THE WEEK – Shar Dubey was CEO of Match Group. She stepped down in May but continues to be director and adviser. Raised in Jamshedpur, she was the only woman to be accepted at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). She then pursued a master's degree at Ohio State University and she became the first woman engineer and the first foreigner to be hired by a Pennsylvanian aerospace manufacturer. When Mandy Ginsberg called her in 2006 looking for someone to manage Chemistry, she had never laid a finger on a dating website. And yet she decided to apply. Mandy and Shar formed a duo that would last for ~15 years. Dubey strongly contributed to the transformation of Tinder into a cash machine.
Category: Match Group
Russian Court Fines Tinder for Data Law Violation
REUTERS – A Russian court fined Match Group 2M roubles ($33K) for an alleged failure to store user data within Russian territory. The fine follows similar steps against WhatsApp and Snapchat.
Online Dating Is Great for Investors, Complicated for Customers
WALL STREET JOURNAL – Together, Wall Street expects Match and Bumble to generate ~$4B this year. Online dating provides more specific results from a wider net. Tinder has ~10M people paying to meet someone on the app. But pitfalls abound. People use dating apps because everyone else seems to be using them. A recent study by the Marriage Foundation found couples who met online were six times more likely to get divorced in the first three years of their marriage than those who met in college or through family or friends. Romantic love may need to adapt to technology rather than the other way around.
by Laura Forman
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Match Group Expands Background Checks to Match.com and Stir
CNBC – Users on Match.com, which is popular among serious daters, and Stir, which is for single parents, will now have access to screen potential dates through the apps. Match Group has been working with Garbo, a nonprofit background check platform that shows public records including arrests, convictions and sex offender registry information, since a 2021 investment in the company. Match Group then launched a pilot program with Garbo on Tinder. Each search costs $2.50 plus a 75-cent processing fee per transaction. The company declined to comment on how many people have used the service through Tinder.
by Jessica Bursztynsky
See full article at CNBC
Mark Brooks: The RealMe is also very worthy of your consideration, and bring together a large pool of background check resources from around the world. RealMe have an industry-specific offering for the dating industry and are a client of Courtland Brooks and support OPW. See dating offering.
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CONFIRMED: Match Group Acquires The League
OPW – Match has just closed an acquisition of The League, a premium, niche dating app with a curated member base focused on matching career-oriented users looking for serious relationships. The app has an admissions-based model where potential users can apply to join by submitting their social media profiles. Users are then waitlisted until they pass a screening algorithm and review process. It can be used for free members buy a subscription, which doubles their matches.
Mark Brooks: What Should Match Group Do Next? Please join the conversation. Voice your opinion on this Swell.
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This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.com
Google Files Counterclaim to Match’s Antitrust Lawsuit
TECH CRUNCH – The two tech giants have been battling it out in court after Match sued Google this May over its alleged monopoly power in Android app payments. Match is claiming Google has too much control over the Google Play app marketplace and uses anti-competitive tactics to maintain its hold on that ecosystem. Epic Games is also suing both Apple and Google. The companies largely want to offer their own in-app payment systems to avoid the commissions that come with having their apps distributed through the Google Play store and App Store. Now, Google has filed its counterclaim in this ongoing lawsuit, where it argues that Match is misleading the court in saying Google only provides payment processing fees and that Match Group seeks to access the global distribution platform for free. Plus, Google argues that its 15% fee for Match Group subscriptions is "half the amount" other major platforms charge – a reference to Apple, but misleading since both platforms reduce commissions from 30% to 15% in an app's second year.
Is Match Group Acquiring The League?
OPW – A little bird told us that Match Group is about to acquire The League, a dating app that connects high-achieving individuals with one another, using a selective admissions-based model. The League was launched in 2014 by Amanda Bradford. Watch this space for updates.
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Match Group Joins the United Nations Global Compact
PR NEWSWIRE – United Nations Global Compact is the world's largest corporate initiative advancing sustainable and socially responsible business practices. By joining the initiative, Match Group has committed to sending regular updates to the UN Secretary-General tracking its progress in implementing the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact, which focuses on fundamental responsibilities in the areas of human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption.
Match Group Suspends Some Political Donations After Abortion Ruling
NEW YORK TIMES – Match Group said it would no longer give money to groups representing Republican and Democratic attorneys general. Match Group has been among the most vocal companies in responding to the Supreme Court's ruling, which ended nearly 50 years of federal abortion rights. The company said it would cover abortion-related travel for its employees, and its former CEO Shar Dubey announced a fund in September supporting abortion access in partnership with Planned Parenthood Los Angeles.
Match Wants to Keep FTC Case Under Wraps
REUTERS – Match Group fights with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over the FTC's investigation of OKCupid which allegedly shared users' photos with Clarifai, a facial recognition company. The FTC investigation follows a 2019 New York Times article asserting that Clarifai built its database of faces with OkCupid user photos supplied by an OkCupid founder who was also a Clarifai investor. OkCupid and Match denied any commercial agreement with Clarifai, but in 2020, the FTC demanded documents from the companies about the alleged deal. After more than a year of battling, the FTC filed its petition, asking the court to order Match to turn over 136 disputed documents. Match responded a few days later with an emergency motion to seal everything. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon denied Match's motion to seal the entire docket but allowed Match's filings to remain under wraps temporarily. Match's lawyers appear to have renewed their push to litigate in secret in a sealed June 21 motion.