MeetMe

Dating apps happily boast about their sign-up rates or the number of marriages they’ve created, but they’re understandably reluctant to release less flattering figures. How many users actually stick with an app once they’ve created a profile? How many let their account lapse, or delete the app altogether? Which apps are most quickly abandoned?

In pursuit of more juicy data, mobile data company Ogury sampled more than six million mobile user profiles from its network to take a deep dive into usage habits around the world. They focused on users in the US, UK, France, Italy, and Spain who had used dating apps within the six months between January and June 2017. To present the most balanced findings, they were were careful to maintain an identical male to female ratio in each region.

Ogury’s results reveal a landscape that may surprise online dating’s biggest advocates. One chart in the report shows that dating app longevity leaves something to be desired, with most app uninstalls occuring within the first day of usage. Zoosk users, at 44.1%, are most likely to uninstall in less than 24 hours, followed by Grindr at 33.6% and Tinder at 32.9%.

Spring is off to a big start for MeetMe. The social discovery service recently announced the beta launch of a live video feature in its popular applications, followed a few days later by a completed acquisition and a rebrand to The Meet Group.

MeetMe introduced Live to the world on March 30. Live is a one-to-many video feature that allows users to broadcast themselves, watch other users’ broadcasts, and chat in real time. The feature is now available to MeetMe’s beta community, with plans to roll out to more users in the coming weeks.

After the completion of the initial rollout, MeetMe intends to launch new freemium products within the video streams to help monetize the feature and encourage broadcasters to produce high-quality content. The company also expects to bring the feature to its Skout mobile applications later in the year.

Cast your mind back to 2004. The year was a big one for the blossoming industry known as social media. Facebook debuted and went on to become the world’s largest social networking platform. Tagged and Hi5 also launched in 2004, and though they remained relatively under the radar, both earned significant revenue through games and paid features.

Tagged purchased Hi5 in 2011. After renaming the parent company ‘If(we)’ and changing its focus to social app development, revenue began to drop. Plans for an IPO were also dropped. Now, six years later, social discovery platform MeetMe has acquired If(we) for $60 million in cash.

It’s good news all around for MeetMe. The social discovery service, founded in 2005 to connect users on mobile devices, has posted better-than-anticipated financial results for the second quarter of 2016. The company also announced plans to acquire Skout, a leading global mobile network for meeting new people.

Wall Street’s initial projections predicted $15.27 million in revenue for MeetMe. Instead, revenue exceeded expectations, climbing 48% from last year and clocking in at $16.4 million. Mobile revenue rose 82% to $15.1 million year-over-year. Mobile represented more than 92% of MeetMe’s total revenue in the second quarter.

Adjusted EBITDA increased 109% year-over-year to $6.0 million, reflecting a 37% adjusted EBITDA margin. Non-GAAP net income reached $4.8 million, a 103% increase over Q2 of last year.

MeetMe is a smaller player in the social networking space, but it has undertaken a number of initiatives to boost its customer base. Looking at the company's financial results for the second quarter of 2015, they appear to be paying off.

Highlights of Q2 include:

• Mobile revenue was $8.3 million, up 47% from the second quarter of 2014
• Mobile revenue represented 75% of total revenue, the highest in MeetMe's history
• Total revenue was $11.1 million, up 4% from the second quarter of 2014
• Cash and Cash Equivalents totaled $16.2 million at June 30, 2015
• Net income was $1.2 million compared to a net loss of $1.4 million for the second quarter of 2014

Julie Spira has come a long way since she created her first online dating profile nearly 20 years ago. She is now a dating coach and leading online dating expert, as well as the best-selling author of two books: The Perils of Cyber-Dating: Confessions of a Hopeful Romantic Looking for Love Online and The Rules of Netiquette: How to Mind Your Digital Manners.

Each year, Spira and her team curate a list of the latest and greatest mobile dating apps on the market. With the current explosion of mobile dating, it couldn't come at a better time.

Who made it onto this year's Cyber-Dating Expert Top 10 Mobile Dating Apps list? Let's find out.