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Match Group, a titan in the online dating industry, recently announced a series of changes to its Tinder management team, which resulted in disappointing second-quarter results on Tuesday.
The company also announced a number of changes intended to move the business forward.
Letter to shareholders
Match Group CEO Bernard Kim expressed his frustration with Tinder’s performance in a letter to shareholders.
The letter pointed out that the popular dating app had failed to achieve its typical monetization success in recent quarters.
As a result, Match Group’s initial expectations for revenue growth in the second half of 2022 will not be met.
Kim attributed Tinder’s troubles to poor execution of various optimizations and new product initiatives.
However, she insisted that the execution of the product and the speed of the app could still be improved.
Departures and changes
It was also revealed on Tuesday that Tinder CEO Renate Nyborg would be leaving the company, despite having been employed for less than a year.
With Nyborg’s departure, Tinder will also reorganize its management team, including the following:
- Faye Iosotaluno, former Chief Strategy Officer of Match Group, becomes COO of Tinder
- Newcomer Mark Van Ryswyk Will Take on the Role of Tinder’s Chief Product Officer, Experienced as a Gaming Executive
- 11 Years of Match Group Veteran and Tinder CTO Over the past five years Tom Jacques becomes the company’s Chief Technology Officer
- Match Group Americas CEO and 15-year veteran Amarnath Thombre will advise Tinder management team on roadmap and product growth
Bernard Kim has revealed that he will oversee the team as Tinder continues its search for a permanent CEO.
Engagement
The numbers indicate that younger generations of users are less likely to use dating apps like Tinder, a cultural shift beyond the impact of the pandemic.
The shareholder letter notes that while people have emerged from COVID-19 lockdowns and returned to normal life routines, they are not as ready to dive into online dating apps for the first time as they were before the pandemic.
On the contrary, Match Group found that the highest engagement on Tinder comes from existing users.
Metaverse
With Tinder’s revamp, plans for a “dating metaverse” have been scaled back.
Match Group intended to use its Hyperconnect acquisition to develop a new form of online dating in a virtual environment.
However, the ideas have been put on hold as the Match Group plans to address other issues.
“Given uncertainty about the ultimate contours of the metaverse and what will or won’t work, as well as the more challenging operating environment, I’ve instructed the Hyperconnect team to iterate but not invest heavily in the metaverse at this time,” Kim wrote.
“We’ll continue to evaluate this space carefully, and we will consider moving forward at the appropriate time when we have more clarity on the overall opportunity and feel we have a service that is well-positioned to succeed.”
Crypto
Match Group was also suggested to pull the plug on virtual currencies, an experiment with Tinder Coins (which the company would use for its metaverse plans and long-term roadmap).
“After seeing mixed results from testing Tinder Coins, we’ve decided to take a step back and re-examine that initiative so that it can more effectively contribute to Tinder’s revenue,” said Kim.
“We also intend to do more thinking about virtual goods to ensure that they can be a real driver for Tinder’s next leg of growth and help us unlock the untapped power users on the platform.”
Revenue
Match Group reported second quarter 2022 revenue of $ 795 million, up 12% year-over-year.
However, the numbers were lower than Wall Street’s average estimates of $ 804.22 million. The company also reported a loss of $ 31.86 million.
Next quarter estimates were also not that good, as the company expected stable third quarter growth from $ 790 million to $ 800 million in revenue, which was less than an estimate of $ 833 million.
Reference:
Tinder to kill virtual currency, metaverse plans amid Match Group earnings loss;Tinder loses its CEO
