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History
 Company: Match.com
Startup in Online Dating: April
1995
Private/Public: Public
Parent Company: InterActiveCorp
History of Match.com
Match.com,
a publicly held operating business of IAC/InterActiveCorp,
was launched on the Web on April 21, 1995. It is
considered a pioneer in bringing online dating into
the mainstream. It its 10 year history, Match.com has
grown to more than more than 15 million members with
profiles posted or who are active users and about
one million paying subscribers from more than 246
countries. Match.com’s international subscription
base grew 90 percent in 2004 alone and company's
online dating sites and affiliated businesses span
six continents, operating more than 30 dating sites
in 18 local languages and supporting local currencies.
Match.com used
to be a wholly owned subsidiary of Ticketmaster and
part of USA Networks Interactive Group before becoming
part of InterActiveCorp. During its first year of operation, Match.com attracted
60,000 members. Today, more than 60,000 new people
across six continents register on the site every day,
joining the 15 million people who use Match.com to
help them find love.
Match.com Member Growth Statistics
» May 2001 – 1.8
million members, 300,000 new members per month
» June 2001 – 2
million members
» October 2001 – 220,000
paying subscribers
» February 2002 – 2.5
million members, 382,000 paying subscribers
» March 2002 – 2.75
million members, 382,150 paying subscribers
» May 2002 – 3
million members, 527,000 paying subscribers
» July 2002 – 3.25
million members, 527,000 paying subscribers
» August 2002 – 604,000
paying subscribers
» October 2002 – 4.5
million members, 653,000 paying subscribers
» December 2002 – 5
million members, 653,000 paying subscribers
» September 2003 – 18
million members, 857,000 paying subscribers
» January 2004 – 20
million members, 910,000 paying subscribers
» April 2004 – 974,000
paying subscribers
» February 2005 – 15
million members, 32 countries, 18 languages, 6
continents
Match.com Expansion History
» May
17, 2001 – Match.com becomes
exclusive online provider of personals for the New
York Magazine and Chicago Magazine websites.
» October
2, 2001 – Match.com forms
partnership with Village Voice Media so that users
of The Village Voice's Internet personals will also
have access to Match.com's singles community.
» October
15, 2001 – Match.com becomes
the exclusive provider of online personals on Swoon.com,
a CondeNet, Inc. Web site which provides a wide variety
of astrology-related services.
» April
18, 2002 - Match.com,
and The Excite Network, Excite and iWon enter exclusive
strategic distribution partnership in which Match.com
provides content and advertising on Excite's Relationships
channel, is the sole provider of online dating services
for iWon, and gains permanent sponsorship placements
on many of the Excite Networks' channels.
» April
19, 2001 - Match.com becomes
the exclusive provider of dating services available
on the Talk City Personals Channel.
» April
23, 2001 – Match.com expands
strategic partnership with BET Interactive,LLC, to
become the exclusive provider of online dating on
BET.com.
» May
28, 2002 - Match.com expands
strategic relationship with MSN to market to MSN
users within the MSN Member Directory through integrated
links and search capabilities, linking MSN personals,
powered by Match.com, with Member Directory features.
» July
10, 2002 - Match.com partners
with InfoSpace, Inc. to launch co-branded personals
on InfoSpace.com, as well as InfoSpace affiliates.
The agreement also includes further integration of
Match.com personals onto Excite.com's classifieds
channel and meta-search function, which are powered
by InfoSpace.
» July
15, 2002 - Match.com becomes
the exclusive provider of dating services available
in the BlackAmericaWeb.com Relationships and Dating
Channel.
» September
17, 2002 – Match.com partners
with Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI), a national
retailer of quality outdoor gear and clothing, to
provide REI Adventures trips exclusively to Match.com
members.
» September
24, 2004 - Match.com becomes
the exclusive online personals provider for Oxygen
Media, powering the Dating Channel for Oxygen.com,
including both on-air and online media promotion
across Oxygen Media.
» October
3, 2002 - Match.com partners
with EarthLink to power online personals for the
Romance Channel on the EarthLink Personal Start Page(SM)
subscriber portal.
» October
30, 2002 - Match.com forms
exclusive agreement with John Gray's relationship
Web site MarsVenus.com to power online dating on
the site.
» November
7, 2002 - Match.com and
Club Med team up to offer travel vacations for singles
through MatchTravel.com.
» July
14, 2003 – Match.com and
Glamour Shots partner to offer a free Glamour Shots
makeover, portrait session, video session and free
portrait and video to singles to update their Match.com
profile.
» November
21, 2003 - Match.com starts
providing online personals to Comcast.net through
co-branding.
» February
10, 2004 – Match.com forms
partnership with Cingular Wireless to offer the MatchMobile
wireless dating service to Cingular's 24 million
voice and data customers throughout the U.S.
» April
6, 2004 – Match.com and
The NBA's Dallas Mavericks team up to create a relationship
channel, Mavs Match.com Zone, powered by Match.com
and hosted on the Mavericks official Web site, dallasmavericks.com.
» February
13, 2006 – Match.com launches
a relationship service to compete with eHarmony — Chemistry.com .
Match.com Milestones
» During
2001, Match.com generated
$49.2 million in revenue and $16.5 million in EBITDA
with more than 382,000 paying subscribers at the
end of the fourth quarter.
» June
2001 – Match.com undergoes
a major site redesign, particularly in the sites
Search, QuickSearch, and Match or Profile features
areas.
» March 2002 – Ticketmaster,
parent company of Match.com at
the time, signed an agreement to acquire Soulmates
Technology. Soulmates Technology delivers a private-label
solution for portals seeking a customized personals
interface that takes on the look and feel of their
site. With the capability to deliver online personals
in more than 18 languages, and 32 global currencies,
the acquisition of Soulmates Technology gives Match.com
an immediate worldwide footprint.
» July
2002 - Match.com launches
MatchLive.com, a subscription-based service offering
a variety of social events and parties for single
adults in New York City.
» July
2002 - Match.com announces
the new feature Match.com Messenger - a tool that
lets Match.com subscribers
contact each other instantly while on the Match.com site.
» July
2002 - Match.com launches
travel site, MatchTravel.com, offering singles vacation
and adventure opportunities.
» November
2002 - Match.com,
launches 25 international local-language dating sites
that support local languages and currencies.
» September
2003 - Match.com launches
photo profiles on MatchMobile.com allowing users
of the mobile dating service to search for and view
profiles and photos of MatchMobile members directly
on their mobile phone display screen.
» October
2003 - MatchLive.com, Match.com's events service
for singles, launches SpeedMatching.com, a new
site offering SpeedMatching events for singles
across the United States and in London.
» October
2003 - Online dating site Match.com launches Match.com Advisors
(www.advisors.match.com), a network of trained dating,
relationship and marriage experts accessible through
the Match.com site.
» December
2003 - Match.com launches
Profile Assistance (found at www.advisors.match.com),
providing a network of writers skilled in creating
and tailoring online profiles for members.
» December
2003- Match.com expands
its offerings to include friend-based connections
so that users can now create a new, online profile
tailored specifically for friends and search for
potential friends who have similar interests and
values.
» January
2004 - Match.com launches
Online SpeedMatching (www.online.speedmatching.com),
an integrated online/telephone speed dating service.
» April
2004 - Match.com launches
a video-enabled instant messaging service, allowing
users of Match.com Messenger to view potential dates
live, via webcam while sending and receiving text-based
messages.
» September
2004 - Match.com hires
a new CEO, Jim
Safka.
» February
2005 – Match.com launches
Happen Magazine™ with dating advice and information.
They falsely and blatantly publicly call it “the
first and only online magazine focused exclusively
on dating and relationships.” Sorry, Match.com,
but Online Dating Magazine –which focuses on
dating and relationships, has been around since July
2003. There are also at least half a dozen other
online magazines dedicated exclusively to dating
and relationships.
» May
2005 - Match.com premiers
its new guide to dating entitled “How to Meet
the Right Person in 90 Days.”
» January
2006 - Match.com signs
Dr. Phil to provide dating advice at a cost of $12.99
a month.
> Try Perfectmatch.com - The Best Approach to Finding the Right Person for You.
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