TECH CRUNCH - Google has filed a new motion to the court in its antitrust battle with Epic Games and Match Group, where it claims that Match Group owes additional fees beyond the $40M that had been previously set aside in escrow. Those funds are Google's cut of Match's in-app payments on Google Play that Match argues are "illegal under federal and state law" - something the court case will decide. By Google's calculations, the new figure should total ~$84M instead, based on Match's public earnings. The escrow account was one of a handful of concessions from Google to get Match to drop a temporary restraining order it filed after first suing Google, accusing the tech giant of wielding unfair monopoly power in its Google Play Store. Google also committed to not rejecting or deleting Match-owned dating apps from the Play Store for providing alternative payment options. As part of this agreement, Match was to place up to $40M in the escrow account in lieu of paying fees directly to Google for the in-app payments that take place outside of Google Play's own payment system while the courts decide whether or not the commissions Google charges app developers on in-app purchases are legal.
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