Facebook (FB) recently made waves when it announced its new dating feature at the F8 conference; So much so that it sent Match Group (MTCH) shares plummeting at the time. However, Match is not concerned about Facebook stealing its thunder. The parent of dating app Tinder reported solid quarterly results on Tuesday with revenues of over $400 million.
Match Group stated that its various services catered to the needs of different demographics and its experiences, such as that of Tinder, cannot be replicated by Facebook. Proof of this is Tinder’s year-over-year growth of over 150% during the most recent quarter.
At the recent earnings conference call, Match Group CEO Amanda Ginsberg remarked that people would prefer to keep their dating lives separate from Facebook, which is a primary means of connecting with family and friends. She added that users would not be comfortable having strangers contact them on the social media site.
Match Group CEO Amanda Ginsberg said people would prefer to keep their dating lives separate from Facebook
Facebook had said its dating platform would be kept separate from its other features so that users’ dating information would not be visible to people on their friends list. Ginsberg stated that previously, its entire Tinder user population signed up on the app using Facebook but after an alternative option was introduced last year, this number reduced to about 25%. This reflected the fact that people chose to keep dating separate from their Facebook network, she said.
Ginsberg also pointed out that considering Facebook’s bad reputation when it came to keeping user information safe as seen in the whole Cambridge Analytica incident, it was unlikely that people would trust the social media site with more details on their personal lives. When taking into account the fact that dating apps require more sensitive information, Facebook’s timing in introducing the new dating feature is strange. She also added that Match Group apps depend very less on Facebook for information although the two are connected.
The online dating industry is expected to see significant growth in users over the coming years and Match Group believes it is capable of holding its ground through this time. However, there are analysts who believe that Facebook’s announcement has created a short-term uncertainty and there is a likelihood that the social media giant’s free services might give some trouble to Match’s paid services. It remains to be seen how this pans out once Facebook’s dating service is up and running. For now though, Match Group is not scared of Facebook.