SILICONANGLE – During the COVID-19 pandemic, the scope of human interaction shrank to the size of a computer screen. Match Group relied on long-time partner AppDynamics, a Cisco Systems, to adapt its platforms to make online dating more engaging with features like video calls.
Category: Match Group
Match Settles for $441M in Valuation Case
SEEKING ALPHA – Tinder's co-founder and eight current and former execs sued Match and IAC for $2B in damages in 2018 alleging the valuation of the company was manipulated during a 2017 bank analysis that set the value for stock options. Match Group has agreed to pay plaintiffs $441M cash and will dismiss all claims presently on trial and in arbitration related to the 2017 Tinder valuation. Match rose 1.4% in premarket trading.
Match Group’s Shares Down 17%
WALL STREET JOURNAL – Investors are dumping Match amid ongoing litigation risk. Match's shares are down ~17% since the trial began in November. Investors are overestimating the risks. A litigation analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence recently predicted Match has a 75% chance of winning the case. A 2017 report from Barclays showed Tinder did $176M in revenue in 2016 and, as of the Q1 of 2017, had less than a fifth of the payers it has today. No one predicted how much money Tinder Gold would make. According to Barclays Tinder's management predicted $454M in revenue in 2018 and Rad $503M. Barclays landed in the middle at $485M, significantly below the $800M the app actually ended up generating that year. Rad predicted 2020 revenue to be $892M. Last year, the app made $1.4B for Match. The banks ultimately valued Tinder at $3B in 2017, while the plaintiffs argue it should have been worth $13B.The case is set to go to a jury in early December. For Match, the worst case scenario seems unlikely. The judge has already said valuations of dating companies today can't be taken into account.
by Laura Forman
See full article at Wall Street Journal
Mark Brooks: Match Group didn't just buy Tinder. They bought Singlesnet, and OKCupid, and People Media, not to mention POF, to hit the home run with Tinder. Sam Yagan, Mandy Ginsberg, Amarnath Thombre and Shar Dubey, executed beautifully to allow Tinder to disrupt the market. (Full Disclosure: POF is a former client of Courtland Brooks, and I own Match Group stock)
Bumble & Match Pursuing Metaverse Ambitions
THE MOTLEY FOOL – Bumble plans to relaunch BFF as a metaverse platform. Plans are vague. (Bumble stock declined ~40% the past month, trading ~20% below its IPO price of $43/share. Bumble beat top line estimates but missed profit estimates and lost paid users). CEO, Whitney Wolfe Herd said BFF was already "built on blockchain tech," and that it was designed to encourage users to create their own communities. BFF is to enable members to "own their experience on Bumble" via the "communities they build, the virtual goods and experiences they acquire, or through new ways of owning their identity as they navigate the metaverse." In August, 10% of users were using BFF and Bumble had 12.3m MAUs in September. Match also mentioned metaverse on its latest conference call and has been testing out a new feature called "Singletown" across college campuses in Seoul, which enables its users to communicate with each other through digital avatars in a virtual piano bar. CEO Shar Dubey said it was seeing "encouraging early signals" for Gen Z engagement.
by Leo Sun
See full article at The Motley Fool
Mark Brooks: Want to learn more about Metaverse? The next LTR online conference is covering an intro to Metaverse, courtesy of David Siegel. See ltr13.splashthat.com.
Match CEO’s ‘Fist Bump’ Sparks Tinder Trial ‘Bullying’ Claim
Match Introduces Human Matchmaking
WALL STREET JOURNAL – For $4.99 a week Match dating experts will go through a user's answers to four questions and pair them. A 50-member team, trained as dating coaches, will select two profiles for participating members each week, drawing from the same algorithm-generated pool Match provides. Questions include, what a person would change about their dating life, and what sort of person a user gravitates toward. "The company created the feature because, for some singles, the pandemic has added a degree of urgency to finding a long-term relationship," said Amarnath Thombre, CEO of Match Group Americas. "People have had enough time to reflect," "Traditional matchmaking services are costly, starting in the thousands of dollars for just a few months. But these services are worth it to customers who don't have the time to sort through candidates on apps," said Tammy Shaklee, founder/matchmaker of H4M, an LGBTQ matchmaking service.
by Ann-Marie Alcántara
See full article at Wall Street Journal
Mark Brooks (owner of matchmaker.com): Fascinating stuff, but I think calling this matchmaking is an offense to the matchmaking industry. $5 a week may well be a scalable price-point, but I don't think this service does justice to the humanity of the service matchmakers provide. The whole point of (quality) matchmaking is to get deep into the person, council and coach them, and provide custom advice to the individuals, with occasional appropriately sugar-coated but tough feedback. Match's service appears to be a commitment vehicle. I don't quite see how this service quite passes muster as matchmaking, even as a minimum effective dose. Let's see. Looks like the opposite end of the spectrum to the matchmaking service eHarmony introduced and experimented with years ago.
Match Made the List of Top 100 Companies to Work for
DALLAS NEWS – Match's perks include a casual work environment, company-paid maternity and paternity leave, on-site massage, an Employee Wellness & Relaxation Room, on-site foosball and pool tables, discounted gym memberships, pet insurance, company-provided DART passes, and free gourmet coffee & drinks.
Tinder and Match Asking Users to Urge Senators to Pass Violence Against Women Act
THE HILL – Match, Tinder, OkCupid, BLK, Chispa and Plenty of Fish, all of which are part of Match Group, have prompted their users to send an email to their senators "with one click," urging them to support the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. The Violence Against Women Act, originally enacted in 1994, lapsed in 2019 and has not been reauthorized since. The bill would provide grants to state and local governments for programs addressing domestic abuse, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking, in addition to further narrowing the so-called boyfriend loophole to prohibit dating partners convicted of domestic violence or abuse from buying or owning guns. Current law only restricts gun purchases for spouses or formerly married partners who were convicted of abuse or are under a restraining order.
Match Group Details Plans for a Dating Metaverse
Match Group Q3 Results, Revenue up 25% YOY
MATCH GROUP – Total revenue grew 25% YOY to $802M. Operating income was $221M, up 10% YOY. Adjusted EBITDA was $285M, up 15% YOY. Payers increased 16% to 16.3M, up from 14M in Q3 2020. Tinder revenue grew 20% driven by 19% payers growth to 10.4M. Hyperconnect added $53M of revenue.