Finances

The Meet Group’s revenue and profits soared past original milestones for Q2 of this year, thanks in part to so many singles turning to dating apps during coronavirus lockdowns.

The company beat Wall Street estimates, with net income at $10.3 million, up from $2.2 million in the same period last year. This was a huge jump – resulting in a 373% increase in profits for the company. According to Philadelphia Business Journal, The Meet Group did not conduct an earnings call with investors over Q2 results, nor did they speak to the publication about the increase, and what part of its business was generating the most income.

The Australian Consumer Agency Choice has filed an official complaint against popular dating app Tinder for secret multiple pricing levels for its Tinder Plus premium service based on a user’s personal data, including gender, sexual preference, and age.

The complaint was filed with ACCC, the national consumer commission in Australia, according to Mashable. It’s been no secret that Tinder has charged higher prices for Tinder Plus to users over the age of 30, but this is the first time the public has learned of multi-level pricing based on personal data, and the wide range of pricing – from AUD$6.99 to AUD$34. Tinder offered no transparency about their pricing up front, so many users are probably still unaware they are being charged more if they are over 30, or LQBTQ+, or if they are male, for example.

Match Group announced that it had exceeded Wall Street revenue expectations for Q2 despite concern over drops in paying subscribers and a la carte services in April, as coronavirus began to spread through the U.S. The company also saw its stock tick up in value immediately following this news.

Match Group reported second quarter earnings that grew 15% year over year, and an 18% increase in subscribers year over year. Their earnings report also shows an increase in subscribers and downloads over pre-pandemic levels, and according to Business Insider, paid subscriptions are also back to the same level as before. 

Match Group, parent company of popular dating app Tinder, confirmed to Tech Crunch that the new premium service Tinder Platinum will be launching in Q4 of this year.

Tinder already offers two VIP tiers of service: Plus and Gold. There has been speculation for weeks about Platinum after a UK-based user said an offer popped up for the exclusive service as he was logged in over the web, but he wasn’t able to upgrade.

The app industry saw revenue spike to $50.1 billion for the first two quarters of 2020, in part due to people isolating at home to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Dating app Tinder topped the list of non-game app revenue earners.

This marks a 23.4% increase from the first half of 2019 according to Tech Crunch, compared with a 20% increase for the same time period between 2018 and 2019. The data seems to also point to a growing new user base. First time app installs were up 26.1% in the first half of 2020 compared to the same time period in 2019, and reached a total of 71.5 billion downloads.

Topping the non-game app list was dating app Tinder, followed by YouTube, and popular social apps TikTok and Tencent. Netflix was the fifth-highest earner.

China-based dating app Blued has filed for an IPO on NASDAQ, expanding its global and financial opportunities. 

The company aims to raise $50 million from the IPO, according to TechCrunch, which will go towards investment in technology and expanding the app in other countries. International users make up about half of its current membership.

Blued is part of a gay dating and lifestyle app called BlueCity founded by Baoli Ma in 2011, who is a formerly closeted gay policeman in China who was looking for a way to connect with others. While Blued originally seemed to model itself after dating app Grindr - (which was bought and later forced by the U.S. government to be sold by its Chinese owner Kunlun Tech) – the company added new features that included in-app video chats and livestream capabilities to distinguish itself.