Category: People Media

How Match Group Grew to Dominate the Online Dating Market

Posted on February 3, 2021

Match group logo jan 2017BUSINESS 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

See the top news on Match Group

Match Group’s CEO on Innovating in a Fast-Changing Industry

Posted on August 6, 2019

Match group mandy ginsberg linkedinHBR.ORG – Aug 5 – The speed of change is one of the things I love about this industry. Companies need to innovate constantly – with technology, pricing, product features, and business models – to stay ahead of competitors and continue to grow. I ran Chemistry.com from 2006 to 2008. It was my first general management job, and I loved building the team. We grew the site quickly. As Chemistry.com expanded, the company's flagship Match.com seemed to be plateauing. So in 2008 management asked me to move over to Match.com and try to reenergize that brand. Two important shifts were under way that hurt Match.com. First, OkCupid and Plenty of Fish, had pioneered a new ad-supported business model. The second shift involved algorithms. By 2008 companies were getting more sophisticated about analyzing and understanding users' preferences and behavior. In 2009 Match made its first big acquisition, in the form of a company called People Media, that had a variety of smaller sites aimed at specific demographics. Facebook and Twitter were bringing more people onto social media, which sparked more interest in online dating, especially from older people. The biggest technology shift came after 2008. That's when Apple introduced the App Store. Within a few years that completely changed the face of our industry – a change sparked largely by Tinder. Last year Tinder's revenue topped $800M, demonstrating that many people are willing to pay for features. Right now we're working on several new strategies that we expect will drive our next phase of growth.

by Mandy Ginsberg
See full article at Harvard Business Review

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IAC Just Locked Down TrumpPeopleMeet.com URL

Posted on April 19, 2016

Iac logoTECH INSIDER – Apr 18 – TrumpPeopleMeet.com is a URL owned by People Media, a subsidiary of IAC. The Trump supporter-focused dating site has yet to launch. Indeed, IAC says it will never launch. "We absolutely have no intention of launching TrumpPeopleMeet.com," said IAC's representative. Rather, it's an instance of a conglomerate protecting its branding.

by Ben Gilbert
See full article at Tech Insider

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Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Match Group Could Fetch ~$1.2B From Its IPO

Posted on June 28, 2015

Match ipoBLOOMBERG – June 26 – IAC’s Match Group plans to to sell ~20% of its common stock this year. The sale could fetch $600M to $1.2B if 10% – 20% of the business is sold to the public, according to Cowen and Co., valuing the division at $6B or more. IAC bought Match.com in 2003. Meetic joined in 2009 along with People Media. In 2011, IAC spent $50M for OKCupid. In 2012 came Tinder which "gamified" the online dating process. "There’s a lot of people that just weren’t prepared to get onto Internet dating," says Mark Brooks, a dating-website analyst and consultant at Courtland Brooks. "Tinder warmed people up to the psychology that it’s not a dating site. Everybody is on it; it’s fun. That’s really the thrill ride here." But free and fun dating apps can be volatile, while cannibalizing customers from such paid services as Match.com, Brooks says. Last year, as the popularity of free-to-use Tinder grew, paid subscriptions at Match fell by ~100K in the Q4, compared with Q3. Now IAC is trying to make money out of Tinder.

by Alex Barinka
See full article at Bloomberg

See all posts on Match

Summarized by Courtland Brooks Internet Dating Marketing Consulting

Match Group To IPO This Year

Posted on June 25, 2015

Match group logosPR NEWSWIRE – June 25 – IAC's Board of Directors has approved the pursuit of an IPO of Match Group. Joey Levin, formerly CEO of its Search & Apps business, has been named CEO of IAC and joined its Board of Directors. Greg Blatt will remain Chairman, and Sam Yagan CEO of The Match Group. IAC expects The Match Group to issue less than 20% of its common stock in the IPO, with IAC's remaining stake in The Match Group represented by both high- and low-vote common shares. The IPO is expected to be completed during Q4 of this year.

See full article at IAC website

See all posts on Match

This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

Summarized by Courtland Brooks Internet Dating Marketing Consulting

Match Group Interview With CEO Sam Yagan

Posted on May 21, 2014

OPW INTERVIEW – May 21 –

In the latest CEO Interview, Mark Brooks and Match Group CEO, Sam Yagan, discuss:

  • Acquisitions
  • Opportunities in Matchmaking
  • The Couples Market
  • Mobile Trends
  • Android vs. iOS
  • Wearable Computing

Please click here for a complete transcript of the interview.

See all posts on Match.com        See all posts on OkCupid
See all posts on Tinder               See all posts on People Media

IAC Announces Management Changes At Its Match Segment

Posted on October 23, 2012

Iac logoPR NEWSWIRE – Oct 23 – Sam Yagan, co-founder and CEO of OkCupid, has been named CEO of Match, making him responsible for IAC's Match segment, which comprises all of IAC's online dating and related operations, domestically and internationally. Mandy Ginsberg, President of Match.com, has been named CEO of Match.com, with responsibility for the segment's "Core" businesses: Match.com U.S., Chemistry and People Media. Josh Meyers, CEO of People Media, will leave the segment to focus on new initiatives at IAC, specially DailyBurn.

The full article was originally published at Sacramento Bee, but is no longer available.

See all posts on OkCupid       See all posts on Chemistry.com
See all posts on Match.com   See all posts on People Media

Romance Is Big Business At IAC

Posted on June 6, 2012

Iac logoINVESTORS BUSINESS DAILY – June 5 – In last year's third quarter, Match.com bought a 20% interest in Chinese dating site Zhenai and upped its stake in Europe's No. 1 dating site, Meetic, to 81%. IAC's core personals business, which includes Match.com, Chemistry.com and the People Media unit's targeted dating sites, grew sales 17% to $108.9M, driven by a 12% boost in paid subscribers to 1.8M. IAC's online personals segment is its most profitable business. This month, Match.com will start to roll out the Stir, a service that brings single people together in organized local events. As a part of an ongoing beta test, Match.com has organized 60 Stir events across 10 U.S. markets.

by Marilyn Much
The full article was originally published at Investors Business Daily, but is no longer available.

See all posts on Match.com         See all posts on Zhenai
See all posts on Meetic               See all posts on People Media
See all posts on Chemistry.com

Match.com Reports Q3 Results

Posted on November 7, 2011

Match.com logo dalsiPR NEWSWIRE – Nov 4 - Core revenue increased 15% to $102.5M driven by increases in subscribers. Developing revenue increased 8% to $18.7M primarily due to revenue from OkCupid. Core and Developing revenue collectively increased by 14% to $121.2M. Meetic had revenue of $11.1M which was negatively impacted by the write-off of $9.6M of deferred revenue in connection with its acquisition.

Match Core consists of Match.com in the US, Chemistry.com and People Media. Match Developing consists of OkCupid, Singlesnet, mobile-only products and non-Meetic international operations.

The full article was originally published at MarketWatch, but is no longer available.

See all posts on Match.com          See all posts on Singlesnet
See all posts on Chemistry.com    See all posts on OkCupid
See all posts on People Media       See all posts on Meetic

The World of Niche Online Dating

Posted on September 30, 2011

Online_dating keyboard2 VANCOUVER SUN – Sep 30 – Specialized dating sites such as JDate.com, SeniorPeopleMeet.com, VeggieDate.org and even PiratesPassions.com allow users to meet their match based on factors including ethnicity, age, religion and lifestyle. There’s even AshleyMadison.com, a site for cheaters. Niche dating may sound unromantic, but details matter when it comes to love, says relationship expert Dr. Terri Orbuch. Orbuch is a psychologist and relationship expert for PeopleMedia, which operates more than 20 niche dating sites, including BlackPeopleMeet.com, RepublicanPeopleMeet.com and SingleParentMeet.com. Over 105K Canadians used dating sites run by PeopleMedia last year. Not all niche dating is done online. FastLife organizes speed dating events in Vancouver such as East Asian Dating, Tall Men Dating and Executive Dating. Justin Parfitt, the company founder and CEO, says speed dating is more fun and efficient than its online equivalent. “You’re instantly evaluating people and figuring out if there’s chemistry. There’s no hiding behind a fake photograph or fake profile,” he said.

by Laura Kane
The full article was originally published at Vancouver Sun, but is no longer available.

See all posts on JDate               See all posts on People Media
See all posts on VeggieDate       See all posts on FastLife
See all posts on AshleyMadison