TECH CRUNCH – The lawsuit, filed Monday in California's Northern District, accuses Google of deploying "anticompetitive tactics" to maintain a monopoly on the Android mobile ecosystem. Match's lawsuit is the latest instance of app developers demanding relief from Google and Apple over the 30% standard cut – now, sometimes 15% – that those tech giants extract from in-app payments. Google dismissed the new Match lawsuit as a "self-interested campaign" to avoid paying its fair share.
Category: Outlets – Tech Crunch
Match Group Google Play Store Complaint Triggers Dutch Antitrust Probe
TECH CRUNCH – A competition complaint against Google's Android Play Store by Match Group, has led to a preliminary investigation by the Netherlands' Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) into whether the tech giant is abusing a dominant position. "Dating-app providers allegedly are no longer able to use a payment system other than Google's payment system. In addition, dating apps claim they are no longer allowed to refer to other payment methods either," the ACM said. A Google spokesperson said: Match Group's apps are eligible to pay just 15% on Google Play, which is the lowest rate among major app platforms. But even if they don't want to comply with Google Play's policies, Android still provides them multiple ways of distributing their apps to Android users, including through other Android app stores, directly to users via their website or as consumption-only apps.
Match Names Zynga President Bernard Kim as CEO, Replacing Shar Dubey
TECH CRUNCH – Just over two years after assuming the top exec position, Match CEO and 16-year employee Shar Dubey is stepping down. Shar Dubey will remain on the company's board and continue to serve as an advisor. Bernard Kim, the current president of Zynga, will become CEO effective May 31 and will join Match's board of directors. Kim has been president of Zynga since 2016 and has overseen a number of key functions, including global marketing, user acquisition, revenue, consumer insights, data science, product management, mergers and acquisitions, and communications.
by Sarah Perez
See full article at Tech Crunch
Mark Brooks: Mr Bernard Kim's experience in gaming is no doubt indicative of where Match will go next. A more gamified, engaging, and immersive Internet dating experience. Match must get AI/VR right, for what I think will be the next big critical media shift.
An Early TikTok Exec Launched a Dating App, Spark
TECH CRUNCH – A former president at musical.ly (now known as TikTok), Alex Hofmann, helped build an app that could compete with social giants like Meta, YouTube or Snapchat. After ByteDance acquired musical.ly for ~$1B in 2018, Hofmann left the company to become an investor, but he soon decided he wanted to make apps again. He founded 9count, the parent company of apps like Everland, Helpline, Juju and the friendship-making app Wink, which has millions of users. Wink connects people without regard to location. "It was interesting that some of the 18+ users asked us, 'Oh, it would be great if I could look for people in my city,'" Hofmann said. "So that was one of the reasons for launching the dating app Spark." On Spark, users can see people around them all at once in a grid, kind of like on Grindr. But unlike Grindr, they can only receive messages from people if they've both "sparked" each other. Spark has already "soft-launched" in hundreds of countries, climbing to #1 in the iOS app store in Ireland and the Netherlands within a day.
Tinder Adds a ‘Festival Mode’ for Making Connections Ahead of Concerts and Events
TECH CRUNCH – Festival Mode is designed to help users connect ahead of their plans to attend concerts or larger music festivals. The feature was designed in partnership with live entertainment company Live Nation as well as event producers AEG Presents and Superstruct Entertainment, whose upcoming events will now be included in the new Festival Mode feature found within Tinder Explore.
Snap Debuts Its Fifth Cohort of Yellow Accelerator Startups
TECH CRUNCH – Snap's in-house Yellow accelerator program, which invests in startups, has debuted its fifth batch of investments. The company invests $150K in each Yellow startup for an equity stake as part of the accelerator program, which first launched in 2018. The startups will receive mentorship from Snap executives and will also get access to networking opportunities. The eight companies that are part of the latest batch of startups will take up a 13-week residency in one of Snap's buildings in Santa Monica, California. Blink Date, a voice-first dating app that matches users for 10-minute voice conversations, is one of the companies.
Apple’s Fine Over Dutch Dating Apps Antitrust Order Hits €50M, but ACM Welcomes Revised Offer
TECH CRUNCH – Until last weekend, Apple still had not met ACM's requirements. That is why it has to pay a tenth penalty payment, which means that Apple must pay the maximum penalty of €50M. But the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) is sounding more positive today after Apple adjusted its most recent offer yesterday – saying the amended proposal "should result in definitive conditions for dating-app providers. Previous offers by Apple were rejected by the ACM as creating unreasonable friction for the developers in question. If ACM comes to the conclusion that Apple does not meet the requirements, ACM may impose another order subject to periodic penalty payments (with possibly higher penalties this time around) in order to stimulate Apple to comply with the order.
Apple Sends New Offer to Dutch Antitrust Authority Over Dating Apps Payments
TECH CRUNCH – Apple has been fined again in the Netherlands over an antitrust order related to dating apps. The latest €5M fine (the ninth) brings the total penalties against Apple on this issue up to €45M (out of a maximum possible of €50M if it again fails to satisfy the regulator by next week). Apple has responded to the string of fines over this period by claiming it is complying with the order. Apple submitted "new proposals" earlier today. The details have not been disclosed.
Russia’s App Store Lost 7K Apps Since Its Invasion of Ukraine
TECH CRUNCH – The Russian App Store has lost 6,982 mobile apps since the start of the Ukraine invasion, as numerous companies have now pulled their apps and games from Apple's iPhone and iPad App Stores in the country. Amid the widespread exits, several Big Tech companies' apps continue to rank highly on the Russian App Store. Russia is not the only country being impacted in this way. Many publishers also removed their apps and games from the App Store in Belarus. That country has now seen a loss of 5,900 apps since the invasion's start. Bumble and Badoo are gone, too.
Apple Hit With Sixth Antitrust Fine Over Dutch Dating Apps Payments
TECH CRUNCH – Apple still hasn't complied with a Dutch antitrust order to allow local dating apps to have the option to use third party payment tech to sell digital content to their app users. The Dutch Authority for Consumers & Market (ACM) said it has levied a sixth fine (of €5M). Apple has been maintaining a public silence for weeks on this issue – including after the EU's head of digital strategy, EVP Margrethe Vestager, called out its behavior last week, accusing the company of a deliberate tactic of choosing to pay fines rather than comply with competition orders.