The Meet Group

MeetMe 3D Face Verification

Can you ever know, with complete certainty, that a match you’ve only communicated with online is who they say they are? Although the number of real singles using dating apps continues to grow, so does the number of bots, scammers, catfishers and other imposters of the digital world. The Meet Group hopes to thwart these scourges in 2020 by introducing ways to enhance authenticity across its portfolio of dating apps, starting with 3D face verification.

The idea of using images to verify a user’s identity is nothing new. Current incarnations of this concept often rely on users submitting selfies in certain poses or holding up a piece of paper that displays a specific code. Once these photos are submitted, a human employee compares the selfie to the uploaded profile photo to confirm the owner’s identity. This method is time-consuming and labor-intensive (and, as The Meet Group CEO Geoff Cook noted in a blog post, “not exactly foolproof”). 

A committee from the U.S. House of Representatives is investigating popular dating apps such as Tinder, Bumble and OkCupid following a report that found underage users and sex offenders were using the apps.

According to a report from AP, the House Oversight and Reform subcommittee on economic and consumer policy sent separate letters on Thursday January 30th to Bumble, Grindr, The Meet Group, and Match Group (which owns Tinder and OkCupid among others). The letters asked for information on “users’ ages, procedures for verifying ages, and any complaints about assaults, rape or the use of the services by minors,” according to AP.

The subcommittee is also seeking additional information on privacy policies for each of the apps, and what users see when they are asked to review or accept such policies. Recently, dating apps have also come under fire for third-party sharing of personal data, where user information wouldn’t be protected by the dating app’s own privacy policy.

The Meet Group, a leading provider of mobile apps and services with a focus on livestreaming, has released financial results for its third quarter of 2019. The Meet Group’s portfolio of dating and social networking brands includes MeetMe, LOVOO, Skout, Tagged and Growlr.

For the third quarter 2019, The Meet Group reported the following financial highlights:

• Total revenue of $52.6 million, up 15% from the prior year quarter
• GAAP net income of $3 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, compared to a GAAP net income of $1.3 million or $0.02 per diluted share in the prior year quarter
• Adjusted EBITDA of $11 million, compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $8.7 million in the prior year quarter
• Non-GAAP net income of $10.1 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, compared to $7.6 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, in the prior year quarter

If you’ve ever wanted to star in your own personal dating game, you’re in luck. The Meet Group has announced the launch of NextDate, a livestreaming dating game that lets users of MeetMe and Skout take on the role of a contestant in a speed dating show.

The patent-pending dating game offers a modern twist on a familiar format. As in a classic television dating competition, the user interacts with potential matches while being watched by an audience — except the user gets to choose who their matches are and, instead of a live studio audience, the game is watched in real-time via livestream. The Meet Group’s gamified take on speed dating allows streamers to add comments, use a rating system called the Love-o-meter, and take their romantic chances with any contestant who is currently playing NextDate.

The Meet Group, parent to an ecosystem of social networking and dating apps focused on livestreaming, has released financial results for the second quarter of 2019. The Meet Group’s portfolio of brands includes MeetMe, LOVOO, Skout, Tagged, and Growlr.

For Q2 2019, the Meet Group reported revenue of $52 million, an increase of $9.2 million (or 22%) from $42.8 million in the second quarter of 2018. GAAP net income for the period was $2.2 million ($0.03 per diluted share) compared to a GAAP net loss of $0.2 million ($0.00 per diluted share) in the prior year quarter. Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter of 2019 was $9.8 million, compared to $7.6 million in the second quarter of 2018. Non-GAAP net income for the second quarter of 2019 was $8.8 million ($0.11 per diluted share) compared to $6.4 million ($0.08 per diluted share) in the second quarter of 2018. The Meet Group ended the quarter with $26.1 million in cash and cash equivalents.

“Strong execution in video continued to drive our business growth,” said Geoff Cook, Chief Executive Officer of The Meet Group. “We grew revenue 22% from the prior year quarter to a new record high fueled by video revenue growth of 150% over the same period. We increased adjusted EBITDA by 29% and we generated $10.2 million in free cash flow – the highest quarterly free cash flow in our history.”

Image: The Meet Group

The Meet Group, the Pennsylvania-based parent to several dating and social networking apps, unveiled two new sets of features for its flagship dating and livestreaming platform, MeetMe.

The first updates focus on making MeetMe a safer, more welcoming and more inclusive space. The iOS and Android versions of the app now have a more prominent Report Abuse button - the largest, according to CEO Geoff Cook, seen in any major livestreaming app so far. When a user taps the button, a screengrab is automatically taken and sent to the company’s moderation team. The moderators can immediately review both the screengrab and the active livestream in order to take appropriate action.