Google settles antitrust claims by Match Group before antitrust trial

Google has settled with dating app developer Match Group in a legal dispute involving allegations of monopolizing Android app distribution through its Play Store. This settlement leaves Epic Games as the sole plaintiff in the upcoming antitrust trial against Google, scheduled to begin on November 6.

As reported by Bloomberg, Match Group filed claims against Google but has now resolved its allegations in a filing to a San Francisco federal court. Google confirmed the settlement, however, the terms of the settlement remain undisclosed.

“We are pleased to reach a settlement agreement with Match Group,” Google spokesperson Danielle Cohen said to The Verge. “This ensures we can continue to provide our shared users the secure, seamless and high quality experience people expect from apps on Google Play while maintaining Google’s ability to invest in the Android ecosystem and deliver value across an app’s full lifecycle.”

Match Group reported the partnership agreement with Google, indicating that it would involve a “value exchange across their broad relationship.” The settlement means that Match Group will not participate in the trial, which had jury selection scheduled to start this week before US District Judge James Donato in San Francisco.

Epic Games is proceeding with the antitrust case against Google, seeking an injunction to prevent alleged violations of US antitrust law. As Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney posted on X, formerly Twitter, “ Epic will go to trial against Google alone. We reject Google’s so-called ‘user choice billing’, in which Google controls, surveils, and taxes transactions between users and developers.” 

Match and Google have settled their dispute.

Epic will go to trial against Google alone.

We reject Google's so-called "user choice billing", in which Google controls, surveils, and taxes transactions between users and developers.https://t.co/bTh095KNa2

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) October 31, 2023

Both Epic Games and Match Group accused Google of maintaining an unlawful monopoly in the distribution of Android apps, claiming that it “extracts billions in monopoly profits and suppresses innovation and choice in multiple markets.” Google has denied any wrongdoing and emphasized that it competes with Apple for app sales, characterizing the allegations as based on the “fiction” that Google does not compete with Apple.

Google has grappled with a series of antitrust cases concerning its Play Store. In a recent development, the company is approaching a potential resolution in its two-year-long multi-state antitrust lawsuit in the United States.