What Is The Future Of POF In A Mobile World?

There was a time when Plenty of Fish was squarely at the top of the online dating heap. Founder Markus Frind attributes the site's explosive success to a surprisingly simple formula: in 2003, when rival dating sites paywalled, POF kept things free. Instead of charging customers, POF relied entirely on advertising for revenue.

The model worked like a charm. Frind famously claimed he spent only an hour a day working, while POF blew past the competition to become one of the world's most popular dating sites.

These days, things aren't quite so simple. Five years ago POF had just 3 people on its payroll; today it has 80. No longer does Frind devote only an hour a day to work; now he works half-days. Revenue has grown alongside both of those changes, but not without challenges. Namely, the smartphone.

POF's iPhone and Android apps are incredible popular – second only to Tinder – but they aren't compatible with the revenue model that made the company a success in the first place. Advertising just doesn't work well on the smaller screens of mobile phones, and now POF is faced with a decision: evolve or go extinct.

Frind says that 90% of POF's visits from people under the age of 35 now come from phones rather than web browsers, so it's clear which option the company must choose. Most of its developers are now focused on improving the mobile apps, although Frind says up to 60% of the company's “tens of millions of EBITDA” still comes from the website.

POF's app revenue comes instead from upgraded memberships. Users can pay a monthly fee for extra features, like the ability to add more photos, but the new business model for monetization on mobile is still in its infancy. And while revenue overall is reaching an all-time high for the company, this year also marks the first time the number of people visiting the website is declining. According to web data firm Alexa, OkCupid has now caught up to POF on desktop in the free dating site market.

Can POF hold its own against a site backed by IAC? Mark Brooks, a consultant for the online dating industry, acknowledges that POF lacks the financial resources of IAC, but believes POF's mobile numbers are promising. What's left now is for POF to figure out how to make those mobile visitors as valuable as their desktop counterparts.

POF must now find ways to increase the number of users who upgrade to paid accounts. Exactly what those ways will be remains to be seen.