Match: How the world's largest dating platform with 7 million members was created

With the accelerated pace of modern life and the increase in the number of stay-at-home guys and girls, online stranger social and dating platforms have become the preferred platforms for people to meet new friends and go on dates. According to data from Match Group, one-third of today's relationships begin on online dating platforms.

In China, apart from dating websites, the stranger dating market is basically occupied by Momo and Tantan, and there is also a company similar to Momo abroad, which is called Match Group. This company was founded 20 years ago and is currently the world's largest dating group.

Match Group's products include Tinder, Match, PlentyOfFish, Meetic, OkCupid, OurTime and Pairs. It provides dating services in 42 languages ​​to 190 countries around the world. It currently has more than 7 million paying users. It has an annual revenue of US$1.3 billion and an EBITDA of US$469 million. The number of dates facilitated by Match Group's products accounts for 60% of online platforms. Its Tinder (similar to the domestic company Tantan) once ranked first in the global downloads and revenue rankings of dating apps.

Match Group has six major dating brands, such as Match, a popular traditional dating website in the US market, Meetic, which is popular in the European market, OurTime targeting the middle-aged and elderly groups, Tinder, which is popular among young mobile users, and Plenty of Fish and OK Cupid dating platforms that focus on mathematics and problem matching.

As an online dating platform, Match has strong monetization capabilities, and its main revenue comes from membership fees. In 4Q17, the number of paid members in the US market reached 3.9 million, and the number of paid members in overseas markets reached 3.2 million, with a total of 7 million paid users worldwide. Since 2014, the annual compound growth rate of the number of paid members of Match has reached 26%.

The growth in the number of members naturally also drove up revenue. In 2017, Match's revenue reached $1.331 billion, up 19% year-on-year, while EBITDA profit increased 16% year-on-year to $469 million, with a profit margin of 35%.

Tinder, launched in 2012, is extremely popular among millennials. It is famous for its left-swipe and right-swipe to represent likes and dislikes, and its gameplay has also been adopted by China's Tantan. Tinder's commercialization began in Q1 2015, and currently has 3.1 million paying users worldwide.

Tinder's commercialization mainly includes paid membership services and advertising. Paid membership services include gold membership (Tinder Gold) and membership (Tinder Plus).

Tinder's basic membership features include unlimited likes, one Boost opportunity per month (to rank ahead of users in your area), age and distance management (to limit the visibility of your profile), selection of visible objects (such as only visible to people who have liked your profile), free pairing around the world, 5 super likes per day, unlimited returns, no ads, etc.

In addition to the basic membership functions mentioned above, Tinder Gold members can also view people who like you, so that Gold members can achieve quick matching.

Despite a swarm of global competitors, few products have reached the scale of Match. In the US market, Match Group accounts for 4 of the top 5 dating apps.

In 2017, Tinder's paid membership nearly doubled, and its revenue more than doubled, with 3.1 million paying users, and a net increase of 544,000 in the fourth quarter.

In 2018, Tinder's product direction mainly focuses on improving user interaction and focusing on the female experience. It also plans to introduce new features in the second half of the year, such as providing in-depth interaction after matching, recommending super favorite users through AI methods, and introducing location-based gameplay.

In 2017, Match introduced the Missed Connections feature to help users find people who have passed by or crossed paths with them online, thereby helping users initiate useful conversations. The introduction of the Match Stories video feature also helps users better express themselves and find matching dates. For the Ourtime product, Match will continue to commercialize and improve the product experience in 2018, while launching new products for Latin American users.

In terms of OkCupid and PlentyOfFish products, Match's main task in 2018 is commercialization and marketing.

In 2017 and 2018, Match will also actively expand into the European and Asian markets.

In terms of finance, Match's number of paying members increased by 24% to 7.04 million in Q4 2017, and ARPU increased by 4%, mainly due to the increase in per capita consumption in the international market.

Revenue in the fourth quarter increased 28% year-on-year to US$379 million, operating profit increased 13% year-on-year to US$128 million, and EBIDTA profit increased 20% year-on-year to US$153 million.

Match's revenue is expected to be between $1.5 billion and $1.6 billion in 2018, and its EBIDTA is expected to be between $550 million and $600 million.

Match expects its financial performance to continue to be strong in the future, with revenue growing at a compound annual growth rate of 17% and operating profit growing at a compound annual growth rate of 25%.

As Match improves its cash management efficiency, it expects its free cash flow to continue to increase.

Faced with these dazzling numbers and products, I believe you have probably grasped the secret of Match's success, which is its deep involvement in the dating and marriage fields, its continuous innovation in diversified product layout and its international market expansion.

via: 199IT Financial Data Center