Match.com announced Q1 2009 financial results today. Don’t worry, It’s Ok To look. Match.com has had a busy past few months. In December, Match.com Experiences Strongest November in Seven Years. With the launch of the Daily5, which introduces five new matches daily to every member, Match.com members initiated 400,000 more connections with other members this November compared to last November. Match members were showing up in Are You Interested search results on Facebook, but that went away quickly as Match rolled out their iPhone app.
In January Match.com Launches Free Online Dating Site DownToEarth.com. In February, IAC Appoints Greg Blatt CEO of Match.com. March saw Meetic and Match.com Announce European Partnership.
Highlights of the financials below.
Paid Subscribers: (000s) 1,438 up 6% from 1,352.
Revenue: $90.1 million, down 1%, about $400,000.
Operating income: $9.9 million, down -2%.
Operating (Loss) Income: $9.7 million up 37%.
Worldwide subscribers grew 6% in Q1 driven by gains in the U.S., the UK and Japan. Match announced an agreement to sell Match Europe for shares of Meetic and a promissory note, with a total current value of approximately $140 million. Will close in June. Match has 27% stake in Meetic.
Barry Diller: “Personals continues to grow and extend leadership.”
Revenue declined slightly reflecting a 15% decrease in revenue per subscriber in international markets, due primarily to the unfavorable impact of foreign exchange rates. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange rates, international revenue grew and overall revenue grew 6%. International revenue declines were offset by a 9% increase in U.S. subscribers due in part to continuing improvements in features and functionality. Operating Income Before Amortization declines reflect $3.3 million in expenses associated with the pending sale of Match Europe to Meetic (announced February 19), partially offset by lower customer acquisition costs as a percentage of revenue, due to lower partner related costs in the current period. Operating income benefited from a decrease in amortization of non-cash marketing of $2.8 million.
Full IAC Q1 2009 financial report.
The number of subscribers remains flat, it was 1.2 million in 2007. Revenue is the same as 2007 levels as well. International expansion continues, new social features have been added and a new iPhone application has been recently released.
All eyes are on the International expansion war between eHarmony and Match. eHarmony is just getting started and Match is pretty much everywhere they need to be, tweaking the creative, reducing customer acquisition costs and performing all the regular dating site duties across a broad spectrum of markets. I’m especially interested to see how Match approaches the Chinese and Japanese markets.
We’re jaded here in the US, the needle will hardly budge anymore for large dating sites that aren’t actively acquiring new sites. Interesting to see what percentage the UK and Asian markets are of Match’s overall revenue.
Dating is becoming more and more like any sector of the online space, a few top leaders and the rest of the spoils divided up between a few mega niche sites and networks.
There are always plays that come from out of nowhere to command a few hundred thousand members based on small ad spends who basically have a great spider-sense for acquisition strategies and then there are companies like Skout who are taking the mobile dating space by storm.
Smaller dating sites without big bank, great service and unique marketing will continue to have a difficult time attracting, converting and retaining members, recession or not. I expect this to continue for the foreseeable future.
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Based on their traffic results Skout isn’t taking anything by storm.
Jackie, they are just getting started. Have you read anything about them, the DEMO win and their upcoming partnerships?
I always thought that Match.com “It’s ok to look” campaign was ironic. Unfortunately, 13+ million of their members can “only” look since they aren’t paid members. What’s worse is that the 1.4 million PAYING members can only look 91% of the time, since when they send an email to a non-paying member, the non-paying member can’t read it or reply without first upgrading their membership.
So they’ve impressed the tech community and have one a demo award, plentyoffish has never impressed anyone within the tech community except the amazing numbers the site churns out every day. And the jury is still out on the whole LCD screen dating at the bar, so is GPS dating services, I can tell you most gals think it’s creepy.
They haven’t reinvented the wheel and just about any popular site could replicate what they are doing. What if okcupid decided to build an app exactly like theirs and port over their 2 million or so members? Skout has proven nothing so far…..sorry.
A reasoned response. I agree about competition, and if it was only a LCD screen or GPS I’d be even more in agreement. The interesting stuff is often what can’t be publicly disclosed and it’s ok to get excited about something new, yes? If all we did was discuss sure bets, life would be boring.
Agreed it would be boring! Hey I have been wrong before……Cheers, Dave
@Jackie
I appreciate the interest. Two Quick Points:
1. Compete doesn’t show mobile traffic. Skout is over 90% mobile
2. Skout kicks off the creepy, and we only show proximity not exact location. Our metrics indicate ladies like Skout, its arguably a safer.
Bonus Point: Multiple extremely talented senior engineers working for just under 2 years built its technology. Everyone I talk to Jackie thinks it would be very difficult to replicate.
Skout is not a light weight profile flip application, that you can outsource to some 3rd world county for 10 grand.
It is a highly robust, highly scalable, location aware, social media engineered, proprietary-chat-client-integrated, mobile technology, with a very sexy Vice President of Business Development. However don’t take my word for it. Test it out.
@Redg
Having used your site for a few weeks, and being an accomplished developer myself, I can say that your website (while I have not tried your mobile things) is quite simplistic in its’ workings.
Your last point “It is a highly robust, highly scalable, location aware, social media engineered, proprietary-chat-client-integrated, mobile technology” sounds superfluous and exaggerated.
While I am not saying you haven’t created a proprietary system, it is certainly capable of being replicated by second world countries for 15 grand.
Clearly your marketing efforts outweigh a relatively basic application that utilizes the iPhones GPS technology. My hat stays on from what I have seen, waiting to see what the hype is about.
Hello, I read and foung interesting your comments about Skout, Match.com, etc. Would appreciate a conversation with you for a social start-up. Thanks.
Ross,
Those percentages would work with most of the popular paid dating sites. When the new Match.com Premium membership becomes available to the entire market (allows any member to answer a premium members emails), it will change the game a bit.
Void, what would make you take your hat off?
@Void
First off: Good to know “very sexy Vice President of Business Development” is not in disagreement here nor did you include it in your superfluous and exaggerated denouncements: I will stipulate you agree with that statement.
1. I love your name….so many ways I could spin puns off of it…
2. If you read the TechCrunch article it explains that it is light weight, dating focused, and a huge difference from what the old .com site was.
3. 90% of our traffic is mobile so that is where our innovation will focus…sorry the “mobile thingys” arent of your understanding, and please put me in touch with the 2nd world guys who can build what we’ve built for 15 grand. I can give the engineers a much needed break, those guys are pretty tired.
Judging Skout based on a destination site not on mobile is like judging:
Dolly Pardon on her eyes
Paris Hilton on her blazing intellect
Kermit the Frog on his management
Shaq on his free throws
If you must judge Skout, judge us on Mobile Capabilities. Even our competitors will argue with you that…. Location Technology, the iPhone makes it easier but very difficult, device identification very difficult, hell getting the pictures to fit on all these devices is pretty damn tough. How about you name a company that works on Mobile Web that hasn’t spent atleast 800k on development.
But hey your a Void its tough reason with you, or fill you, or yell at you…sometimes I stare at you… okay enough of the puns its to much fun for me. I really should “aVoid” these interactions
PS: Skout doesn’t do any marketing, or have a PR firm. But one day soon maybe :)
PSS: I know you are accomplished, but realize that to say we have no technology and are all clever marketing may be offensive to the Thousands of companies that have applied to demo and been denied the stage. I know I am cute. However, I doubt my good looks and charm would get us on a prestigious stage, nor would we pass Debbie Landa and crew’s test and get to present at Under the Radar. Must be something under the hood…..
This must mean you just want to get my attention…I know you think I am sexy. Email Me lets hang out. I’m single but busy from all these girls hitting on me on Skout. I’ll try and fit you in.
@Tom
I’d love to hear more about the “Premium” membership “enhancement” at Match. When are they starting it? How much more will it cost?
We may be brand new, at DatingRevolution.com, but we feel that even when we switch to a paid model, we’re better off having one tier of membership at a reasonable price.
Match, Jdate and the rest of them have to do all of this extra work scanning through profiles to make sure someone doesn’t say “You can send me a note – John at the hotplace” (i.e. John@hotmail.com)… One tier of membership means you’re either on the site or you’re not. I think it’s much easier for everyone involved.
Scammers still join sites and use throwaway email addresses, don’t matter about the tiers of service.
Do the scammers normally pay the monthly fees or do they rely on the free accounts?
they use stolen credit cards
Thanks Markus — Very good point.