Google Reaches Billing Agreements With Match Group, Bandcamp

Google has decided to let Match Group and Bandcamp continue to use their own payment methods rather than requiring them to implement the Google Play Store's billing system.

The company said earlier this year that Android apps distributed via the Play Store would have to use Google's billing system by June 1. Some companies, including Barnes & Noble and Amazon, responded by removing purchases from their Android apps entirely.

Bandcamp's new parent company, Epic Games, and Match Group took a different tack. The companies separately challenged Google's decision in court—Epic Games on April 28 and Match Group on May 9—so they could keep using their existing payment systems.

The companies announced on May 20 that they'd reached agreements to do exactly that.

"Under an agreement encouraged by the court," Bandcamp CEO Ethan Diamond said, "Bandcamp will continue to operate using our existing payment system on Android devices."

But there's a catch: Bandcamp will have to "place 10% of the revenue generated from digital sales on Android devices in escrow until Epic’s ongoing case against Google is resolved," Diamond said, and the company will bear those costs rather than passing them on to anyone.

Google's agreement with Match Group appears to be more sweeping. Match Group said that:

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• Match Group apps will not be rejected or removed from the Google Play Store because they offer alternatives to Google Play Billing.

• Google will approve Match Group app updates that offer alternatives to Google Play Billing, continuing to provide users with the choice and optionality they've grown accustomed to.

• Google will work - in good faith - to fix the deficiencies of Google Play Billing, outlined HERE. When Google addresses these problems, Match Group apps that currently do not offer Google Play Billing will - in good faith - test Google's system on their platforms, alongside current payment systems.

But this agreement comes with a similar clause. "As part of this arrangement, Match Group plans to put up to $40 million into an escrow account," the company said, "instead of paying Google directly for billing transactions that occur on Android outside of Google Play Billing."

All of which means that Match Group and Bandcamp have scored a temporary victory at best. Now it's up to the courts to decide if Google will be allowed to force these companies—and other Android software providers—to use its billing system instead of maintaining their own.

Google didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.