Online Personals Watch: News on the Online Dating Industry and Business

Tinder Doubles Down On Its Casual Nature

TECH CRUNCH - Nov 8 - Tinder has never really shaken its reputation as a "hook up" app, instead of one designed for more serious dating. Now, it seems Tinder is planning to embrace its hook up status. According to Match Group CEO Mandy Ginsberg, Tinder is launching its first-ever brand marketing campaign that will promote the "single lifestyle" with billboards and other digital initiatives. "The market defined the brand, versus the business defining the brand," said Ginsberg, referring to its "hook up app" reputation. The company will also invest more in Hinge going forward. Ginsberg said Hinge will help the company to address the "previously underserved" audience of 20-somethings looking for a serious relationship. The plan is to make Hinge the anti-Tinder, then pull in users as they exit Tinder in search of something real.

by Sarah Perez
See full article at Tech Crunch

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Tinder Now Has 4.1M Paying Users, Expects $800M In Revenue This Year

TECH CRUNCH - Nov 7 - Match Group surpassed analyst's forecasted revenue of $437M, reporting Q3 revenue of $444M, a 29% increase YOY. Match says it expects to bring in a total of $1.72B in annual revenue. Despite positive earnings, the company's 4Q outlook failed to satisfy Wall Street. Match said it expects $440 - $450M in revenue in Q4, falling short of the $454.5M analyst estimate. Shares of Match sank 10% in after-hours trading as a result. Year-to-date, Match's stock is up ~60%. Tinder continues to be Match's growth engine, responsible for half its paid users and half its projected annual revenue. Tinder is expected to bring in $800M in revenue in 2018. Hinge, another app-based dating service acquired by Match in June, is on its way up. Match says it's seen a 5x increase in downloads since it first invested. Match also announced that it would, for the first time, issue a special cash dividend of $2 per share on Match Group common stock and Class B common stock, to be paid out on Dec. 19.

by Kate Clark
See full article at Tech Crunch

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Slow Dating Is The French-Invented Hack

COSMOPOLITAN - Nov 5 - Dating app Once launched in France and recently made its way stateside. Instead of passively swiping through profiles, Once introduce each user to only one person, per day. If the users both like each other, they start a conversation and see where it leads. If not, they have to wait until the next day to meet someone new. But what if all potential matches are bad? Jean Meyer, CEO of Once, says making good matches is a concern, obviously, but he's more focused on cutting down absentminded app time. "Even if your match of the day is crap, it's okay," Meyer says. "Maybe you're not going to talk to that person, but at least you're going to put the app away, and you may even put your phone away and do something else with your day. You can put 100% into another task that's not swiping on ten-thousand profiles." The League, which only serves users a few matches per day, operates on a similar premise as Once. And when Hinge redesigned to eliminate swiping and force people to slow down a bit, users grew by more than 400%.

by Hannah Smothers
See full article at Cosmopolitan

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The CEO Of Hinge Sometimes Goes 2 Weeks Without Checking On His Team

BUSINESS INSIDER - Oct 27 - Hinge founder and CEO Justin McLeod doesn't have email on his smartphone. He said it makes him a better leader because he has time and space to think. The only things he can currently do with his phone are check the time, make calls and send texts, listen to music, and browse Hinge. "I'm a much better decision-maker, I'm a much better strategist, I'm a much better leader when I'm not wrapped up in the minutia of what's going on in the company and what's going on in the world," McLeod told Business Insider. "I'm giving myself the space." When he takes vacations, he doesn't check in with his staff for "a week or two at a time." In fact, McLeod made the decision to "reboot" Hinge, in 2016, while he was away from the office and spending Thanksgiving with his family. With the time and space to think clearly, he realized that Hinge had become too similar to other dating apps. Hinge subsequently made a number of changes to the app, most notably removing the swiping feature. Today, it bills itself as "the relationship app."

by Shana Lebowitz
See full article at Business Insider

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Hinge To Measure Real World Success

TECH CRUNCH - Oct 16 - Hinge is launching a new feature to improve its recommendations, based on whether or not matches had successful real-world dates. With a new feature called "We Met," Hinge will ask users a few days after they shared their phone numbers if they went on a date, and, if so, if they'd want to see that person again. This data will be used as a signal to inform Hinge's algorithms and improve matches, if the user later returns to the app. During beta trials, Hinge says that 90% of members said their first dates were great, and 72% said they wanted to go on a second. Hinge says We Met will launch today, October 16, on iOS first. Android will soon follow.

by Sarah Perez
See full article at Tech Crunch

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3 Things Match Group CEO Amanda Ginsberg Wants You To Know

THE MOTLEY FOOL - Sep 15 - Match Group CEO Amanda Ginsberg highlighted some key aspects of the dating company's growth strategy during its Q2 earnings call.

1. Tinder's torrid growth continues Direct revenue in the Q2 for Tinder was up 136% YOY, subscribers grew 81%, and ARPU [average revenue per subscriber] rose 33%. Gold subscribers surpassed 50% of total Tinder subscribers in the Q2.
2. An intriguing acquisition Hinge is an early stage, innovative product that is showing great momentum in the U.S. Over the past year, Hinge's monthly downloads have increased by 400%. It caters to people in their 20s, so, Match Group believes that Hinge pairs well with Match.com, which tends to resonate more with people in their 30s and 40s.
3. A massive opportunity in international markets Match Group sees a massive opportunity in certain Asian, North African, and Middle Eastern markets that have very young and highly mobile-savvy populations and plans to build share there over time, either organically or through M&A.

by Joe Tenebruso
See full article at The Motley Fool

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HBO Documentary - "Swiped: Hooking Up In The Digital Age"

BROADWAY WORLD - Aug 30 - In the new documentary, New York Times bestselling author Nancy Jo Sales, investigates the online dating industry's impact on gender issues, examining how it has changed the way people date, mate and think about the apps on their phones, and explores how the act of swiping affects the ability to find true and lasting connections. Directed and written by Sales, the film debuts on Sep 10, exclusively on HBO. The film features interviews with, among others: Jonathan Badeen, co-founder and CSO of Tinder; Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder and CEO of Bumble; Justin McLeod, founder and CEO of Hinge; and Mandy Ginsberg, CEO of Match Group.

See full article at Broadway World

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Political View Is Important In Dating, Survey Finds

INDEPENDENT.CO.UK - Aug 17 - Hinge is one of the first dating apps to integrate politics into its algorithm. If users choose to state their political beliefs, it will feature prominently on their profile under the 'virtues' section, in which users also state their education level and height. There are four options for them to choose from: 'liberal', 'moderate', 'conservative' and the ambiguous-yet-intriguing 'other'. According to Plenty of Fish, the majority of singles (59%) won't start a conversation with someone who's dating profile promotes an opposing political view. The survey also revealed that 44% of singles said they wouldn't date someone who voted for Trump.

by Olivia Petter
See full article at Independent.co.uk

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Is Match Becoming Un-Hinged With Its Latest Acquisition?

THE MOTLEY FOOL - July 24 - The latest service to join Match is Hinge, a site that once billed itself as the "anti-Tinder" because it focuses on relationships instead of hookups. The purchase leaves Bumble as the only major dating app not owned by Match, and the two are currently suing each other. Match has acquired dozens of services over the past nine years and in the past three years spent $610M acquiring different brands, about equal to its cumulative operating earnings for the same period. While none of the deals have seemed to have gone like a bad date, the rise in Match's cost of revenues has outpaced its revenue increases due to acquisitions like POF and Pairs. Last year, revenue from North America, which contributes 56% of Match's total, grew 9% as a result of more people signing up for Tinder. Yet North America ARPU was flat. The deal for Hinge gives Match a 51% stake with the right to purchase the rest of Hinge within the next year. Though Hinge doesn't disclose the number of users it has, undoubtedly individuals using dating apps have accounts at multiple sites, so Match is paying for members it likely already owns. Match's total subscribers hit 7.43M in the Q1, up 26% YOY, and some of them have to be Hinge members, too. Making another acquisition might put another dating app into Match's diverse collection, but it doesn't really do anything to bolster what is making money for it, namely Tinder.

by Rich Duprey
See full article at The Motley Fool

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IAC CEO Joey Levin: We Bought Hinge To Disrupt Ourselves

CHEDDAR - July 13 - At first glance, Match Group's acquisition of dating app Hinge, known as the "anti-Tinder," doesn't seem to make much sense. But for parent company IAC, the more competition - even internally - the better. "We have always disrupted ourselves, and we like to disrupt ourselves," explained Joey Levin, CEO of IAC. "So when we see something that says it's the anti-something-we're-doing, if it's a good business, it's a good management team, it's a good story, it's a good product, that's something we're interested in doing. We like competing with ourselves."

by Conor White
See full article at Cheddar

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Hinge Releases "Most Compatible" Feature

YAHOO LIFESTYLE - July 11 - This new feature recommends one highly compatible match every day. The app selects the matches based on algorithms that suss out users previous actions on the app and their interests. Hinge's latest feature comes on the heels of Match Group's purchase of a 51% controlling stake in the app in June. It also comes over a year after the company moved away from swiping.

by JP Mangalindan
See full article at Yahoo Lifestyle

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Match Group Update: Tinder Gold Is Getting Even Shinier

SEEKING ALPHA - July 10 - June has been a busy month for Match Group. The company announced that it had acquired a controlling stake in Hinge, and also introduced several new features for Tinder, with several more currently in the works. Tinder Picks is a new feature available exclusively for Tinder Gold subscribers. Picks, which mimics rival app Coffee Meets Bagel, presents users with four profiles daily based on factors such as education, interests, and swipe history. Loops feature, which it had previously tested in Canada and Sweden, allows users to post two-second, looping videos to their profiles in lieu of a static photograph. The company is testing a "Places" feature, which allows users to see potential matches who frequent similar bars, shops, and other locations. In Q1 '18, Tinder added 368K subscribers and delivered its best average revenue per user (ARPU) growth in two years. According to Match CFO Gary Swindler, Tinder's ARPU in Q1 grew 37% year-over-year. The company's ARPU as a whole reached $0.58 in Q1 - well above the $0.53 that it achieved in 2017. With such fantastic economics and a sticky user base, Match Group is significantly undervalued as a company. Yet, shares remain depressed amid negative sentiment surrounding Facebook's entry into online dating.

by Mike Berner
See full article at Seeking Alpha

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Facebook Acknowledges It Shared User Data With Dozens Of Companies

CNET - July 1 - Facebook has admitted providing dozens of tech companies with special access to user data after publicly saying it restricted such access in 2015. It continued sharing information with 61 hardware and software makers after it said it discontinued the practice in May 2015. Facebook granted a special "one-time" six-month extension to companies that ranged from AOL to UPS to dating app Hinge so they could come into compliance with the social network's new privacy policy and create their own versions of Facebook for their devices. Data shared without users' knowledge included friends' names, genders and birth dates. Facebook said it has ended 38 of the partnership and plans to discontinue seven more by the end of July. The disclosure was part of Facebook's second attempt to address questions posed to Zuckerberg in April by members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

by Steven Musil
See full article at CNet

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Hinge CEO On Online Dating Business

CNBC - June 25 - Justin McLeod, Hinge founder and CEO, discusses the Hinge app as well as his thoughts on the dating app landscape.

Q: How is Hinge different?
A: We have a product team that really focuses on helping our users get out on first dates. Users have to fill out a deeper profile. Because people use the app much more interactively, we can learn their taste much better and match them up with people they are really going to like.

Q: How much do you charge?
A: $8 per month for premium subscription, but there is a free option as well.

Q: What is the difference between free and paid?
A: Premium members can send unlimited number of likes and are able to filter by religion, etc.

Q: What is the % of free vs paid users?
A: Free 85%, 15% paid.

Q: What do you think about Facebook dating?
A: Our demographic (millennials) are using Facebook less and less so Facebook is not a thread to our business.

See full article at CNBC

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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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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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Hinge Is Ditching The Facebook Login

TECH CRUNCH - June 2 - The change will go into effect today (June 5th) Monday on Android, followed by a June 12th release on iOS. While the option to use Facebook won't be fully removed, users will instead be able to choose to authenticate using their phone number. Hinge isn't the first dating app to go this route. Bumble also recently said it was removing the Facebook requirement, in response to user feedback. Hinge doesn't believe the move away from Facebook will have an ill effect.

by Sarah Perez
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Dating Apps Tend To Connect Neighbors And Friends Of Friends

BUSINESS INSIDER - June 1 - Dating apps are increasingly connecting people who live or work close by, have the same commute, or went to college together. Match.com data reveals that 69% of active users set their default distance - i.e. how far away a match can live - to five miles. Meanwhile, dating app Clover found that, in New York City, most matches happen between people from the same borough. Still, Hinge reports that less than half of users set a maximum distance, and of those who do, the average maximum distance is 25 miles.

by Shana Lebowitz
See full article at Business Insider

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Facebook Dating Looks A Whole Lot Like Hinge

WIRED - May 4 - Facebook's matchmaking service, simply called Dating, most closely resembles Hinge. The demo version touted on stage by CEO Mark Zuckerberg looks nearly identical to Hinge. It doesn't have a Tinder-like "hot or not" swiping feature. Instead, users scroll through detailed profiles and post answers to questions on their profiles, like whether they prefer dogs or cats. And in the biggest similarity, singles on both services can start conversations not by saying hello but by commenting on a specific profile item. Hinge and Facebook Dating also share the same ethos. Zuckerberg stressed that Dating focuses on finding meaningful relationships. Hinge advertises itself the same way. "When the Hinge team saw the similarity between our designs, we congratulated each other. It's gratifying to have one of the world's biggest technology companies enter the dating space and draw so much inspiration from Hinge," said Tim MacGougan, Hinge's VP of product. Like most popular dating apps, Hinge also largely relies on Facebook data to operate. "Since the announcement, our team has been in touch with Facebook about what our relationship will look like moving forward," says MacGougan.

by Louise Matsakis
See full article at Wired

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It's Time For Dating Apps To Move Away From Facebook Sign Ups

MASHABLE - Mar 22 - Since news broke about Cambridge Analytica's "hijacking" of 50M Facebook users' data in a bid to influence the U.S. election, people are thinking about deleting Facebook. But deleting Facebook will also prevent them from accessing their existing Tinder account. They can sign up for Tinder using phone number. This will, however, create an entirely new profile. With Bumble, it's a little different. Bumble currently requires you to have a Facebook account in order to sign up for the app. But, if users deactivate their Facebook, they can still keep Bumble profile and access it as usual. That access will end, however, if they log out of Bumble. Bumble is less than a couple of weeks away from releasing an update that includes a non-Facebook login. User of The League would need to upgrade to a membership option if they want to cut ties with Facebook. Hinge also insists on users having a Facebook profile. far too many dating apps are tethered to Facebook. It's high time they offered users another way to sign up.

by Rachel Thompson
See full article at Mashable

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