Name: CEO of Match Group discusses how Apple takes 30% of revenues from in-app purchases
Uploaded: 2021-10-13
Duration: 5 min 19 s
Description: Shar Dubey: 'It's an important issue for businesses who have a lot of power.'

Shar Dubey: "It's an important issue for businesses who have a lot of power."

CEO of Match Group discusses how Apple takes 30% of revenues from in-app purchases

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Match Group CEO: Apple takes 30% in-app purchases

match pays about I believe 500 million in fees annually. And you've been closely watching developments like the epic the Apple ruling and legislation out of south Korea that pretty much bans such fees um, does the way that Apple and google charge developers need to change short answer Yes, but I am going to send spend two methods just to explain because it's a not something everybody understands. It's an important issue for businesses who have a lot of power and control to know. So there was this brilliant thing called the internet was a great innovation changed all of our lives obviously. But one of the really need things about it was it was free any business could create a website and reach its target audience for free. Of course they spend money to promote it. But it was largely free. All that changed when the smartphone came along and obviously Apple won the race with the iphone and they have the operating system which is the IOS. But one less understood thing that happened was they created a gateway to the internet and controlled access to all consumers through this thing called the app store. And then a few years later google followed with android and today much of the world is controlled through these two companies who are now the gate keepers, the internet. So to illustrate that we are one of our largest absence Tinder, 98% of our users use either the iphone and the android app even though we have a Tinder dot com website where we sell lower cost subscriptions. We barely can get any of our young audience in particular to use anything but apps so that's the kind of power they now have and they are picking winners and losers in the world. Like much of the rest of the world had is you know how they do business is determined by them. So to me uh it ought to come with some responsibility and uh you know enacting policies and practices that are fair and equitable in a pipe stands for in app payment that has not, that's not how it's worked out. So what they did was they arbitrarily Apple a few years ago um came up with a list of app categories that it said, you know what We have built this payment system, you're gonna have to use it and nothing else. And for every dollar you transact you're gonna pay 30% to us. Just because we can and I say arbitrary because the definitions very vague because if you um if you have an app that connects the driver to a writer, you're not subject to the great example of Tinder versus facebook dating and you pick up for the same exact service, they are picking which business models I'll go to win. So if your ad supported, you don't have to pay but if consumers are paying you directly you have to pay and it's a big tax, it forces us to increase prices for consumers. It prevents us from making investments in our people and our technologies in the business and the you know, finally the world has sort of woken up that are active investigations to your point, South Korea just passed a law making it illegal. We just found out Netherlands has also deemed it illegal. Which apples fighting. I think I just want to tell you made the point at when we talked before that um Apple is the number two biggest dating company in the world. Right? How did you face it? Well, they make a lot. I mean look, they make a 30% out of every dating company right out there. I'm not sure exactly how much they do. But yes, they, you know, for every one of the categories that is mandated by this, they are probably the largest players um in it, the so there's regulations now or active investigations in the US and UK France, eu India Russia Australia. But you know, the thing that I wanted to call out though is if the whole world is sort of challenging this, someone at Apple needs to take a step back and say this, does this still feel the right thing to do if your best defense for this is while we build it and we can and oh by the way, it may hurt safety and privacy, which It's ring so hollow to me because by their own admission, 16% of apocalypse are subject to this tax. And so all they want to do is do what the rest of the 84% do. So I don't know how that becomes a safety and privacy argument. But the worst of it all is the epic ruling. The judge actually ruled that not letting developers promote lower prices or other payment instruments within the app violated California law. And their response was of course we're going to fight it. But if we're forced to do it, we're going to make sure these links are non clickable and oxymoron I think. And thank you very hard. We're actually out of time that went so quickly. But this is very important. Yeah, My whole point is really, I mean, I admire the company so much. I just hope they recognize they take a step back and do the right thing.