TECH CRUNCH – Feb 8 – Tinder will launch a series of new features based on location in 2018. Match Group has been fairly vague on what these new features will entail, having only described them as something that will blur the "distinction between digital and real-life dating, and dating and simply engaging in your social life." Tinder remains one of the biggest drivers of revenue for Match Group, accounting for ~30% of its parent company's revenue in 2017.
Category: Match Group
How Dating Sites Spy On Users
AXIOS – Feb 8 – Dating app users provide sensitive information like drug usage habits and sexual preferences. How online dating services use and share that data worries users, according to an Axios-SurveyMonkey poll. OkCupid runs 10 advertising trackers during the search and profile stages of using its site, while Match.com runs 63, according to online privacy company Ghostery. The trackers could pick up where users click or where they look, says Ghostery product analyst Molly Hanson. A spokesperson for Match Group says in a statement said that data collected by its companies "enables us to make product improvements, deliver relevant advertisements and continually innovate and optimize the user experience. Data collected by ad trackers and third parties is 100% anonymized.
Match Group Q4 Financial Results, Revenue Up 28%, Loss $9M
PRESS RELEASE – Feb 7 – Match Group now has ~7M subscribers across its businesses and 3M at Tinder alone. Total Revenue grew 28% YOY to $379M, driven by 24% growth in Average Subscribers to 7M and a 4% increase in ARPU. Operating income was $128M, an increase of 13% YOY, while Adjusted EBITDA increased 20% over the prior year quarter to $153 million. Net loss of $9M, driven by the inclusion of $92M of discrete tax charges related to U.S. tax reform. Excluding these discrete tax charges, Match Group would have reported net income of $83M.
Match Group Appoints Ariel Charytan New CEO Of OkCupid
PR NEWSWIRE – Jan 29 – Charytan suceeds Elie Seidman, who was recently named CEO of Tinder. He comes to Match Group from Audible, an Amazon company, where he served as SVP. Prior to Amazon, he was a co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Oyster.com, which was acquired by TripAdvisor in 2013.
See full article at PR Newswire
Justine Sacco, The PR Exec Who Was Fired From IAC For Her Tweets, Is Back At Match Group
RECODE – Jan 19 – Justine Sacco, the communications exec who was very publicly fired from IAC back in 2014 for an inappropriate tweet, has returned to the IAC family: She's now running all corporate communications for Match Group. Sacco was fired after she sent an inappropriate tweet right before boarding a flight to South Africa. "Going to Africa. Hope I don't get AIDS. Just kidding. I'm white!" she wrote at the time. The post blew up on Twitter while she was in the air, and Sacco landed to a ton of angry tweets, and the fact that #HasJustineLandedYet was trending on the service.
Ripple, A Tinder Spinoff Backed By Match, Is A New App For Professional Networking
Match Group Partners With Univision Communications To Launch Free Dating App For Latino Singles
PR NEWSWIRE – Dec 19 – Match Group and Univision Communications (Leading media company serving Hispanic America) are launching Chispa, a new free dating app to match, chat and meet Latino singles. The Chispa dating app will incorporate an easy-to-use, swipe functionality giving users a simple way to connect with potential matches that peak their interest. The app allows for Facebook and SMS sign on for a simple and easy registration process.
The full article was originally published at Match Group website, but is no longer available.
Plenty Of Fish Adds New Conversation Features To Differentiate Itself From Tinder
TECH CRUNCH – Dec 14 – POF was founded in 2003, then sold to Match Group in 2015 for $575M. It has since remained fairly quiet. That is now changing. POF is set to launch a collection of new modern features, called "Conversation Powers". It includes voice messaging, video calling, and the ability to share photos in chats. In the near future, it will also include the ability to share GIFs in conversations and add illustrations to photos, like doodles and stickers. POF will trigger the "Conversation Powers" after users have chatted with a match for a period of time. POF aims to differentiate itself from Tinder and others going forward by doubling down on conversations – something that's already a key focus for the company. POF claims 150M registered users worldwide. The company also says it was seeing $80M in revenue at the time of its acquisition, and has been growing that in the double-digits since.
Match Group Is Working On A Business Networking App To Take On LinkedIn
HOSPODÁŘSKÉ NOVINY – Dec 9 – Tinder former CTO Ryan Ogle is now working on a business networking app that would compete with LinkedIn. The app is expected to launch at the beginning of next year. "LinkedIn works more or less like an inventory that is being used by HR professionals. Most people have a profile on LinkedIn but they hardly use it. There are not so many interactions going on and this is what we would like to change", says Mr. Ogle. According to Mr. Ogle, the new business social app would work like Tinder. The app will match people based on their location, interests and work experiences.
Amanda Ginsberg Is Officially CEO Of Match Group
MARKET EXCLUSIVE – Dec 7 – On August 2, 2017, Match Group reported that Amanda W. Ginsberg, then CEO of Match Group Americas, was appointed CEO of the Company, effective January 1, 2018, succeeding Gregory R. Blatt, who would remain in his role as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company through the end of the year. But Ms. Ginsberg assumed the role of CEO of Match Group on Dec 5.