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Category: Match Group
Top Dating News – Facebook Dating U.S. Launch, Comscore UK Report, and Tinder’s Match Time
OPW – Sep 10 – Here's the top dating news in ~2 minutes. Subscribe to Two Minute Tuesdays (TMT) on Youtube (and turn on notifications) or to the podcast on Breaker, Google podcasts, Spotify, Anchor.
Match Analysts Unfazed by Facebook’s Expanded Dating Service
BLOOMBERG – Sep 5 – Match Group shares fell ~7% in Thursday trading after Facebook announced it would be expanding its dating service into the U.S. Facebook's dating feature was first unveiled in 2018 and prior to its U.S. launch it has previously been tested in 19 other countries. Despite Match's share-price drop, Bloomberg Intelligence wrote that there was "limited risk" for the company from Facebook.
by Ryan Vlastelica
See full article at Bloomberg
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Tinder Seeks Arbitration for Ex-Exec’s Sexual Assault Claims
LAW360 – Aug 30 – Rosette Pambakian, a former Tinder marketing executive claiming the dating app and its parent company unlawfully fired her after conducting an investigation into her alleged sexual assault by Tinder's former CEO Gregory Blatt, must pursue her claims in arbitration. Rosette Pambakian, who was Tinder's head of marketing and communications, signed an agreement that requires her to resolve all employment-related issues outside of court, the dating app, parent company Match Group and Gregory Blatt told the judge Wednesday in a motion to compel arbitration.
Tinder Is Now the Top Dating App in Thailand
BANGKOKPOST – Aug 19 – In Thailand, Badoo was once the most downloaded dating app, but has been overtaken by Tinder. To Tinder, this is a surprising achievement because Asia was not their target market when the app was introduced in 2012. Seeing the high demand in Asia, Tinder is now working on building a new version of the app called "Tinder Lite". Tinder Lite will be 25% faster while consuming 20% less battery on devices and it will take up 25-times less storage space on Android device. Match Group believes Asia will comprise 25% of Tinder's total revenue by 2023.
by Sopheavuthtey Borin
See full article at Bangkok Post
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Top Equity Hedge Fund Cashes in on Online Dating
BLOOMBERG – Aug 18 – Helsinki-based HCP Focus, which has a slim portfolio of only 12 "high-conviction" stocks, has 16% of its funds invested in Match Group. HCP Focus manages ~70M euros and was the top long-only equity fund over the three years through the first quarter, according to BarclayHedge. It returned an average 22% a year in the past five years through July. Match is its biggest holding, followed by Amazon.com, which has been one of the main holdings since the start of the fund.
Match Group Is IAC’s Best Asset
BARRON'S – Aug 16 – Match is among IAC's greatest hits. The stock has nearly doubled this year alone, thanks largely to Tinder. IAC sold a portion of Match in a 2015 IPO at $12. The stock is now $85, and IAC's Match stake is worth close to $19B. It accounts for ~90% of IAC's current $21B market value. But Match is obscuring IAC's overall value. "Match has gotten so big and successful and is such a significant part of IAC, that one became a proxy for the other," IAC CEO Joey Levin says. So IAC is considering distributing Match shares to its shareholders in a tax-free transaction. And IAC is thinking about a similar handoff of its 84% stake in ANGI Homeservices. IAC's stakes in Match and ANGI are now worth more than IAC itself, so distributing those shares should unlock value. Without Match and ANGI, IAC would effectively be an incubator again, with a handful of promising businesses already generating considerable revenue. The best known is Vimeo which generated Q2 revenue of $45.7M, up 16% YOY.
Dating App Ship Lets Friends Find Your Matches
ENGADGET – Aug 15 – The Match Group and Betches Media have now released an Android version of Ship, which lets users swipe for their friends and discuss profiles in group messages. The iOS version, which debuted back in January, is now the fastest-growing dating app in the Match Group family. With Ship, users can invite their friends (as well as parents and siblings) to join a "crew". Members of the user's crew can swipe on dating profiles on their behalf. A "crew chat" group messaging feature can be used for members to discuss the merits of a potential match.
New Proposed Utah Law to Require Dating Apps to Notify Users About Catfishers
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE – Aug 15 – Match Group is advocating for a new law in Utah requiring dating apps that ban a user for catfishing to notify anyone with whom the fake account holder has interacted with through the app. Rep. Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, is exploring how a bill could be crafted and a discussion of the issue is scheduled for the Legislature's law enforcement interim committee next week. A notification law similar to the one that Match wants recently took effect in Vermont.
More Tech Companies Are Launching ‘Lite’ Apps
CNBC – Aug 12 – With 6.47B people living in developing economies, there's a lot of potential for technology firms to tap on. Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter and even LinkedIn have pushed out "lite" versions – smaller and simpler iterations of their platforms. Last month, Spotify Lite officially launched in 36 markets, while Tinder has announced plans to launch its own "lite" app. A Pew Research Center survey reported that 27% of adults in 11 emerging market countries say they have a smartphone, but not a tablet or computer at home. In the U.S., ~75% of adults own desktops or laptops, while 50% own tablet computers. The prevalence of fixed-broadband internet access is also lower in developing countries, while mobile data continues to be expensive for users in those markets, according to a 2017 GSM Association report. Tinder Lite will take up 25 times less space on smartphones and consume less mobile data. Match Group expects Asia will make up 25% of its portfolio's total revenue by 2023.