Hasta La Gadget!

Uber is planning on tightening the purse strings this year. In an email to employees shared with CNBC, the ride-hailing firm’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the company would cut back on spending amidst a “seismic shift” in investor sentiment. First up on the chopping block are marketing and incentives, also known as Uber’s various perks for customers and drivers that include sign-up bonuses and ride discounts. Although Khosrowshahi didn’t mention lay-offs in the e-mail, he made clear that any new hiring at the company would be treated as “a privilege.”

“We have to make sure our unit economics work before we go big. The least efficient marketing and incentive spend will be pulled back. We will treat hiring as a privilege and be deliberate about when and where we add headcount. We will be even more hardcore about costs across the board,” wrote Khosrowshahi.

The company’s quarterly earnings call last week contained both good news and bad news: Uber’s $6.9 billion in reported revenue for the first quarter of 2022 was a staggering 136 percent increase from the same period last year. It’s clear that demand is returning to pre-pandemic levels. But the company also lost $5.6 billion due to its many investments, which include overseas ride-sharing apps. Uber often buys a stake in local competitors or acquires them outright. But this strategy can backfire, as it did with Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi. Uber sold its stake in Didi last year after its value dropped by $2 billion in under a couple of weeks. It’s also looking to speed up the sale of its 29 percent stake in Russia’s ride-hailing platform Yandex.

Uber’s incentives program has boosted new driver sign-ups and ridership, but has also led to significant losses for the company. The company reported a $509 million loss last August, solely due to its heavy spending on sign-up bonuses it used to lure drivers back on the road.

The rideshare platform plans on focusing even more on Uber Eats and its new Freight program, which businesses can use to ship packages. Uber’s delivery business posted $2.5 billion in revenue for the first quarter of 2022, and currently has a record number of merchants.

“Investors are happy with Delivery’s growth coming out of the pandemic and see that we have performed better than many other pandemic winners. I must admit that was a bit of a surprise for me because I firmly believe Delivery should be growing even faster,” wrote Khosrowshahi.

A university that originally opened its doors the same year that the American Civil War ended will shut down later this month. Lincoln College administrators have put the blame on a ransomware attack, which they say hindered admissions and fundraising activities during a period when the school was already struggling.

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The parent company of Tinder and Hinge has sued Google. In a complaint (PDF link) filed Monday with a federal court in California, Match Group alleges the tech giant broke federal and state antitrust laws with its Play Store guidelines.

The lawsuit concerns a policy Google plans to implement later this year. In the fall of 2020, the company “clarified” its stance on in-app purchases, announcing it would eventually require all Android developers to process payments involving “digital goods and services” through the Play Store billing system. Google initially said it would begin enforcing the policy on September 30th, 2021, but later extended the deadline to June 1st, 2022.

Match alleges Google had “previously assured” the company it could use its own payments systems. The company claims Google has threatened to remove its apps from the Play Store if it does not comply with the upcoming policy change by the June 1st deadline. Match further claims Google has preemptively started rejecting app updates that maintain the existing payment systems found in its dating services. “Ten years ago, Match Group was Google’s partner. We are now its hostage,” the company says in its complaint.

“This lawsuit is a measure of last resort,” Match CEO Shar Dubey said in a statement the company shared with Engadget. “We tried, in good faith, to resolve these concerns with Google, but their insistence and threats to remove our brands’ apps from the Google Play Store by June 1st has left us no choice but to take legal action.”

In a statement Google shared with Engadget, the search giant said Match is eligible to pay a 15 percent commission on in-app purchases, a rate the company noted is the lowest among “major app platforms.” Google also pointed out that the “openness” of Android allows Match to distribute its apps through alternative app stores and sideloading if the company “doesn’t want to comply” with its policies. “This is just a continuation of Match Group’s self-interested campaign to avoid paying for the significant value they receive from the mobile platforms they’ve built their business on,” a Google spokesperson told Engadget.

The lawsuit comes at a time when both Apple and Google face significant regulatory pressure from lawmakers around the world to change their app store policies. In February, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the Open App Markets Act. Should the legislation become law as it stands, it would prevent both companies from locking third-party developers into their respective payment systems.

In March, Google announced it was partnering with Spotify to test third-party billing systems. Notably, Match says that pilot offers “nothing new for developers or users.” The company also said Google rejected its request to be included in the program and would not share the criteria for inclusion.

The “Jenny From the Block” singer dug deep into the Bennifer archives to unearth this festive gem.