Match Group Tests Livestreaming on POF and Twoo

Match Group has begun testing a one-to-many livestreaming product after seeing other companies successfully implement their own versions in Western markets.

The dating umbrella is using an unnamed third-party platform to introduce streaming to Plenty of Fish and Twoo. 

A Match Group spokesperson said live video is growing increasingly popular among younger audiences, has a proven monetisation model and is a valuable opportunity to drive higher engagement.

It has also brought video chat to Ablo, an early-stage, incubated app that randomly connects users from different countries. The messaging interface runs an auto-translate feature to ensure there is no language barrier in the social interactions. 

The announcements came in the investor presentation which accompanied the firm’s Q3 financial report. Results didn’t meet previous expectations and Match Group’s share price fell in after-hours trading by almost 20%.

Match also gave some insight into the development of some of its other products. 

Over the next few months, OkCupid is going to begin putting significant investment into Middle Eastern countries. The decision appears to have been taken after the service’s increased focus on India resulted in its user base growing 1,400% over the past year.

Hinge’s global marketing push, which features an animated version of the icon, helped the brand to continue its impressive growth. The serious dating app has welcomed 2.2 million new users in the last 12 months and plans to start monetising more aggressively in 2020.

View the full presentation here.