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

Grindr User Data Has Been for Sale for Years

WALL STREET JOURNAL - Grindr's user locations were collected and sold via ad networks since at least 2017; Grindr says it has curtailed the data it shares. Grindr cut off the flow of location data to any ad networks, ending the possibility of such data collection two years ago, the company said. The data didn't contain personal information such as names or phone numbers. But the Grindr data were in some cases detailed enough to infer things like romantic encounters between specific users, as well as identify clues to people's identities such as their workplaces and home addresses. "Since early 2020, Grindr has shared less information with ad partners than any of the big tech platforms and most of our competitors," a spokesman for Grindr said in a statement.

by Byron Tau & Georgia Wells
See full article at Wall Street Journal

See the top news on Grindr

Former Match Group's Employees Spar Over Handling of Sexual-Assault Allegation

WALL STREET JOURNAL - May 29 - When Greg Blatt announced his plan to resign as Match Group CEO in 2017, the company presented the transition as orderly and planned well in advance. Privately, executives at Match Group and IAC expressed concerns that a sexual-assault allegation against the CEO might become public and discussed how long to say the transition had been in the works, according to documents filed this week in a lawsuit the companies have been battling in New York state court. "The company has nothing to hide," a spokesperson for IAC said in a statement. A lawsuit filed in 2018 over Tinder's valuation included a claim from Rosette Pambakian, a former Tinder VP, that Mr. Blatt groped and harassed her at a company party in Dec 2016. The suit says Match Group knew about the allegation but played it down to keep Mr. Blatt in place as he worked on the valuation. Mr. Blatt has said in a defamation lawsuit against Ms. Pambakian that the incident was consensual. Match Group fired Ms. Pambakian in 2018. She filed a wrongful termination suit against Match Group and IAC in California state court, saying that the firing was connected to her going public with her sexual-assault allegation. Match Group has denied that claim.

by Georgia Wells
See full article at Wall Street Journal

See the top news on Match Group

Dating Apps Pivot to Video

WALL STREET JOURNAL - July 1 - With social distancing recommendations and laws in effect across the country, meeting people online and developing relationships virtually has never been more popular. Georgia Wells, WSJ's technology reporter and Mark Brooks, CEO of the Courtland Brooks consultancy-agency explore what this shift means for the future of online dating.

See full article at Wall Street Journal

Coronavirus Makes Dating a Lot More Complicated

WALL STREET JOURNAL - Mar 23 - Trying to build a relationship while reducing human contact during the coronavirus pandemic is tricky. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio weighed in to give dating advice earlier this month. "If you're sick, don't go on a date. If the date is sick, don't go on the date," he said. As far as kissing at the end of a date, he called it "wise" to abstain. That was then. Now, much of the country has been ordered to stay inside their homes, and most Americans have cut off in-person contact. This leaves little room for romance. But human nature dictates: the longer people are isolated, the more they crave companionship. "People don't want to feel alone, and they've already watched everything on Netflix," said Adam Cohen-Aslatei, CEO of dating app S'More. The average number of daily users of S'More increased 28% the third week of March and the length of conversations has doubled. Say Allo saw a 350% increase in video-date sessions in the early weeks of March.

by Georgia Wells
See full article at Wall Street Journal

See the top news on S'More
See the top news on Say Allo

Match Group CEO Mandy Ginsberg Steps Down

WALL STREET JOURNAL - Jan 28 - Match Group CEO Mandy Ginsberg (50) is stepping down. President Shar Dubey will be CEO starting March 1. Mandy served at Match Group for 14 years and was CEO since 2017. Match's stock quadrupled during her tenure.

"When I started in 2006, we were just launching the second brand at Match and only 3% of relationships were from dating apps (that number is a whopping 50% today in North America and Western Europe and growing every day across the globe!)."

In October, a tornado left her Dallas home unlivable, and she also has experienced what she called "health hiccups." She opted for a preventive double mastectomy due to high risk of breast cancer. The implants she received are linked to cancer, and so last Friday she underwent another surgery due to a recall of the implants. "I need to take care of myself and so will take some time off this year to do just that."

by Georgia Wells
See full article at Wall Street Journal

See all posts on Match Group

U.S. Orders Chinese Firm to Sell Dating App Grindr Over Blackmail Risk

WALL STREET JOURNAL - Mar 27 - U.S. national-security officials have ordered a Chinese company to sell gay-dating app Grindr, citing the risk that the personal data it collects could be exploited by Beijing to blackmail individuals with security clearances, according to people familiar with the situation. Beijing Kunlun Tech Co. Ltd., which acquired a majority stake in Grindr in 2016, would have no choice but to share information on Grindr users if demanded by the Chinese government, U.S. officials believe. That triggered the recent order from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., known as Cfius. National-security experts said a Chinese company would never be allowed to buy a company like Facebook Inc., for example.

"If Cfius only applies to companies China acquires from the U.S., and not companies China builds, what can it possibly solve?" said Geoffrey Cook, CEO of The Meet Group.

Potential buyers for Grindr could include Match. Mark Brooks, a consultant in the dating industry, said Spark Networks and The Meet Group could be among other potential contenders.

by Georgia Wells & Kate O'Keeffe
See full article at Wall Street Journal

See all posts on Grindr

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Hire Us

Bumble Is Open to a Future IPO

WALL STREET JOURNAL - Nov 14 - Speaking at The Wall Street Journal's WSJ Tech D.Live conference on Wednesday, Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd said an IPO could give her company more momentum to expand further internationally. Wolfe Herd founded the dating app in 2014 as a site where women must make the first move. The company now has ~45M users and is profitable, she said. Still, an IPO is more of an option than a necessity for Bumble right now. Wolfe Herd said her company's next phase of growth isn't contingent on raising this money this way and noted the offering is far from certain. "We're exploring a lot of different options right now," Wolfe Herd said.

by Georgia Wells
See full article at Wall Street Journal

See all posts on Bumble

Summarized by the IDEA team

India Has Lots Of Single Women, But Not On Tinder

WALL STREET JOURNAL - June 25 - Tinder's biggest challenge in India appears to be getting enough women to sign on. In many parts of India, arranged marriages remain the norm, and dating in any form still carries a stigma, particularly for women. Indian women who have dabbled with dating apps complain they get overwhelmed by all the attention that comes with the surplus of men. Tinder doesn't disclose a gender breakdown, but among the app's members in India, men far outnumber women. The dating app TrulyMadly, which says women make up ~20% of its users, is trying to introduce women to the concept of "boy browsing" through a YouTube video. Another competitor, Woo, allows women on its app free but charges men, and lets women use initials rather than full names.

by Georgia Wells & Eric Bellman
See full article at Wall Street Journal

See all posts on Tinder
See all posts on Truly Madly
See all posts on Woo

Summarized by the IDEA team

Facebook To Launch Opt-In Dating Feature

WALL STREET JOURNAL - May 2 - Facebook plans to launch a dating feature, in an unexpected push into a new business even as it battles questions about how it handles users' data and privacy. Facebook's dating feature will be targeted at ~200M users who identify as single. The feature will require users to opt in. Zuckerberg didn't say whether the service would be free but Facebook doesn't offer any paid products currently. "We're surprised at the timing given the amount of personal and sensitive data that comes with this territory," Match Group CEO Mandy Ginsberg said. Facebook's new dating feature will be for fostering "real, long-term relationships - not just hookups," Zuckerberg said. Those using the dating service could browse coming events, such as concerts, and see if others using the feature plan to attend. The messaging system for the dating profiles will be independent of FB's Messenger. Users' dating profiles will be distinct from their FB profiles and what people do within the dating feature won't be shared with friends or through the news feed. Part of the challenge for startups building online-dating apps is attracting enough users, said Mark Brooks, an analyst and consultant in the dating industry. FB's vast number of users could make it daunting for future dating startups to convince investors to fund their ideas. "I think it could be game over for the dating industry as we know it," Mr. Brooks said.

by Deepa Seetharaman & Georgia Wells
See full article at Wall Street Journal

See all posts on Match Group
See all posts on Facebook Dating

Summarized by the IDEA team

Match Group Profit Jumps 60%

MARKETWATCH - Nov 1 - Match Group reported a Q3 profit of $56.4M, compared with a profit of $35.3M in Q3 2015. Dating revenue increased 22% to $287.5M from $235M a year ago. The number of paying members increased by 31% to 5.5M, an all-time high for Match Group, driven by Tinder. "We are ahead of schedule and in very good shape to at least double Tinder's paid-member count this year," said Gary Swidler, Match Group's CFO. Tinder ended Q3 with ~1.5M paid users, up from 800K at the end of 2015.

by Georgia Wells
See full article at Marketwatch

See all posts on Match Group

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Dating Apps Court Older, Wealthier Users

WSJ - Oct 12 - After becoming popular among college students, dating apps Tinder, Happn and The League are now welcoming singles in their late 30s and beyond. The reason? Their money. People 35 and older contribute 30% of The League's revenue, though they make up only 20% of its users. "Once you've stocked the shelves, you can start monetizing," said Mark Brooks, CEO of Courtland Brooks, a company that helps dating companies with business development. Daters aged 35 and up, he says, "know what they want and are willing to pay for it." In the US, recurring payments bring in more than 80% of the dating industry's $2.6B in annual revenue, according to Mr. Brooks's estimates. The League's revenue jumped 10% when the company allowed users over 40 to purchase memberships. Tinder charges users 30+ twice what it charges younger users for premium features.

by Georgia Wells
See full article at Wall Street Journal

See all posts on Tinder
See all posts on Happn
See all posts on The League

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Match Group's Profit Up 41% As Tinder Heats Up

WSJ - July 26 - Match Group Q2 profit was $46.6M (up 41% YOY), boosted by more online daters signing up for premium paid services. Revenue increased 21% to $301M, from $248.8M a year ago. "Tinder was a massive contributor to the quarter," Match Group CFO Gary Swidler said. Tinder added ~200k paying subscribers in the quarter.

by Georgia Wells
See full article at WSJ

See all posts on Match Group

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Match Group Files For IPO

WSJ - Oct 16 - Match Group, owner of Tinder, OkCupid and Match.com has filed to go public on Friday. Their shares would be listed on Nasdaq under the symbol MTCH. The preliminary filing indicated Match would raise up to $100 million. Match Group's parent company IAC will retain over 50% of voting rights after the IPO.

The company logged $888.3 million in revenue in 2014, up about 11% from the previous year, according to its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Match's net income for 2014 was $148.4 million, up 18% year over year. All Match's dating properties have more than 59M MAU and approximately 4.7M paid members.

by Georgia Wells & Maria Armental
See full article at WSJ

See all posts on Match

This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

Summarized by

Proper Grammar Is Really Hot On Dating Sites

WSJ - Oct 1 - Match.com asked ~5K singles what criteria they used most in assessing dates. Beyond personal hygiene, it was grammar. 88% of women and 75% of men care about grammar most, putting it ahead of a person’s confidence and teeth. The Grade, a new dating app, checks messages for typos and grammar errors and assigns each user a letter grade from A+ to F. One reason people judge grammar and spelling snafus so harshly is that they can reflect the level of effort, or lack thereof, that folks put into their bio. Certain types of typos are also associated with fraud.

by Georgia Wells
See full article at WSJ

See all posts on Match.com
See all posts on The Grade

Summarized by

Match Group's IPO Could Be A Success Story

WSJ - June 25 - IAC/InterActiveCorp has followed through on a long-expected plan to pursue an IPO of Match Group. Mr. Diller, IAC’s chairman, isn’t breaking up with Match Group entirely. The company is planning to sell a stake of less than 20% in the division, which includes fitness and educational businesses. Investors cheered the move, sending IAC’s shares up $3.93, or 5.1%, to $81.19. Match Group is IAC’s strongest growth engine, bringing in 29% of overall revenue in 2014. For all the buzz around dating sites, there hasn’t yet been a significant win for VCs in terms of an IPO, said Mark Brooks, CEO of Courtland Brooks, an adviser to dating companies. That’s been a challenge for entrepreneurs. "We need a success story, and I think the Match Group could be a success story," he said. If the IPO doesn’t go over well with investors, "we can kiss the opportunity of future funding goodbye."

by Georgia Wells & Lukas I. Alpert
See full article at Wall Street Journal

See all posts on Match

Summarized by