MASHABLE – Feb 11 – A new report from Ghostery, which creates products to detect and block data trackers, reveals which dating sites are using ad trackers. A data tracker is a snippet of code that companies such as Facebook and Amazon can implement onto other sites. Ad trackers on dating sites, for example, retarget the user on other websites. If a user goes to Match.com, the next time they go on Facebook they may be served an ad for Match.
Category: Match.com
History of the ’90s Podcast: The Birth of Online Dating
GLOBAL NEWS – Jan 8 – On this episode of History of the ’90s, host Kathy Kenzora looks back at the creation of online dating and how it became such a normal part of our lives. She talked to Gary Kremen, the creator of Match.com, the first mainstream dating website, and asked him what inspired him to use the Internet to solve the age-old problem of finding a perfect match.
This Is the Hottest Time of Year for Online Dating
MARKETWATCH – Dec 31 – For many singles, the holidays are the loneliest time of year and, in the New Year, the $3B dating industry sees a surge in users. Zoosk typically sees a 20% jump in users in the first two weeks of the year and eHarmony sees a similar increase in mobile registrations since the holidays. Grindr usually experiences a 30%-plus increase in users over the holiday season. Match.com and OKCupid also see an uptick between Christmas and Valentine's Day. "Many singles sit around the family dinner table during the holidays and think, 'Maybe it would be better to have a partner," says Mark Brooks, a dating-industry analyst and the editor of Online Personals Watch. "That's when they start hitting dating sites in droves and go on dates before the indigestion sets in."
by Quentin Fottrell
See full article at Marketwatch
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Tinder Lets Sex Offenders Use the App
by Hillary Flynn, Keith Cousins & Elizabeth Naismith Picciani
See full article at ProPublica
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Match Offers Holiday Hotline to Provide Dating and Relationship Advice
ASKMEN – Nov 26 – This year, Match is providing a Holiday Hotline. Singles who have found themselves seriously unlucky in love can dial 1-888-302-6224 to connect with one of the dating service's highly trained relationship experts. The service goes live on November 25, will run for a two-week period, and is available from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. CST during weekends.
Helen Fisher: How Does Love Affect the Brain
NPR – Nov 26 – Helen Fisher says love is a biological drive and a survival mechanism. She discusses the science of love and how much control we have over who we love, how we love, and whether that love lasts.
Match Group Q3 Earnings, Shares Plummet Following a Weak Q4 Forecast
WSJ – Nov 6 – In Q3, Match Group's profit rose to $151.5M, from $130M in Q3 '18. The revenue rose 22% YOY to $541.5M, topping analysts' expectations of $540.7M. Yet total operating costs and expenses jumped 20% in the quarter as selling and marketing, product development, amortization and general operating expenses nudged higher. Overall average subscribers rose to 9.6M in the latest quarter, up from 8.1M in the year-ago period. Shares of Match Group dropped 16% after the company's financial targets for the current quarter came in below analysts' estimates. Match Group said it expects total revenue for the Q4 to be $545M – $555M, falling below analysts' estimates of $559M in revenue. Match also projected adjusted EBITDA in the range of $205M to $210M, behind analysts'target of $228M, and also said it expects to spend ~$25M in long-term investments and incremental legal costs in the Q4. Match Group is involved in several legal tussles, most recently with the Federal Trade Commission over claims that it induced nonpaying users to subscribe to its Match.com app based on "fake profiles." Match is also involved in an intellectual-property battle with Bumble, as well as multiple suits against a Tinder co-founder.
Millennials Are Too Broke to Date
THE MOTLEY FOOL – Oct 31 – According to Match.com, 33% of young singles believe that their financial situation is getting in the way of dating. 20% don't even think they should be dating at all until they achieve a particular income level. According to a study on underemployment by The Economic Policy Institute (EPI), in 2018, 11% of young college graduates were underemployed, up from 9.4% in 2007 and 6.9% in 2000. The term underemployed includes graduates who are unemployed as well as those who could only find part-time jobs. Other research puts the total unemployment rate for millennials at over 12%, which is much higher than the national average. A study by The Ascent found that 63% of millennials still depended on their folks financially to some extent. In 2018, the average cost of a date – including two dinners, one bottle of wine, and two movie tickets – was $102.
Barry Diller: Facebook Is No Match for Match.com
FOX BUSINESS – Oct 16 – Facebook is not the place to go for online dating, according to IAC and Expedia chairman and senior executive Barry Diller. He said that if a company focuses on one thing, it will tend to do it better than others who are "dabbling." "The truth is we have not yet seen competition from Facebook," Diller said. "It's our business. For them, it's a little side business."
by Catie Perry
See full article at Fox Business
Pomerantz Law Firm Investigates Claims on Behalf of Investors of Match Group
GLOBE NEWSWIRE – Oct 3 – Pomerantz is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Match Group whether Match and its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices. On Sep 25, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it had sued Match.com for, among other things, using artificial "love interest" ads to deceive consumers into buying or upgrading subscriptions, failing to resolve disputed charges, and intentionally making it difficult to cancel subscriptions.