Match.com

Match is an online dating service with web sites serving over 50 countries in twelve languages. Its headquarters are in Dallas, Texas. The company has offices in Dallas, West Hollywood, San Francisco, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, and Beijing. Match is owned by IAC, as part of Match Group, a group of online dating companies.[3]

Match (Formerly Match.com)
The U.S. Match.com home page
Type of site
Online dating service
Available inEnglish
OwnerIAC
Founder(s)
ParentMatch Group
URLwww.match.com
Alexa rank 2,426 (June 2020)[1]
CommercialYes
RegistrationYes
LaunchedApril 21, 1995 (1995-04-21)[2]
Current statusActive

History

Match was founded by Gary Kremen and Peng T. Ong in 1993.[4][5] Early on, Kremen was assisted by Ong, who helped in the design of the initial system, and Simon Glinsky, who served as the company's marketing consultant.[6] Fran Maier joined the company as its director of marketing.[6] According to a retrospective from The Atlantic, Maier helped to develop Match.com's initial business strategy, which included a subscription model and the inclusion of diverse communities, including women, technology professionals, and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities.[6] Match.com went live as a free beta in early 1995, and was first profiled in Wired magazine that same year.[5][7]

Founder Kremen left the company in March 1996, after disagreements with venture capitalists.[8] In 1997, Match.com was purchased by Cendant, who then sold it to IAC in 1999.[9]

Growth and partnerships

In September 2001, Match.com partnered with AOL and MSN, with the idea that Love@AOL and MSN Dating and Personals would allow a more diverse audience to gain access to Match.com.[10]

In 2002 and early 2003, Match.com's then CEO, Tim Sullivan, expanded Match.com into local dating with a service called MatchLive, where daters would meet in a public location for social activities and a form of speed dating.[11][12]

In September 2004, Jim Safka replaced Sullivan as CEO.[13] Safka was replaced as CEO by Thomas Enraght-Moony in 2007.[14]

On November 10, 2005, a class action was filed by Matthew Evans against Match.com in federal court in Los Angeles alleging that Match.com employed fake members to send emails and go on dates with paying members. The suit was repudiated by IAC as baseless, and was later dismissed by the United States District Court for the Central District of California on April 25, 2007.[15] Similar suits were filed in June 2009 and December 2010, with the judges ruling that Match.com did not break user agreements.[16][17]

In January 2006, Match.com hired Dr. Phil McGraw as a celebrity spokesman.[18]

Formation of Match Group

In February 2009, IAC incorporated Match Group as a conglomerate of Match.com and other dating sites it owned.[19] Also in February, it was announced that Match.com's European operations would be sold to Meetic for 5 million Euros and a reported twenty-seven percent interest in the company.[20] At the same time that this sale was announced, the current CEO Thomas Enraght-Moony stepped down, while IAC's (Match.com's parent company) Executive VP and General Counsel, Greg Blatt, took his place.[21]

In July 2009, Match.com acquired People Media, which powered AOL Personals and operated BlackPeopleMeet.com and OurTime.com, from American Capital for $80 million.[22] The following year, Match.com acquired SinglesNet, another dating site.[23] In December 2010, Match.com’s CEO Greg Blatt was made CEO of parent company IAC.[21]

In 2012, Match.com bought OkCupid, and Sam Yagan, OkCupid's co-founder and CEO, became CEO of Match Group.[24] That same year, Match.com announced Stir, an events service that was to offer local events each month for Match.com members to attend.[25]

In April 2014, Match.com launched an updated mobile app with a feature called "Stream" which used location to match people based upon photographs, using similar algorithms as the mobile dating app Tinder.[26] The platform's membership auto-billing method has been criticized by customers for the lack of transparency.[27]

In 2017, Yagan was replaced by Mandy Ginsberg as the CEO of Match.com’s parent company, Match Group.[28]

Use by sexual predators

A woman claiming she was raped by another person she met on Match.com sued the site in 2011.[29] The woman and her lawyer wanted Match.com to start doing background checks on their users in order to prevent registered sex offenders from using the site. Match.com has responded that it would create many problems trying to get background information from all their users.[30] Days after the lawsuit was filed, Match.com announced that the site would begin screening new members.[31]

From 2011 to 2014, a man described by British police as a “sexual predator” contacted thousands of women through the website. He raped five of them. In March 2016 Derby Crown Court heard that four of the victims complained about the man to Match.com; one of the women was told that administrators could not do anything because he had not sent abusive messages through the site.[32][33]

See also

References
  1. "Match.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  2. "match.com Competitive Analysis, Marketing Mix and Traffic - Alexa". alexa.com. Retrieved 2020-06-14.
  3. Savitz, Eric J. "The Dating Business Is IAC's Best Asset — and Its Greatest Challenge". www.barrons.com. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
  4. Kauflin, Jeff. "How Match.com's Founder Created The World's Biggest Dating Website—And Walked Away With Just $50,000". Business Insider. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
  5. Sayej, Nadja (2016-06-16). "The Creator of the First Online Dating Site Is Still Dating Online". Vice. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
  6. Kushner, David (2019-04-06). "Recruiting Women to Online Dating Was a Challenge". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
  7. Krieger, Todd (September 1995). "Love and Money". Wired.
  8. Angwin, Julia (1998-02-12). "LOVE'S LABOR LOST / Online matchmaker still seeks love, money". SFGate. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
  9. Contributor, Jeff Kauflin. "How Match.com's founder revolutionized the dating world — and walked away with just $50,000". Business Insider. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
  10. Timeline: How Match.com Got Where it Is – Fox Business News – Small Business Center – February 12, 2010. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  11. Fass, Allison. "Sex and the City". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
  12. Shachtman, Noah (2002-09-12). "NEWS WATCH: PERSONALS; Online Dating Site's New Twist: Offline Partying, for $25 Fee". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
  13. "Match.com Names New CEO". Wall Street Journal. 2004-09-02. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
  14. "Match.com CEO to lead IAC new business venture". Reuters. 2007-04-24. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
  15. "New York Daily News - Home - Call 'em Match.con". 2007-02-22. Archived from the original on 2007-02-22. Retrieved 2019-09-26.
  16. "McGinn v Match Complaint" (PDF). The Law Professor. June 9, 2009. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
  17. "Match.com Class Action Lawsuit Gets No Love in Court". Top Class Actions. 2012-08-17. Retrieved 2019-09-26.
  18. Bosman, Julie (2006-01-13). "Online Dating Service Teams Up With Dr. Phil". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
  19. Sarhan, Adam. "Earnings Preview: What To Expect From Match.com On Tuesday". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
  20. "Breaking: Meetic Finds A Soulmate, Acquires Match.com's European Operations". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
  21. "Even companies face relationship drama: Dallas-based Match Group's bumpy road to the top of online dating". Dallas News. 2018-09-12. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
  22. Wauters, Robin (July 2009). "Match.com Acquires People Media For $80M In Cash". TechChrunch.
  23. "Confirmed: Match.com Acquires Singlesnet". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
  24. "Yagan moves up at Match.com". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved 2012-10-23.
  25. Kessler, Sarah. "Match.com's New Event Service Takes Its Dating Algorithms Offline". Mashable. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
  26. MULSHINE, MOLLY. "Match Launches New iPhone App That Is Basically Tinder". BetaBeat.
  27. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKI93jsaPhU Match.com Complaints | ABC News
  28. "It's a match: Mandy Ginsberg tapped to lead Tinder's Dallas-based parent company". Dallas News. 2017-08-02. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
  29. "Woman Sues Match.Com After Date Attacks Her". ABC News. 25 January 2013.
  30. "Woman Sues Match.com". Time. April 15, 2011.
  31. Almendrala, Anna (May 23, 2011). "Match.com Heads To Court Over Sexual Predator Lawsuit". Huffington Post.
  32. Association, Press (2 March 2016). "Man found guilty of raping women he met on dating website". the Guardian.
  33. "Match.com rapist jailed for life". 3 March 2016 – via www.bbc.com.
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