PR NEWSWIRE – Feb 4 – BLK, the largest dating app made for Black singles, launched a new advertising campaign, Once You Go BLK, to reclaim and reappropriate the antiquated phrase "Once you go Black, you don't go back." This campaign includes original content and video testimonials with BLK users, tailored to acknowledge how real people date, across the Black cultural spectrum.
Category: Match Group
Match Group 4Q and Annual Results, Tinder Reports $1.4B Annual Revenue
MATCH GROUP – Feb 2 – Total Q4 revenue grew 19% YOY to $651M. Operating income was $213M, up 17% YOY. Adjusted EBITDA was $245M, up 13% YOY and the average subscribers increased 12% to 10.9M, up from 9.8M in the prior year quarter. Full year 2020 revenue grew 17% YOY to $2.4B. Operating income and Adjusted EBITDA were $746M and $897M, respectively, increasing 16% and 15% YOY, respectively. Tinder Direct Revenue was $1.4B for 2020, an 18% increase YOY.
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
Match Group CEO Never Thought Covid Would End Online Dating
BLOOMBERG – Jan 26 – Sharmistha Dubey, the CEO of the Match Group, breaks down what love in the time of Coronavirus is like for Match Group’s users. She speaks to Mark Miller at Bloomberg’s “The Year Ahead.”
Match Group Continues to Turn Heads on Wall Street
DALLAS BUSINESS JOURNAL – Jan 22 – The price target for the company's stock rose to $169 from $157. Match is benefiting from growing demand for its services as more folks retreat to their smart phones instead of hitting bars and restaurants. The company saw double-digit revenue growth in the Q3. Morgan Stanley highlighted the potential for Tinder. It said its "Mobile App Download" tracker pointed to an increase of Tinder subscribers of 320K, or 17%, in the Q4 compared to the firm's estimates of 280K and a consensus for a jump of 250K. Hinge should show growth of about three-fourths.
Capitol Riots: Bumble Unblocks Politics Filter
BBC.COM – Jan 19 – Bumble has reinstated its political preferences filter after disabling it "to prevent misuse" in the wake of the US Capitol riots. Following the violence, reports emerged online of some Bumble users switching the filter to find those who had taken part – and report them to authorities. Match Group has banned any users wanted by the FBI in connection with domestic terrorism from all of its platforms.
Dating Apps Are Using Images From the Siege to Ban Rioters’ Accounts
WASHINGTON POST – Jan 18 – Bumble, Tinder and others are freezing out rioters with help from law enforcement and, in some cases, their own photos. Other app users have taken matters into their own hands by striking up conversations with potential rioters and relaying their information to the FBI. Some onlookers have celebrated the viral hunt as a creative form of digital comeuppance. But some privacy advocates said the episode reveals a worrying truth about pervasive public surveillance and the opaque connections between private companies and law enforcement. Both Bumble and Match Group said they were working to remove users known to be involved in the Capitol siege from their platforms.
by Drew Harwell, Lisa Bonos & Craig Timberg
See full article at Washington Post
See the top news on Bumble
See the top news on Tinder
See the top news on Match Group
IAC, Barry Diller Targeted by Pension Fund Over Match Spinoff
BLOOMBERG LAW – Jan 13 – A pension fund sued Match Group Inc.'s board, former controlling stockholder IAC/InterActiveCorp, and billionaire businessman Barry Diller, claiming Match Group's spinoff last year left it saddled with billions in debt and IAC "flush with billions in cash."
Match Stock Upside Expected as Covid Vaccines Drive In-Person Dating Rebound
INVESTORS.COM – Jan 14 – Match stock should be a big reopening beneficiary as coronavirus vaccinations gain traction globally and the company rolls out new products, analysts say. Match stock gained 83% in 2020. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Tinder launched video chat services for stay-at-home users. After Q3 earnings, shares hit an all-time high of 159.53 on Dec. 17. "For 2021, we believe new products catalysts (Tinder Platinum, live video, Swipe Night) and higher willingness to date in-person will likely drive an acceleration in revenue growth," said Jefferies analyst Brent Thill.
FriendFinder Networks Achieves Court Judgment Against Match Group
BUSINESSWIRE – Jan 12 – In 2019, FFN discovered it had overpaid PlentyofFish by $116K for members sent to AdultFriendFinder over the course of a business relationship that goes back to 2011. Unfortunately, PlentyOfFish refused to correct this overpayment, and it was necessary to file litigation. FFN has paid over $13M since 2011 for the members PlentyOfFish sent to its adult websites.
See full article at Businesswire
See all posts on FriendFinder Networks
See the top news on Match Group