Google puts Tinder ban on hold pending yet another Play Billing lawsuit

Enlarge / Let's see, you landed on my "Google Ads" space, and with three houses... that will be $1,400. (credit: Ron Amadeo / Hasbro)

Google Play's in-app billing crackdown sure is causing a lot of conflicts with Android's biggest app developers. Google recently decided to enforce a long-standing Play Store rule that says Google Play must be the one-and-only in-app purchase provider for apps downloaded from the Play Store, locking out developers from using their own payment solutions.

The latest huge developer that is unhappy with Google's new policy is Match Group, the owner of Tinder and several other dating apps. Match sued Google on May 9 for "strategic manipulation of markets, broken promises, and abuse of power in requiring Match Group to use Google's billing system to remain in the Google Play Store." On Friday, the two companies reached an agreement to not restrict Match Group's Play Store access until the lawsuit concludes.

The two companies put out dueling press releases, describing the situation very differently. Match's blog post is titled "Google Concedes Key Issues on Google Play Policies," while Google has a more stern title: "The facts about the temporary Match Group agreement."

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