Barry Diller's Curious Remarks On Match.com

Rafat Ali's got notes on PaidContent.org from IAC's (IACI) Barry Diller speaking at the @media Summit. When asked about social networks, Diller talked about Match.com, one of the big three in the online dating space. As someone currently deep inside this vertical, and a social networking observer, his comments seem interesting because they are so, well, off.

Here's what Ali quotes:

Match.com is our play in social networking...a pure social network site--not that they are of value--no one has yet proved it is the easiest advertising medium. Pure social network is an upgrade from the princess telephone teenagers used to talk on for hours and hours. I do think, however, it is a great promotional vehicle. Match.com got into trouble because it added social networking, that flirting element and that friend thing. We put all these bells and whistles on the service, and confused our audience...now we have had a turn around.

Given that Match is a paid subscription service, it seems odd that Diller is tasking them for the difficulties of delivering targeted advertising at the ROI he'd like--and equally curious that he thinks adding communications tools to the product was a mistake. (IMHO, adding Dr. Phil would be more off base than anything he describes, but hey, that's just me.)

The other cool quote Rafat offers -- Diller saying "We will buy anything that walks."

Comments

[jbs:]

Match.com is unlike the other "personals" sites. It caters to an older audience seeking a serious relationship. These people aren't as familiar with computers and websites as the younger generation. The audience is also turned off by the flirtation aspect of the sites targeted at younger people, as they seek long term relationships. They also get confused by the bells and whistles. Match.com did a lot of research and they have identified what the target audience is looking for.

You make it sound as though Diller is confused - he is not. Match.com tried competing head to head with the newer sites and quickly found out that their target audiences were not the same, and they were losing their competitive advantage.

Match.com has since returned to what it does best and has attracted many more subscribers.

To those who are unfamiliar with Diller and his company, this quote seems confusing. I encourage you to to learn a bit more about IAC and Diller before taking comments such as these out of context and attempting to analyze them without enough background information.

2007 Feb 09 01:51 PM