Match.com – Page 31 – Online Personals Watch

Delightful Is Back, This Time As A Relationship Platform

Posted on October 10, 2014

PR NEWSWIRE – Oct 9 – The Match Group and Steve Harvey teamed up to create a new online dating platform, called Delightful.com. The dating site is for relationship-minded singles. Steve Harvey will serve as the brand's Chief Love Officer by providing custom dating and relationship advice.

The full article was originally published at Virtual Strategy Magazine, but is no longer available.

Irena Brooks: IAC launched Delightful last year as a service to plan dates for couples. The site did not get enough traction and shut down just 3 months after its public launch.

Mark Brooks: We love the idea of couples services, but we don't see them doing well. Thats because they've not been done right or sold right, quite yet. Who will figure it out first? We need more continuity in our service offerings. Couples need help keeping it together, and we are well able to help them.

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Tinder Renewed Interest In Mobile Online Dating

Posted on September 29, 2014

MOBILE MARKETING WATCH – Sep 24 – According to a new report from comScore, the preferred methods of access to dating services has gone from being desktop dominant to mobile. In 2013, 65% of all online daters were using desktop, now only 40% are accessing dating sites via desktop. Match.com maintains its lead with 6.1M visitors, POF is #2 with 4.8M, and Tinder hold #3 position in mobile with 3.6M.

by J. Barton
See full article at Mobile Marketing Watch

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Kinsey Study: Sexual And Dating Behavior Of Single Parents

Posted on September 24, 2014

IU BLOOMINGTON NEWSROOM – Sep 23 – A new study from The Kinsey Institute has found that single parents of children younger than 5 date and are sexually active as often as singles without children and more so than single parents of older children. The study was led by Peter B. Gray, University of Nevada, Justin R. Garcia, Indiana University; Benjamin S. Crosier, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College; and Helen E. Fisher, Rutgers University. Garcia is also scientific advisor to Match.com and, along with Helen Fisher, is principal investigator of its annual nationally representative survey of American singles, "Singles in America."

See full article at IU Bloomington Newsroom

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IAC/InterActiveCorp Makes Moves In Online Dating

Posted on September 15, 2014

NY TIMES – Sep 14 – IAC has been snatching up dating sites for the last several years. In March, IAC increased its majority stake in Tinder. As of the end of last year, IAC said it hosted 30M active users among its dating properties, 3.4M of which are regular paid subscribers. The Match Group is now responsible for about one quarter of IAC’s overall revenue. “We are not just the acquirer of choice,” said Sam Yagan, CEO of the Match Group, “we are the only acquirer.” Investors seem nervous. They have been pushing for IAC to spin off the Match Group as soon as possible, probably because they think the popularity of dating sites is about to crest. Dating through mobile is exploding and has remained a weak spot for much of the industry. Another problem is that the market has become crowded. Mr. Yagan is not worried. He said there was still plenty of business to go around.

by Leslie Kaufman & Mike Isaac
See full article at NY Times

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Match.com And East Coast Trains To Host Onboard Dating Event

Posted on September 9, 2014

EVENT MAGAZINE – Sep 9 – East Coast trains is teaming up with Match.com to create a first dating event on a train. The East Coast Love Train will begin its journey from London’s King’s Cross station on 13 September, with ~200 single men and women making the return journey to York, all looking for love.

by Kim Benjamin
The full article was originally published at Event Magazine, but is no longer available.

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Match.com & American Heart Association: Men Healthier In A Relationship

Posted on September 4, 2014

PR NEWSWIRE – Sep 2 – A new survey from the American Heart Association revealed that 57% of men eat healthy if they are in a relationship. While in a relationship, both men and women exercise more often than singles. 76% of men say they make healthier decisions for themselves because of their significant other. 70% of men say they are more interested in healthy behaviors when they are in relationships. The survey of 1K adults was sponsored by Match.com.

See full article at IT BusinessNet

Mark Brooks: Prior studies have shown that women can live without guys, but guys don't live so well without women. A study published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior in 2009 (link to OPW summary) of 9000 couples in their 50s and 60s showed that men suffered 20% more chronic illness when they became single at that age vs married men.

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Tinder Sparks Renewed Interest In Online Dating

Posted on August 26, 2014

CLICKZ – Aug 25 – Tinder's massive growth, due largely to its mobile-first approach that appeals to Millennials, is bringing new life to the online dating industry. In just the past year, the online dating category has gone from being desktop-dominant to a mobile-first category.

Match.com has been the market leader for quite some time with ~12M multi-platform unique visitors in July 2014. When looking at the number of visitors on smartphones. Match.com maintains its lead with 6.1M visitors, but POF trails not far behind with 4.8M. Tinder is #3 with 3.6M visitors, up ~1,400% in the past year.

by Eli Goodman
See full article at ClickZ

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Spinoff Of IAC’s Match Group Might Not Be A Smooth Sailing

Posted on August 20, 2014

WSJ – Aug 19 - Match Group is expected to trade at a higher multiple than the rest of IAC, particularly as it starts monetizing Tinder. IAC hasn't mentioned a spinoff but has taken steps in that direction, including creating Match Group with its own management. IAC would need to stabilize it's search-and-apps business (includes Ask.com and About.com) before leaving it on its own. If IAC proceeds with a spinoff, it won't necessarily be a smooth sailing for Match either. Revenue and subscriber growth has slowed in the past three quarters. Average revenue per subscriber has fallen for the past six. The problem: Most user growth is at OkCupid and Tinder, which are free.

by Miriam Gottfried
See full article at WSJ

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IAC: The Big Matchmaker

Posted on August 14, 2014

MARKETPLACE – Aug 8 – Tinder makes ~ 2M “matches” a day and is just one of the online dating brands under the banner of InterActiveCorp that includes Match.com, OkCupid, HowAboutWe, BlackPeopleMeet, and OurTime. Experts thought the future of online dating was in small niche sites, but the big sites are winning for a simple reason. “It’s like a shop,” said Mark Brooks. “You’ve really got to stock the shelves. You can’t make do with a few hundred people. You need to have thousands of active people on a dating site.” IAC doesn't combine all the sites into one because, as Sam Yagan explains, dating is “such an intimate and personal search process, that people care a lot about the emotional affiliation they have with the brand that they choose.” Having the sites under one roof provides opportunities for cross-promotion. The strategy has led IAC to control more than 1/4 of the $2.2B online dating market in the U.S., twice the next biggest competitor, eHarmony.