YAHOO FINANCE – June 25 – Last week, Match Group announced it had purchased a 51% controlling stake in the dating app Hinge. Match Group has the right to acquire the remaining shares of Hinge within the next 12 months. Match Group's dominance in the online dating market and aggressive acquisition strategy raises the question: Why hasn't the company raised antitrust concerns? The company already owns ~45 dating businesses, with over 25 of those businesses acquired since 2009. "We're highly acquisitive, and we're always talking to companies," said Match Group CEO Mandy Ginsberg. "If you want to sell, you should be talking to us." Last year, Match Group generated ~$1.3B in revenues, accounting for roughly one-third of the dating market's $4B in global revenues in 2017, according to Aegis Capital Managing Director Victor Anthony. It's possible the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has deemed Match Group's spate of acquisitions over the years insufficient to warrant an antitrust case. Amazon, for example, accounted for ~44% of e-commerce sales in 2017 and has yet to face a lawsuit from federal antitrust regulators. Monopolization is just hard to prove.
Category: Match Group
Match Group’s Latest Acquisition Might Be A Response To Facebook Dating
MARKETWATCH – June 22 – Hinge has grown popular among young adults because of its focus on "thoughtful" dating. The company brands itself as a relationship app at a time when many young daters are frustrated by the casualness of swipe-driven apps like Tinder. Hinge's product "is highly relevant particularly among urban, educated millennial women looking for relationships," said Match Group CEO Mandy Ginsberg. Facebook, meanwhile, has said that its forthcoming dating products will be about not just hookups, but "relationships too."
by Emily Bary
See full article at Marketwatch
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Why Dating Giants Are Betting On AI
TELEGRAPH.CO.UK – "I don't think dating services should be able to tell you that you have a 95% chance of falling in love with someone," says Xavier de Baillenx, tech chief at Match. "The human brain is very complex. We are just helping users find their 'plus-one' in a less painful way." Dating expert Kate Taylor is similarly apprehensive. "I think the most important thing that technology can do is get you on a real-life date in front of a person," she says. Yet Match is investing heavily in the technology to stand out from the crowd. Match.com has created a virtual assistant that converses with users through a smart speaker. "Lara" can offer dating tips and locations to meet dates. She can even suggest when it is appropriate to have sex. Last week, Happn introduced a new feature: an AI-fuelled interactive map that shows people that visited the same venue in the past seven days. It has big plans to use the increasing amount of data people generate. Facebook can also offer what each dating app on the market can combined. It has one of the most advanced facial recognition tools, not to mention a huge pool of behavioural data.
by Margi Murphy
See full article at Telegraph.co.uk
Match Group Acquires A Controlling Stake In Hinge
BLOOMBERG – June 20 – Match will take a 51% stake with the option to buy the remaining shares over the next year. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Since the redesign in 2016, the app's user base quadrupled, according to Justin McLeod, CEO of Hinge. The company hasn't released concrete data about it user base, but Hinge is the fifth-highest grossing dating iPhone app, according to AppAnnie. Match Group first invested in Hinge in September 2017, taking a seat on it's board.
by Joshua Brustein
See full article at Bloomberg
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Crown, A New App From Match Group, Turns Dating Into A Game
Here’s Why Tinder Shouldn’t Be Worried About Facebook
by Jacob Sonenshine
See full article at Business Insider UK
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Match Group CEO On Tinder: Why It’s More Than A Hookup App
FINANCE YAHOO – June 7 – If anyone understands the nuances of the competitive online dating market, it's certainly Mandy Ginsberg, who became CEO of Match Group in January after running Match Group North America for two and a half years. Match Group controls 45 businesses, including Match.com, Tinder, OkCupid, and POF. Tinder remains the portfolio's breakout property. But despite Tinder's success, Ginsberg suggests the app still has some growing up to do. Tinder began rolling out new features like Tinder Places, which lets users find potential connections based on the places they go to, and Tinder Loops which is another way for users to express themselves. "Tinder can be more one-dimensional. It is a swiping machine and the experience is a little bit superficial. So we're trying to create a much more robust experience. In two years, Tinder is not going to be just about matching – it's going to also be about how we give people a better sense of who that person is. So when you go out on a date with someone, there's going to be a higher chance of chemistry", said Mandy.
by JP Mangalindan
See full article at Yahoo Finance
Match Group CEO Isn’t Worried About Facebook Dating
BLOOMBERG – June 6 – Match Group, which owns Tinder, Match, OkCupid, PlentyOfFish and OurTime, says it's not worried about Facebook putting the moves on its business. Bloomberg's Emily Chang caught up with Match Group CEO Mandy Ginsberg on the news. "Dating app industry is not a one size fit all landscape", said Mandy.
Meet The Women Leading Some Of Dallas-Fort Worth’s Biggest Public Companies
DMAGAZINE – June 2 – Mandy Ginsberg, CEO of Match Group, came from a family of entrepreneurs. Her father was a first-generation Jewish immigrant who'd followed the family legacy of building his own business. As far as her grandfather was concerned, Ginsberg was selling out when she began her career in corporate America. "My grandfather was mad at me for days," she says. "He said you'd make much more money working for yourself than working for someone else." Ginsberg served as CEO of Match Group Americas, CEO of The Princeton Review, and president of Match before taking the leading role at Match Group, which employs ~1,400 people and generated $1.3B in revenue in 2017.
Q: Did you always want to be a CEO?
A: I wouldn't have said CEO was a goal, but it wasn't out of the realm of possibility.
Q: Why are there so few women CEOs?
A: It's a social change. As there are more women leaders, it will change over time.
Q: Did your company change with a woman at the top?
A: Having strong women in leadership roles attracts other women.
Q: Was there ever a time you were overlooked or discriminated against for being a woman?
A: I walked into a meeting to hand someone a piece of paper. An older man asked me for a cup of coffee, and I was running the business. If it had been a man, I don't think he would've asked. It was very funny, but very rare.
Q: What did you wish you knew earlier in your career?
A: In your 20s, you try so much to be something you're not. I wish someone had said all that doesn't matter. You've got to be authentic and just work hard. Don't be afraid of taking risks.
Q: Has there ever been a time you felt like you failed?
A: I've never felt like I've failed. It's really not about if you fail, but what you do about it.
Q: How do you know it's time for the next step in your career?
A: When you stop learning and you're stagnating and not challenged, it's time.
Q: What are you doing to improve opportunities for other women?
A: At our organization, it's about accessibility – making sure there's enough time to provide access to people in the organization. We've got such a big portion of our executive team who are women, we probably do stuff more innately.
Q: How do you negotiate pay?
A: My mother would say, 'If you don't ask for it, you're not going to get it.' If you don't get it, it's OK, because it puts into the head of your manager that this is your goal. Men tend to shoot higher than their skill level. For women, shoot a little higher. Push yourself. If you feel like you're hitting a ceiling some place, take the risk to go to another place.
Sex Workers Hurting Dating Sites
JEZEBEL – May 31 – FOSTA, which was signed into law by Trump in April, broadly holds online platforms responsible for any content deemed to be related to sex trafficking. It has led to the shuttering of sites used by sex workers – and "some worry that could drive the pay-for-sex market to legitimate dating platforms." Match Group likely will be fine. They have the resources to handle legal challenges and filter out potentially problematic content. Difficulties managing the risks will be faced by smaller firms or those offering matching services as part of a bigger platform.