The CEO Behind Tinder, OkCupid on the Future of Online Dating – by C. Cutter, from WSJ
(Link): The CEO Behind Tinder, OkCupid on the Future of Online Dating
Excerpts:
Match Group chief Mandy Ginsberg talks about her first year on the job, the Facebook threat and tackling loneliness through technology
A decade ago, when Mandy Ginsberg asked couples how they met, some would give a fictitious answer: “Oh, we met through friends.”
When she then revealed she worked at an online dating company, their answers shifted: “Oh, we actually met through Match,” they told her.
In her nearly 13 years at Match Group Inc., MTCH 7.98% where she became chief executive in January, Ms. Ginsberg has watched the stigma of online dating fade almost entirely.
Today, many people even proudly pursue a multiapp dating strategy.
Match owns well-known dating apps including Tinder, Hinge and OkCupid, along with lesser-known brands such as PetPeopleMeet.com, devoted to single pet lovers, and LDSPlanet.com, focused on those in the Mormon Church.
The Dallas-based company is expanding in Latin America, Japan, South Korea and India to tap what it estimates is a market of 600 million singles.
..Despite the competitive pressures, the online dating business “will never, ever, ever get stale,” said Ms. Ginsberg, who recently sat down with The Wall Street Journal. “We need human connections. Even if we don’t want them, it’s this underlying craving to go seek them.” Here are edited excerpts:
…WSJ: How have your products changed in the #MeToo era?
Ms. Ginsberg: I’m a woman and a mom of a 20-year-old who uses dating apps. I think a lot about the safety and security, in particular, of our female users. It helps for us to have a portfolio [of matchmaking apps] because if there’s bad behavior on one app, we can identify that user, we’ll kick him off all the apps. I do say “him” because generally we see more bad behavior with men.
When I started this year, I thought hard about what else should we do. I kicked off a safety advisory council. Tarana Burke, who founded the [original] #MeToo movement, is on it. They’ve really been helpful in identifying if there are any gaps or what we should be doing differently.
…WSJ: What will Match look like in 2025?
Ms. Ginsberg: Despite so much technology, people are more disconnected than ever. It’s really important that products like ours are all about human connections and connecting people one on one. It’s going to continue to happen over a cup of coffee or a glass of wine. And it should—people are lonely out there.
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