MEDIANAMA - July 12 - The French Senate has approved a digital tax, known as "Les GAFA" - Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, on digital companies that have a revenue of more than €25M in France, and more than €750M worldwide. This bill is likely to be signed into law by French President Emmanuel Macron within two weeks. The tax is expected to yield €400M in 2019, and €650M in 2020. It will affect ~30 companies, including GAFA, Meetic, Criteo, Instagram, and Airbnb. Other EU countries, including Austria, the UK, Spain, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Italy have also announced plans for their own digital taxes.
137 posts categorized "Meetic"
French Senate Approves 3% Digital Tax on Big Tech
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Meetic Is Launching a New Serious Dating App - Affiny
LE JOURNAL DU DIMANCHE - Dec 18 - Meetic is launching a new dating app for serious relationships, called Affiny. New users will be asked to fill 137 long questionnaire. The app will be charging 39.99Eur/month for 3 months and 29.99/month for 6 months. Affiny is launching this week in France and in the UK before the end of the year. During its testing period, the app has mainly attracted users who were 35-50 years old.
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Dating Apps and Advertising on Snapchat
VERDICT.CO.UK - Dec 8 - With dating apps accounting for £11.7B of the economy last year, and 30% of 18-30 year olds in the US signed up to at least on service, the online dating market is extremely lucrative. Dating apps are looking to reach a young, tech-savvy audience, and many have found a match with Snapchat. Spending by dating services in the UK on the Snapchat platform has increased 13x from Q1 to Q3 this year. Since partnering with Snapchat more than a year ago, AI-driven dating startup Hily has seen a significant increase in the number of registrations. To coincide with Meghan and Harry's Royal Wedding, Meetic ran a campaign on Snapchat in an attempt to increase the number installations. Through this, Meetic reportedly reached ~3.5M unique users driving a 28% increase in app downloads on the day. Meetville ran an advertising campaign using Snap Ads to coincide with Valentine's Day, and 90% of the new UK iOS users who installed the Meetville app in February did so having come through the Snapchat app.
by Ellen Daniel
See full article at Verdict.co.uk
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Artificial Intelligence Is Progressively Entering Online Dating
WORLDCRUNCH - July 20 - Back in 2014, Justin Long started working on Bernie.ai, a robot that used facial recognition to select profiles on behalf of the user. If there was a match, it started the conversation with an opening line. The start-up LoveFlutter relies on Twitter and Facebook posts to match users. By teaming up with Receptiviti.ai, a company that specializes in the automated analysis of people's psychological states based on language use, the dating app promises to connect compatible personalities. Xavier de Baillenx heads innovation at Meetic. He developed the personal assistant Lara while co-running the start-up Pretty Fun Therapy, which has since been bought by Meetic. Today, Lara has ~50 distinct pieces of advice to give, suggesting locations for a date, what to wear, or how to overcome shyness.
by Basile Dekonink
See full article at Worldcrunch
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Can Match Fend Off Facebook And Bumble?
FORTUNE - June 27 - Globally, there are 600M singles online - a number that's expected to jump to 700M by 2020 - yet the industry's biggest player by far, Match Group, is estimated to claim just 10% of that. If Match Group wants to stay No. 1, it will need to defend its turf. Those who know Match Group CEO Mandy Ginsberg say she is likely to be up to the task. She knows the industry inside and out, and she takes Match's mission almost as a personal responsibility. The company's biggest competitors include eHarmony, Spark Networks, Badoo and Bumble. Bumble claims 34M total registered users. Of its active users, roughly 10% are paid; last year the company is said to have pulled in $100M in subscription revenue. It has a Goliath-size backer: Wolfe Herd created Bumble with the help of Andrey Andreev, the founder of Badoo. Andreev owns 79%, Wolfe Herd 20% (the remaining 1% is split between two additional employees). For a few years, Tinder and Bumble coexisted but things recently turned testy. In March, Match filed its suit against Bumble, accusing it of patent infringement and stealing trade secrets. Four days later, Bumble fired back with an angry letter. A few days after that, it filed its own suit against Match, claiming Match had fraudulently obtained sensitive information during acquisition talks. But both companies were hit with a much bigger tsunami of news on May 8, when Zuckerberg made his announcement. Match Group is working on new female-friendly features, like a Gentleman's Badge, a designation recently added into its European Meetic brand that men earn through certain behaviors, such as filling out an entire profile or engaging in lengthy email correspondence; men with the badge get 33% more attention from women.
by Leigh Gallagher
See full article at Fortune
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DisonsDemain.fr: Meetic Launches Dating Site For 50+
01AMOUR - Mar 29 - Meetic has launched a new dating site for people 50+. There are ~9M singles in France that are over 50 years old.
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Q&A With Thomas Hadjadj, Meetic
LIFTOFF - May 17 - Thomas Hadjadj is the Head of Display Europe for Meetic. He's been at the company for ~8 years. He holds a business law degree and a Masters in Marketing.
Q: What do you like most about mobile marketing?
A: It moves forward very quickly. It forces us to remain attentive and always find new ways to work.
Q: What does it take to succeed in mobile marketing?
A: To have a great app! You need to be able to track the performance of your app. You have to be very data-driven. Stay alert of trends and technologies and test a lot of new things.
Q: What does a quality mobile user look like to you?
A: The one who will use our product as often as possible; they'll use it like a natural reflex and if they pay, it's even better
Q: What strategies work best to convert installs into engaged users?
A: Again, try to have the best app as possible, make it intuitive, try to avoid bugs and crashes.
Q: What have you done in the past year to help better monetize your app?
A: We're spending a lot of time on optimization and we are tracking way more things than in the past.
Q: What is the biggest challenge in marketing your apps?
A: Finding the right balance between volume of downloads and ROI.
Q: How do you stay ahead of changes in technology?
A: I stay informed with newsletters, LinkedIn, my colleagues and network.
Q: What do you see is the next big thing in mobile marketing?
A: 5G and connected objects.
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Meetic And Attractive World Sanctioned By CNIL
LA SIGNARE - Jan 3 - Meetic and AttractiveWorld.net has been fined by CNIL (The National Commission for Computing and Freedom) for processing sensitive personal data of its users without their consent.
by Gerome Betterncourt
See full article at La Signare
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Match Group Under Scrutiny
SEEKING ALPHA - Dec 7 - Match Group is known to favor acquisitions to counter competition. Since January 2009, it has invested ~$1.3B to acquire 25 brands for its dating portfolio. Match Group went public a year ago and is worth ~$4B. Currently, its portfolio consists of 45 brands. Analysts are concerned over its dependence on Tinder. In Q3 2016 Match Group dating revenues jumped 22% to $287.5M, driven by strong contribution from Tinder, Pairs and PlentyOfFish. Average paid member count grew 33% to 5.5M, with strong contribution from Tinder, Meetic and PlentyOfFish. Average revenue per paying user declined 8% to $0.54 primarily due to the comparatively low revenue rates for Tinder and PlentyOfFish. Match Group expects revenue growth of 15% to 20% next year.
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Meetic Uses Facebook Chat Bots For Its Virtual Dating Assistants
OPW - June 30 - Meetic has used the launch of Facebook "chat bots" on FB messenger to create virtual dating assistants. People can engage in conversation with Lara and Tom Meetic who can assist them with creating Meetic profiles and send them weekly matches directly to FB Messenger.
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Meetic Integrates Gemalto's Netsize Direct Mobile Operator Billing
GLOBE NEWSWIRE - May 18 - Gemalto, the world leader in digital security, is supplying Meetic Group, with its Netsize direct operator billing solution. Mobile subscribers of Numericable-SFR, French cable and telecoms provider are now able to pay for subscriptions via their regular phone bill.
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Meetic Laid Off Most Of Its Staff In Spain
SABEMOSDIGITAL - Sep 22 - IAC has decided that they can manage the Spanish business from France, and laid off most of Meetic's staff in Spain. This will also affect Portugal, Italy and the Netherlands, which will also be controlled from Paris, and the Nordic countries, which will be led from UK. Meetic laid off more than 10 people including the country manager Jose Ruano, and marketing director, Miguel Javier Mangas. The remaining staff (rumored to be just 3 people) moved into a smaller office.
by Miguel Ángel Uriondo
The full article was originally published at Sabemos Digital, but is no longer available.
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Top French Dating Sites Warned About Breaching Privacy
TELECOMPAPER - July 29 - French data protection agency CNIL has served notice to eight dating sites including Meetic, Attractive World, AdopteUnMec, Easyflirt, Rencontre and Mektoube after an investigation revealed a number of breaches of privacy. The sites did not ask for permission to collect sensitive data.
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Match Group Could Fetch ~$1.2B From Its IPO
BLOOMBERG - 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.
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Match Group To IPO This Year
PR 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
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
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Meetic Available On Android Wear SmartWatch
PIANETACELLULARE.IT - Nov 5 - Dating site Meetic has launched a new Meetic Wear App. The app for Android Wear smartwatch is designed with a simple interface.
See full article at PianetAcellulare.it
Mark Brooks: The first Android Wear app by a major dating site. Bravo Meetic.
This post also appears on Wearable.ai.
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Public Companies, Mark Brooks Presentation
OPW - May 23 - Match.com posted 2013 revenues of ~$800M and profits of $220M, including Meetic. Spark Networks projected 2013 revenues were ~$70M, with ~$13M in loss due to high marketing expenses. Jiayuan.com will earn an estimated $80M in 2013 revenues, with projected growth to $300M in 2015.
For additional companies and details, please view the video below.
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Traffic To French Dating Sites Up 40% On Valentine's Day
AFP - Feb 13 - Of the 18M single people in France, one in two uses Internet dating, said Jessica Delpirou, director in France of Meetic. On Feb 14 last year, Meeic saw a 38% increase in people signing up compared with other Thursdays in the month. Lovoo says it has seen recent monthly increases in users of ~30-40%.
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Match.com France Confirms Squeeze-out And Delisting Of Meetic Shares
BUSINESS WIRE - Jan 24 - Match.com France Limited has confirmed its intention to implement a mandatory squeeze-out and pursuant delisting of Meetic shares from the Euronext exchange. The procedure follows suit with the simplified takeover bid initiated by Match.com France and will be completed on January 31, 2014. It will involve 179k Meetic shares at EUR 18.75 per share.
The full article was originally published at WSJ, but is no longer available.
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Badoo Wants To Shake Up Dating Market In US And UK
BLOOMBERG - Dec 3 - Badoo has attracted ~200M people worldwide, 25M of them are active. The challenge is now to expand beyond its strongholds in Southern Europe and Latin America. Badoo is eyeing Asia, UK and US. The company has been profitable since 2009, and sales last year expanded ~33% to $200M. It has hired Goldman Sachs Group as an adviser and doesn’t rule out an IPO. Meetic and Match.com are not concerned about the challenge from Badoo. Sam Yagan said his service is superior to Badoo and is rated higher by users.
by Ilya Khrennikov & Manuel Baigorri
The full article was originally published at Bloomberg, but is no longer available.
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