About Match Group

Match Group, Inc., through its portfolio companies, is a leading provider of digital technologies designed to help people make meaningful connections. The company’s global portfolio of brands includes Tinder, Hinge, Match, Meetic, OkCupid, Pairs, Plenty Of Fish, Azar, BLK, and more, each built to increase its users’ likelihood of connecting with others. Through its trusted brands, the company provides tailored services to meet the varying preferences of its users. The company’s services are available in over 40 languages to its users all over the world. Portfolio Tinder Tinder was launched in 2012 and has since risen to scale and popularity faster than any other service in the online dating category, growing to over 10.0 million payers as of the fourth quarter of 2023. Tinder’s patented Swipe technology has led to significant adoption, particularly among 18 to 30 year-old users, who were historically underserved by the online dating category. Tinder employs a freemium model, through which users are allowed to enjoy many of the core features of Tinder for free, including limited use of the Swipe Right feature with unlimited communication with other users. However, to enjoy premium features, such as unlimited use of the Swipe Right feature, a Tinder user must subscribe to one of several subscription offerings: Tinder Plus, Tinder Gold, or Tinder Platinum. Tinder users and subscribers may also pay for certain premium features, such as Super Likes and Boosts, on a pay-per-use basis. Tinder Explore is an additional feature available for users to interact with others in ways that are non-traditional to Tinder. Hinge Hinge launched in 2012 and has grown to be a popular app for relationship-minded individuals, particularly among the millennial and younger generations, in English speaking countries and several other European markets. Hinge is a mobile-only experience and employs a freemium model. Hinge is Designed to be Deleted and focuses on users with a higher level of intent to enter into a relationship and its services are designed to reinforce that purpose. Hinge has Video Prompts, Voice Prompts, and Voice Notes, which allows users to better showcase who they are through text, photos, video, and voice at different points in their dating journey. Hinge offers two premium subscription offerings: Hinge+ and HingeX. Match Group Asia (MG Asia) The focus of the MG Asia brands has primarily been to serve various Asian and Middle Eastern markets. Plans to grow revenue include further expansion by certain brands into the European and U.S. markets. The following brands are included in MG Asia: Pairs: The Pairs app was launched in 2012 and is a leading provider of online dating services in Japan, with a presence in Taiwan and South Korea. Pairs is a dating platform that was specifically designed to address social barriers generally associated with the use of dating services in Japan. Azar: Azar was launched in 2014 and acquired in 2021 through the company’s acquisition of Hyperconnect. Azar is a one-to-one video chat service powered by real-time language translations that allow users to meet and interact with a variety of people across the globe in their native language. Azar also has a live streaming option. Azar is focused in the APAC and Other region, with growth in Western Europe and plans to expand to the U.S. Evergreen & Emerging (E&E) The company’s collections of brands within E&E include well-known pioneers in online relationships (which it refers to as Evergreen brands) and newer bets which target specific demographics (which it refers to as Emerging brands). The following brands are included in E&E: Match: The Match platform helped create the online dating category with the ability to search profiles and receive algorithmic recommendations, and it also offers a one-to-one real-time video feature. Match is a brand that focuses on users with a higher level of intent to enter into a serious relationship and its services and marketing are designed to reinforce that purpose. Meetic: Meetic, a leading European online dating brand based in France, was launched in 2001. Meetic is the most recognized dating app for singles over age 35 in Europe. Meetic is a brand that focuses on users with a higher level of intent to enter into a serious relationship and its service and marketing are designed to reinforce that purpose. Meetic also has online audio and video chat rooms available for users. OkCupid: The OkCupid service was launched in 2004 and has attracted users through a Q&A approach to the dating category. OkCupid relies on a freemium model and has a loyal, culturally progressive user base predominately located in larger metropolitan areas in English-speaking markets. Plenty Of Fish: The Plenty Of Fish dating service launched in 2003. Among its distinguishing features is the ability to both search profiles and receive algorithmic recommendations. Plenty Of Fish has grown in popularity over the years and relies on a freemium model. Plenty Of Fish has broad appeal in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and a number of other international markets. POF Live, a one-to-many live streaming video feature, allows users to engage with other users at Plenty Of Fish in a different format from traditional dating profiles. BLK: BLK brings the Swipe® feature made popular by Tinder to the Black community. Dependencies on Services Provided by Others App Stores The company relies on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store to distribute and monetize its mobile applications and related in-app services. While its mobile applications are free to download from these stores, the company offers its users the opportunity to purchase subscriptions and certain à la carte features through these applications. The company determines the prices at which these subscriptions and features are sold; however, purchases of these subscriptions and features are required in most cases to be processed through the in-app payment systems provided by Apple and Google, although some of its applications are able to use their own payment systems for in-app purchases made on Android devices. The company pays Apple and Google a meaningful share of the revenue it receives from transactions occurring both on and off their operating systems. Additionally, when the company’s users and subscribers access and pay through the app stores, Apple and Google may receive personal data about its users and subscribers that it would otherwise receive if it transacted with its users and subscribers directly. Apple and Google have restricted its access to much of that data. Both Apple and Google have broad discretion to change their respective terms and conditions applicable to the distribution of the company’s applications, including the amount of, and requirement to pay, certain fees associated with purchases required to be facilitated by Apple and Google through their payment systems, and to interpret their respective terms and conditions in ways that may limit, eliminate or otherwise interfere with its ability to distribute its applications through their stores, the features it provides, the manner in which it markets its in-app services, and its ability to access information about its users and subscribers that they collect. Apple or Google could also make changes to their operating systems or payment services that could negatively impact its business, including by unilaterally raising the prices for those services. The manner in which Apple and Google operate these services is being reviewed by legislative and regulatory bodies globally. Notably, the European Union (the EU) has, under the Digital Markets Act, designated Apple and Google as gatekeepers. As such, the company expects Apple and Google to be restricted from imposing fees or other requirements that are not fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory to all application developers; and prohibiting application developers from informing users about alternative payment options, offering their own in-app payment systems and making their applications available through alternate app stores on iOS and Android devices. In addition, the Republic of Korea has adopted legislation that prohibits Apple and Google from requiring that developers exclusively use Apple and Google to process payments. Further, courts and regulators in several jurisdictions, including France, India, and the Netherlands have all found that certain app store commissions or requirements that application developers exclusively use in-app payment systems violates laws in those jurisdictions. Multiple other jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, Chile, and Australia, are investigating, considering regulatory action or considering legislation to restrict or prohibit these practices. The United States Congress, as well as a number of state legislatures, are also considering legislation that would regulate certain terms of the relationships between developers and Apple and Google and prohibit Apple and Google from requiring in-app payment processing. Cloud and Other Services The company relies on third parties, primarily data centers and cloud-based, hosted web service providers, such as Amazon Web Services, as well as third party computer systems, broadband and other communications systems and service providers, in connection with the provision of its applications generally, as well as to facilitate and process certain transactions with its users. Sales and Marketing All of the company’s brands rely on word-of-mouth, or free, user acquisition and also paid user acquisition, both to varying degrees. The company’s online marketing activities generally consist of purchasing social media advertising, advertising on streaming services, banner, and other display advertising, search engine marketing, email campaigns, video advertising, business development or partnership arrangements, creating content, and partnering with influencers, among other means to promote its services. The company’s offline marketing activities generally consist of television advertising, out-of-home advertising, and public relations efforts. Intellectual Property For example, the company relies heavily upon the use of trademarks (primarily Tinder, Hinge, Match, Plenty Of Fish, OkCupid, Meetic, Pairs, Swipe, Azar, and BLK, and associated domain names, taglines and logos) to market its services and applications and build and maintain brand loyalty and recognition. The company maintains an ongoing trademark and service mark registration program, pursuant to which it registers its brand names, service names, taglines and logos and renew existing trademark and service mark registrations in the United States and other jurisdictions to the extent it determines it to be necessary or otherwise appropriate. The company also relies upon a combination of in-licensed third-party and proprietary trade secrets, including proprietary algorithms, and upon patented and patent-pending technologies, processes, and features relating to its recommendation process systems or features and services with expiration dates from 2024 to 2041. Government Regulation In the European Union (EU), the company is subject to the General Data Protection Act (GDPR), which applies to companies established in the EU or otherwise providing services or monitoring the behavior of people located in the EU and provides for significant penalties in case of non-compliance, as well as a private right of action for individual claimants. The EU’s Payment Services Directive (PSD2), which became effective in 2018, has impacted the company’s ability to process auto-renewal payments and offer promotional or differentiated pricing for users in the EU. History Match Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1986 in Delaware.