IAC – July 31 – The Match Group revenue increased 8% as Dating paid subscribers grew 10% to 3.5M globally. Adjusted EBITDA increased 2% due to higher revenue, partially offset by higher marketing expense at Dating and DailyBurn. Operating income increased 15%.
Category: Match.com
Three Day Rule – The Matchmaker That Attracted Match.com
BIZWOMEN – July 23 – Talia Goldstein started her matchmaking business, Three Day Rule (TDR) in 2010. She now employs a team of 12 full-time matchmakers, with plans to grow that number to 30 by the end of the year. Match has just partnered with TDR and held a Series A round for an undisclosed sum. Match will incorporate the elite TDR service onto its site, and the funds will be used to scale the service and expand the TDR team. The starting price for TDR service is $5K for 6 months.
Match.com Acquires FriendScout24
WUV.DE – July 17 – Match.com, which operates in Germany under Neu.de, has bought FriendScout24 from Scout24 Holding. The investment firm Hellman & Friedman, which is the majority owner of Scout24, wants to focus primarily on their real estate brand ImmoScout24. In November last year, Hellman & Friedman took over 70% of the shares of Scout24 Holding from Deutsche Telekom for 1.5B Eur.
by Leif Pelikan
See full article at WUV.de
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This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
Match.com Partners With SinglesCruise.com
USA TODAY – July 15 - Match.com and SinglesCruise.com partners to offer special trips during Halloween and New Year. While the ship sailings are open to the public, those who book through Match.com's blog, Up to Date, or through singlescruise.com will have access to special events and a private message board to meet fellow single passengers on their trip. Pricing starts at $1,181 per person.
IAC Buys HowAboutWe, But Not HowAboutWe Couples
NY TIMES – July 14 - Match Group has acquired parts of HowAboutWe. The price is unknown, and the deal includes HowAboutWe’s dating and media properties. It does not involve the Couples side of the business. As a result, only a portion of HowAboutWe employees will move to IAC. Other employees will remain with the Couples business, while some have been laid off.
by Mike Isaac
See full article at NY Times
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This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
Match Launches An App For Android Wearables
MATCH BLOG – June 26 - Match.com has launched a dating app for the Android Wear watch today. Features include: receive and respond to messages, view and rate daily matches, find singles nearby.
The full article was originally published at Match Blog, but is no longer available.
Match.com Partners With American Mensa
CNN – June 23 – Members of the brainiac group can connect through a separate dating service called Mensa Match. In addition, Match.com members can add a special Mensa badge to their profiles, signaling a specific interest in connecting with a single person with a confirmed genius-level IQ score. According to Match, 80% of singles find it very important to be with someone of the same intelligence level.
Match.com Users Can Find Dates With Pictures Of Their Ex
MASHABLE – June 10 - Match.com has partnered with Three Day Rule that uses facial-recognition technology to find dates for users. Match.com members will be able to upgrade to Three Day Rule's premium service, which asks users to send pictures of exes to determine the type of look they're attracted to. Three Day Rule's premium service costs $5K for a six-month package. Premium members are assigned professional matchmakers, who coach the client, fly out to meet with them, get to know their preferences and go on pre-dates with potential mates.
Facebook Continues To Ban Smaller Dating Sites’ Ads
BUSINESS INSIDER – June 5 – Match.com, Zoosk and eHarmony advertise heavily on Facebook. However Facebook doesn't allow smaller, niche dating sites to advertise. "It's impossible to gain traction as a new dating site today without access to Facebook ads", says CEO of a dating site who has $500K to spend on ads, but Facebook declines to take his money. Facebook first activated a ban on small dating sites back in January. Facebook was going to revisit the policy after Valentine's Day but has since decided to extend the ban.
Dating Sites Advertise Heavily On TV This Year
WSJ – June 5 – In the first five months of this year, online dating sites have spent $214M on national TV spots, according to iSpot. In comparison, dating sites spent $241M on national TV ad placements last year. Match.com and eHarmony dominate the TV ad spending. Match.com spent $71.5M and eHarmony spent $59.4M.