Industry

Tinder is rolling in cash at the close of 2019 thanks to consumer spending on its popular dating app. According to Annie’s List, it ranks as the number one non-gaming app where consumers are spending money, ahead of entertainment and social network giants like Netflix, YouTube and Tencent.

Video games are by far the most popular apps for consumers and generate the most revenue from in-app spending. However, outside of the gaming world, Tinder subscriptions have driven it to the top spot in consumer app spending.

Months after going public with its intention to spin off Match Group, IAC has entered into a definitive agreement providing for the full separation of Match Group from IAC’s remaining businesses. The transaction will result in IAC and Match Group (which includes dating sites like Match, Tinder, OkCupid and Hinge) becoming two independent public companies.

"We've long said IAC is the 'anti-conglomerate' – we're not empire builders. We've always separated out our businesses as they've grown in scale and maturity and soon Match Group, as the seventh spin-off, will join an impressive group of IAC progeny collectively worth $58 billion today," said Barry Diller, Chairman and Senior Executive of IAC.

Harvard Geneticist George Church

Harvard Geneticist George Church, known for his work on reversing aging, has now turned his efforts to building a dating app that eliminates diseases by matching partners based on DNA compatibility. It works like this: when two users have a low likelihood of passing diseases onto their children, they’ll be matched.

The move has drawn a lot of controversy, namely because of its nod towards eugenics, or “good birth,” an idea popularized under Nazi Germany in the 1930s to eliminate “bad genes” through selective breeding. Church however, argues that the goal is to eliminate disease by pairing people who have the least amount of risk of creating offspring with illnesses or disabilities.

Dating.com Group is expanding its suite of dating apps by acquiring Dil Mil, a San Francisco-based dating app that is popular among ex-pats from India and South Asian countries, according to Tech Crunch.

South Asian ex-pats are less interested in arranged marriages, and have turned to dating apps to help find love in the U.S. However, most popular American dating apps like Tinder and OkCupid aren’t culturally appealing to this group of daters, who are more conservative and traditional in their approach to dating.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg called Tinder co-founder Sean Rad “irrelevant” back in 2014, but still gave him special access to user data, according to leaked emails reported by Forbes.

Zuckerberg had considered entering the online dating industry as far back as 2014, but ultimately put the decision on hold and granted the founder of Tinder, now one of the most popular dating apps in the world, special access to user data. Facebook colleagues suggested he meet with Rad, but Zuckerberg rejected the suggestion, saying in the emails, “I don’t think he’s that relevant. He probably just wants to make sure we won’t turn off their API.”

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