Google countersues Match, seeking its ouster from app store

Alphabet Inc.’s Google
GOOGL,
-0.45%
GOOG,
-0.40%
has countersued Match Group Inc.
MTCH,
-1.07%
for breach of contract, and wants the dating-app company banned from its Google Play app store. The suit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges Match intentionally breached the developer-distribution agreement it signed by using its own external payment systems in its apps rather than Google’s billing system. “Match Group entered into a contract with us and this suit seeks to hold Match to its end of the agreement — we’re looking forward to making our case. Meanwhile, we will continue to defend ourselves against Match’s baseless claims,” a Google spokesperson told MarketWatch. In May, Match — which operates Tinder, Match and OkCupid — sued the search giant. It claims Google unfairly required Match’s dating apps to exclusively use Google’s billing system to be part of Google Play.