and are appealing it.”

© Thomson Reuters 2022

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Google to Allow Tinder Owner Match to Offer Alternate Payment Systems to Users on Play Store

Match Group said on 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 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 percent of sales.

The company said it has withdrawn its request for a temporary restraining order against Google after some concessions, including eliminating its complete control over user data.

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.

The development comes almost 10 days after Google rejected an app store monopoly suit filed by Tinder parent Match Group, saying it is a “self-interested” campaign putting money ahead of user safety.

Google’s response came a day after Match filed a lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco accusing the tech titan of abusing control of the Play Store that sells digital content for Android-powered phones.

“This is just a continuation of Match Group’s self-interested campaign to avoid paying for the significant value they receive from the mobile platforms they’ve built their business on,” a Google spokesperson told AFP.

The litigation comes as part of an ongoing battle by Match, Epic Games and others to force Google parent Alphabet and iPhone maker Apple to loosen their grips on their respective app stores.

Match’s filing came after Google modified Play Store rules to require its family of apps to use the Internet giant’s payment system, which collects fees of up to 30 percent on transactions, court paperwork said.

Google has made it clear that it will remove Match apps from the Play Store if they do not comply with the rule, Match said in the filing, which described such punishment as a “death knell.”

“This is a case about the strategic manipulation of markets, broken promises, and abuse of power,” Match said in the suit.

Google countered that Match is free to make its apps available elsewhere online, including on its own website.

While the App Store is the only gateway for content to get onto Apple mobile devices, users of Android-powered smartphones or tablets can download apps at their own risk from online venues other than Google’s Play Store.

Match’s lawsuit contends that despite having options, users get content for Android devices from the Play Store more than 90 percent of the time.

Match apps offered in the Play Store qualify to pay fees of just 15 percent on subscriptions, according to the Google spokesperson.

© Thomson Reuters 2022

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Google Under Investigation by Dutch Consumer Watchdog Over Play Store Payments

The Dutch consumer watchdog on Wednesday said it had launched a preliminary investigation into Google over its Play store for apps, months after targeting fellow tech giant Apple.

The Match Group, which owns dating site Tinder, lodged a complaint saying that Google only allowed its own payment system to be used when purchasing apps, the Authority for Consumers and Markets said.

Google Play is used to buy applications to be used on smartphones and tablets using Google’s Android system, which together with Apple dominates the global market.

“We very recently received a complaint, and we will see if there is material to launch a formal inquiry,” the Dutch regulator’s spokesman Murco Mijnlieff told AFP.

The process “could take years” but the competition watchdog “may be able to get results faster because of the possible resemblance to Apple”, he added.

The Netherlands fined Apple a total of $52 million (roughly Rs. 396 crore) between January and March this year for similar conditions relating to payments on Apple’s App Store.

The watchdog said app developers must be able to use other payment systems than Apple’s. Apple has still not complied, and the Dutch regulator is now considering a further fine, Mijnlieff said.

Silicon Valley giants have repeatedly come up against problems in the United States and Europe over alleged anti-competitive behaviour.

The EU formally accused Apple on Friday of unfairly squeezing out its music streaming rivals.

© Thomson Reuters 2022

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