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1) How big is the global market for online dating/dating apps? Please include associated numerical information on key players: their market share/capitalization, revenue etc.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The global online dating market consists of the 3 segments dating services, matchmaking and casual dating. These segments have 2017 revenues of $4.886 billion, $2.370 billion and $1.127 billion, respectively, for a total market size of $8.383 billion. The global online dating services market is expected to grow at a 5.31% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) from 2017-2021. The Match Group holds the top spot in both online dating with Match and with their dating app Tinder which has 11,000,000 downloads. Match commands a 25.7% market share followed by eHarmony which has 12.0% of the dating app market. There is a lot of overlap and combining of data with regard to revenues and market size of dating apps versus online dating websites.
GLOBAL ONLINE DATING
MARKET SIZE -
The global online dating services market consists of 3 segments: dating services, matchmaking and casual dating. The definitions of the dating and matchmaking markets overlap in terms of the “search for life partners.” In casual dating, there are, “…apps and portals focused on non-committal erotic adventures.” For these reasons, I considered all 3 segments for the total market, but I also broke out the data for each segment.
Based on the data below from Statista, the market size for global online dating is $4.886 billion + $2.370 billion + $1.127 billion = $8.383 billion. According to an October 2017 report from Business Wire, from 2017-2021, the global online dating services market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.31%.
• Dating Services –
• Matchmaking –
• Casual Dating –
KEY PLAYERS –
I chose the key players in the global online dating market by the number of unique monthly visitors to their website according to Alexa. Based on a October 2017 article on Seeking Alpha, “Match Group has a tightening stranglehold on the online dating business with four of the top five brands.” Using this, I went to the Owler website to find the revenues for the companies.
To find the market capitalization for Match, I used FinViz. Please note that the other companies are privately held, so market capitalization figures for them were elusive in spite of extensive searching. Market share data was also difficult to find. However, the Seeking Alpha article contains estimates made by experts in the field. They estimate Match’s market share at 25.7% followed by eHarmony at 12.0%. The article goes on to say that the rest of the market (62.0%) is split among Badoo, Zoosk, Spark Networks and others, “with no other competitor reaching as high as 5%.”
Here are the top 5 key players in the global online dating market:
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GLOBAL DATING APPS
MARKET SIZE –
After extensive searching, it was difficult to separate the market size data for online dating from that of dating apps. Much of the data overlaps or is altogether. Also, I was not able to find any data on market share for the top dating apps, even after looking at quarterly reports for Match Group which owns the Tinder brand. However, I did find information that helped differentiate the key players in dating apps from those of online dating.
KEY PLAYERS –
After checking AppAnnie, SearchMan, SimilarWeb and Mobbo, I was not able to find a list of the global top dating apps. The four reference sites mentioned have the top downloads by country only, not cumulative. I continued searching and found the most downloaded iOS dating apps worldwide on Statista as of July 2016. Below are the top 5 based on the number of downloads:
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CONCLUSION
Worldwide, the online dating market size is approximately $8.383 billion. Tinder, Badoo, Happn, TanTan and Lovoo are the most downloaded dating apps in the world and Match, PlentyOfFish, Zoosk, OkCupid and eHarmony are the top online dating players.