Faye Iosotaluno, CEO of Tinder

Match Group promotes Faye Iosotaluno to Tinder CEO

by with No Comment Tech

Faye Iosotaluno, CEO of Tinder

Image Credits: Match Group

Dating app behemoth Match Group has named Faye Iosotaluno as the new Tinder CEO, two years after the previous CEO Renate Nyborg left the company in August 2022. During that time, Match Group CEO Bernard Kim held the position.

Iosotaluno has been working at Match Group since 2017. She was promoted from the company’s chief strategy officer position to Tinder’s chief operating officer in 2022 when Nyborg departed. Nyborg is now building an AI companion startup backed by Sequoia and Andrew Ng’s AI Fund.

“Faye’s understanding of the dating category is unparalleled and coupled together with her remarkable leadership capabilities, I know Tinder will continue to lead the category,” said Bernard Kim, Match Group CEO in a statement.

Match Group has seen the number of paid users decline over the last few quarters. However, in its Q3 2023 earnings report, it said that due to price optimization, overall revenue through paying users increased.

In September, the company introduced a pricey $499 per month subscription to get matched with “most sought after” profiles.

Last year, as a part of a settlement with Google, Match Group was allowed to offer in-app purchases through its own billing services on Play Store alongside Google’s own billing system. This means the dating giant will have to pay 26% or 11% (depending on the type of payment) to Google. This user choice billing agreement between two companies will go into effect by March 31, 2024. This cut might increase in-app purchase earnings for Tinder and other Match Group properties.

Tinder also started to experiment with an AI-powered photo selection feature last year. In August, Match Group appointed former Zynga head of growth Mark Kantor as vice president of innovation to focus on introducing AI-powered features across its properties.

Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported that activist investor Elliot Investment Management has built up a stake of $1 billion in Match Group. Elliot will discuss changes with Match Group to improve the company’s performance, according to the report.

Match Group’s stock has dipped more than 13% in the last 12 months. However, on the back of the reports of Elliot’s investment and appointment of the new CEO, the share prices jumped over 3% during after-hours on Tuesday.

Faye Iosotaluno, CEO of Tinder

Match Group promotes Faye Iosotaluno to Tinder CEO

by with No Comment Tech

Faye Iosotaluno, CEO of Tinder

Image Credits: Match Group

Dating app behemoth Match Group has named Faye Iosotaluno as the new Tinder CEO, two years after the previous CEO Renate Nyborg left the company in August 2022. During that time, Match Group CEO Bernard Kim held the position.

Iosotaluno has been working at Match Group since 2017. She was promoted from the company’s chief strategy officer position to Tinder’s chief operating officer in 2022 when Nyborg departed. Nyborg is now building an AI companion startup backed by Sequoia and Andrew Ng’s AI Fund.

“Faye’s understanding of the dating category is unparalleled and coupled together with her remarkable leadership capabilities, I know Tinder will continue to lead the category,” said Bernard Kim, Match Group CEO in a statement.

Match Group has seen the number of paid users decline over the last few quarters. However, in its Q3 2023 earnings report, it said that due to price optimization, overall revenue through paying users increased.

In September, the company introduced a pricey $499 per month subscription to get matched with “most sought after” profiles.

Last year, as a part of a settlement with Google, Match Group was allowed to offer in-app purchases through its own billing services on Play Store alongside Google’s own billing system. This means the dating giant will have to pay 26% or 11% (depending on the type of payment) to Google. This user choice billing agreement between two companies will go into effect by March 31, 2024. This cut might increase in-app purchase earnings for Tinder and other Match Group properties.

Tinder also started to experiment with an AI-powered photo selection feature last year. In August, Match Group appointed former Zynga head of growth Mark Kantor as vice president of innovation to focus on introducing AI-powered features across its properties.

Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported that activist investor Elliot Investment Management has built up a stake of $1 billion in Match Group. Elliot will discuss changes with Match Group to improve the company’s performance, according to the report.

Match Group’s stock has dipped more than 13% in the last 12 months. However, on the back of the reports of Elliot’s investment and appointment of the new CEO, the share prices jumped over 3% during after-hours on Tuesday.

apple-ghost-logo

Coalition including Epic, Spotify, Deezer, Match Group and others applaud DOJ's Apple suit in statement

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apple-ghost-logo

Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch

The Coalition for App Fairness (CAF) released a statement on Thursday cheering on the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple. The group includes a number of key app makers, including Epic Games, Spotify, Deezer, Match Group, Proton and others.

“With today’s announcement, the Department of Justice is taking a strong stand against Apple’s stranglehold over the mobile app ecosystem, which stifles competition and hurts American consumers and developers alike,” said Rick VanMeter, executive director of the CAF. “The DOJ complaint details Apple’s long history of illegal conduct – abusing their App Store guidelines and developer agreements to increase prices, extract exorbitant fees, degrade user experiences, and choke off competition. The DOJ joins regulators around the world, who have recognized the many harms of Apple’s abusive behavior and are working to address it.”

Some of the CAF’s members, like Epic and Spotify, have been embroiled in high-profile legal proceedings over Apple’s anticompetitive practices.

For years, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has been vocal about his displeasure with Apple’s 30% cut of in-app payments, which he thinks is monopolistic and predatory. In 2020, Epic made it possible for Fortnite players to pay Epic directly, rather than giving a cut to Apple. Then, Apple removed Epic from the App Store, which sparked a slew of legal proceedings. Though Epic has seen some victories — now, developers are allowed to route users to alternative payment methods — Apple has not been proven to be a monopoly in any of these lawsuits. 

As the Digital Markets Act (DMA) took effect in the European Union, Spotify has become more antagonistic toward Apple. The DMA was supposed to facilitate competition in the EU, but Spotify called Apple’s plans for DMA compliance — which add additional developer fees — “a complete and total farce.”

In a thread on X, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said: “I was skeptical of Apple’s intentions to comply after years of watching them get away with such extreme abuse with all the ways they skirt regulations around the world. Who wouldn’t be? But the law is the law, right? Not if you are Apple…”

But Apple sees the CAF as the bad guy. In a briefing with journalists about the DOJ’s antitrust lawsuit, Apple displayed a slide that positioned the CAF as part of a web of corporations trying to take Apple down for their own gain.

In a statement, Apple said: “This lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets. If successful, it would hinder our ability to create the kind of technology people expect from Apple—where hardware, software, and services intersect. It would also set a dangerous precedent, empowering government to take a heavy hand in designing people’s technology. We believe this lawsuit is wrong on the facts and the law, and we will vigorously defend against it.”

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Match looks to Hinge as Tinder fails

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Image Credits: Hinge

Match Group, the company that owns several dating apps, including Tinder and Hinge, released its first-quarter earnings report on Tuesday, which shows that Tinder’s paying user base has decreased for the sixth quarter in a row. On the other hand, Hinge has seen an increase in members who are willing to pay for the app. Tinder had 10 million paying users in Q1 2024, which is a 9% decrease from the previous year. Meanwhile, Hinge now has 1.4 million paying users, a 31% increase year over year.

The decline of Tinder was foreseeable due to the shift in dating app culture that has taken place in recent years. Younger users are more interested in pursuing serious, long-term relationships instead of casual hookups, which is what Tinder is known for. Since its inception, Hinge has gained popularity among users looking for more substantial connections.

While Tinder struggles to retain paying users, Hinge is on track to become a “$1 billion revenue business,” touts CEO Bernard Kim during a conference call with investors on Wednesday morning. Hinge has seen a sizeable revenue spike in the past six years, with direct revenue growing to $124 million in Q1, a 50% jump from the year prior. In 2023 alone, Hinge brought in $396 million.

One issue Tinder currently faces is convincing members to see value in its “à la carte” (ALC) features or in-app purchases, which include Super Likes, Boosts, “See Who Likes You,” and more. ALC revenue accounts for about 20% of Tinder’s direct revenue. However, in Q1 2024, ALC revenue decreased by 13%. This is in contrast to the record-high à la carte purchases in 2018.

Match Group CFO Gary Swidler admitted during the call that the weaker growth in à la carte revenue has been a downward trend for quite some time. However, it has been becoming “more severe of late” and is “hindering us to perform very well.”

“We believe the decline in ALC revenue stems from user declines and lower average purchase volumes, in part due to weaker consumer discretionary spending among its younger user base, among other reasons,” Swidler said, adding that Tinder payers are expected to decline at similar rates in the second quarter. The company expects there to be signs of improvement in Q3.

The main reason for adopting an à la carte offering was to address the needs of price-conscious Gen Zers, helping them get noticed by potential matches at a lower price tag. Match says it will continue to introduce new à la carte features on Tinder “at affordable price points” in future quarters, Swidler added.

However, instead of adding more options, Tinder may want to consider its sister dating app, Hinge, which only offers two à la carte features: Boosts and Roses.

Tinder has made several attempts to improve the overall product experience, including adding new safety features like “Share My Date,” where users can share their date plans with friends. Later this summer, the app will require face photos in everyone’s profile. It’ll also launch an AI Photo Selector feature that chooses 10 of the best pictures from a user’s camera roll to improve profile quality.

In recent months, Tinder has worked to still grow its revenue by squeezing more money from a declining paying user base, as with the launch of a $499 per month plan for elite users. But its forecast for Tinder revenue in the coming quarter indicates growth will be flat or only up by 1%, at $475 million to $480 million, respectively.

Tinder snobs can now pay $499 per month to be matched with the ‘most sought after’ profiles

Post updated after publication with revenue details; 5:15 pm et 5/8/24