10/12/2026
A £1 billion trial opened in London last week, and dating apps are named in it.
The claim: Google took up to 30% on every Play Store subscription. dating app subscriptions included, Tinder named outright, and passed it to users as a hidden charge.
Strip away the legal language and here's the business model: dating apps are subscription businesses. They profit when you stay subscribed, not when you find someone.
A matchmaker profits when you find someone. We earn a success fee when clients commit. Our business runs on referrals from the couples who made it. Results, not renewals.
One model needs you single. The other needs you in a committed relationship or married.
The trial's in week 2, brought by consumer advocate Liz Coll and competition law firm Hausfeld on behalf of ~20M UK consumers. Hausfeld partner Lesley Hannah, who led the £1.5 billion Apple App Store win last year, put it this way: "Google has been able to use its position in the market to charge an excessive commission for well over a decade. And it's the consumer that has paid the price."
📸 by Chris Evan Photography
