Why Facebook Dating doesn't scare Tinder
Tinder owner Match Group (MTCH) thinks people will still swipe right on its platform even as a broad roll-out of Facebook Dating looms large.
Match Group Chief Financial Officer Gary Swidler said on Yahoo Finance’s “The First Trade” Wednesday that he isn’t too worried about Facebook’s push into the online dating space. So far, Swidler and his team haven’t seen any impact on their results from Facebook’s dating service being live in five overseas markets.
Swidler tells Yahoo Finance that Match Group — which also owns Match, Hinge and other dating portals — isn’t taking precautions due to Facebook’s match-making desires. But “we are watching them,” Swidler acknowledges.
Match Group’s first quarter results released Tuesday evening prove Swidler’s views.
First quarter sales surged 14% year-over-year to $465 million. Average subscribers rose 16% to 8.6 million. Average revenue per user (ARPU) increased 4%, excluding the negative impact of the stronger U.S. dollar.
Swidler says Match continues to see momentum in Tinder’s (arguably Match’s most important product) new Gold premium service and other up-sell type features inside the app.
Match’s stock gained 8.7% on Wednesday as investors cheered the report. The stock is up a sexy 54% year to date.
All of this isn’t to say that Facebook Dating doesn’t represent a threat to Match given the social media giant’s 2 billion-plus global monthly users. That’s a lot of potential dating matches, after all.
Facebook recently said its Dating service will soon launch in 14 more countries. The service debuted in September 2018 in Colombia. Facebook plans to introduce Dating to the U.S. later this year.
Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and co-host of ‘The First Trade’ at Yahoo Finance. Follow Brian Sozzi him on Twitter @BrianSozzi
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