ASKMEN – Feb 9 – Match is unleashing a more modern design for their 25-year anniversary. To pull off their fresh new look, Match partnered up with design company Collins for a total overhaul of the brand. Their goal in the refresh was to showcase Match as somewhat of a concierge for singles.
Category: Match.com
How Match Group Grew to Dominate the Online Dating Market
BUSINESS INSIDER – Feb 2 – Match Group, which started as one lonely Stanford Business School graduate's attempt to build a less embarrassing way to find love online in the '90s, has turned into a titan that owns nearly every US dating site. Bumble, however, is conspicuously absent from Match's portfolio. Bumble's CEO, ex-Tinder executive Whitney Wolfe Herd, has a toxic history with the online dating group.
History of Match
- Match Group was founded in Feb 2009 after IAC decided to bundle all dating sites it owned.
- AC's initial purchase of Match.com dates back to the 1990s. Gary Kremen founded Match.com in 1995; he left in 1996 with just ~$50K.
- Ticketmaster bought Match.com in 1999 for $50M. Cendant Corporation bought the company a year earlier for $6M.
- During the 2000s, IAC chairman Barry Diller turned Match.com into one of the most successful online dating companies in the US.
- Jim Safka, a former ETrade and AT&T executive, took over as Match.com CEO in 2004.
- Revenue increased 68% between 2003 and 2006, going from $185M to $311M
- IAC acquired People Media for $80M in July 2009, with a combined 255K subscribers.
- 2011, Match Group acquired OkCupid for $50M.
- In January 2012, Hatch Labs, a startup "sandbox" launched by IAC to incubate mobile apps, hired Sean Rad as general manager. Rad worked with developer Joe Muñoz to create the prototype for Tinder. Jonathan Badeen and Chris Gulczynski were hired to help with front-end and design. Whitney Wolfe Herd was hired in May and Justin Mateen was brought in as a contractor. The app was originally called Match Box.
- August 2012, Match Box was renamed to "Tinder" and launched on Apple's App Store.
- By April 2013, Tinder officially incorporated, with Rad, Badeen, and Mateen considered the company's cofounders. Rad served as CEO.
- IAC later purchased another chunk of Tinder for ~$50M.
- In 2014, Wolfe Herd sued Tinder and IAC for sexual harassment and discrimination.
- In 2015, acquired POF for $575M, Match Group went public.
- By 2017, Tinder had merged under the Match Group umbrella.
- In 2018, Rad and nine other Tinder employees sued IAC, claiming IAC purposely undervalued the startup. The lawsuit sought $2B in damages.
- 2018, acquisition of Hinge.
- December 2019, IAC announced it was spinning off its stake in Match Group.
- Jan 2020, Match Group CEO of 14 years, Mandy Ginsberg, stepped down. Former Tinder COO Shar Dubey took over.
by Avery Hartmans & Allana Akhtar
See full article at Business Insider
Is AI The Future of Dating in 2021?
by Fabian Foo
See full article at E27
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O’Doul’s & Match.com Partner
MARKETING DIVE – Dec 16 – O'Doul's and Match are partnering to offer Virtual Date Kits. O'Doul's is a non-alcoholic beer. The virtual date kits include limited-edition O'Doul's cans in Match's signature blue color, custom socks, a candle, dating conversation cards, a smartphone stand and a selfie light. In addition, Match is updating its app to include drinking preferences. As people sign up for a chance to receive a Virtual Date Kit, O'Doul's and Match can collect valuable consumer data.
Single Seniors Excited for Vaccine so They Can Date Again
NEW YORK POST – Jan 11 – Helen Fisher, Ph.D., an anthropologist who conducts scientific surveys for Match.com, predicts that "seniors will be out in droves. They have been more cautious over the past year than their younger counterparts, but as soon as they're vaccinated they'll be out." According to Fisher, video chatting will remain commonplace as an important "vetting stage" before in-person dating. But, she added, "The brain is built to meet somebody in person. It's much more intense." Like everyone else, older singles are looking for "romantic love," she said.
by Suzy Weiss & Doree Lewak
See full article at New York Post
Match.com’s Sneak Peek at 2021
OPW – Dec 11 –
Santa Cruz DA Seeks $10M From Match.com for Misleading Customers
THE MERCURY NEWS – Dec 4 – The Santa Cruz county district attorney's office is leveling consumer protection violation allegations against Match.com in a new lawsuit seeking $10M in penalties. "Match.com engaged in a pattern and practice of designing a signup and cancellation process intended to hook in consumers and make it difficult for them to extricate themselves from the contract," the District Attorney's Office release states.
The Devil & 2020 Go on a Date in a New Match Ad
BUSINESS TODAY – Dec 3 – Match.com released a hilarious ad which shows what happened this year was a result of the union of Satan with his hell bound lover '2020'. The ad saw a collaboration between Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds and Taylor Swift. Reynold's company 'Maximum Effort' created the ad along with Swift providing a re-recording of her super hit 2008 song 'Love Story' as the background music.
by Anshula Raj
See full article at Business Today
Mark Brooks: On so many levels, this is just pure brilliant. What a hoot! Dating TV advertising at its best. It's controversial, polarizing, resonant, colorful, memorable, and poignant.
Dating App Usage Is Changing for the Better
Could Hinge Be Match Group’s Next Tinder?
THE MOTLEY FOOL – Nov 10 – Tinder dominates Match's revenue. It has grown from around zero revenue in 2014 to ~$1.4B this year. Match.com and other legacy websites like PlentyofFish make up around a third of sales. The smallest part of Match's current portfolio is the "emerging opportunities." It includes brands like Ablo, Pairs, and Hawaya, but is led by Hinge. Hinge is "designed to be deleted," meaning it targets people in the slightly older millennial cohort looking for long-term relationships. Match doesn't disclose Hinge's nominal revenue numbers. However, the app downloads year-to-date were up 82%. In fact, the company disclosed in its Q2 report that Hinge users have grown more than tenfold since 2017. With ~10M downloads globally, Hinge may be on the verge of what Tinder achieved a few years ago: hitting escape velocity in its target market.
by Brett Schafer
See full article at The Motley Fool