The Meet Group

The Meet Group, Inc. (formerly MeetMe) owns several mobile social networking services including MeetMe, hi5, LOVOO, Growlr, Skout, and Tagged.

The Meet Group, Inc.
Type of businessPublic
Type of site
Social networking service
Available inEnglish, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Chinese, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Turkish, Malay, Indonesian.
Traded asNASDAQ: MEET (2014-2020)
FoundedApril 2005 (2005-04) (as MyYearbook)
Headquarters
New Hope, Pennsylvania
,
U.S.
Founder(s)Geoff Cook
David Cook
Catherine Cook
ParentParshipMeet Group
URLwww.themeetgroup.com
AdvertisingBanner ads, custom ads
RegistrationRequired
Current statusActive
Written inPHP

The company has millions of mobile daily active users. Its mobile apps are available on iOS, and Android in multiple languages. Through these apps, users can stream live video, send gifts, chat, and share photos. The Meet Group derives revenue from in-app purchases, subscriptions, and advertising. The company has offices in New Hope, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Dresden, and Berlin.

The Meet Group has transformed its business from being a predominantly advertising model to now generating the majority of revenue from user pay sources, which include subscriptions and in-app purchases for virtual gifts as part of its video live-streaming product. The company also derives revenue from advertising. In the second quarter of 2018, 60% of revenue was derived from user-pay, versus 26% in the second quarter of 2017. Livestreaming video revenue has become an increasingly important component of revenue and growth, and the product has been rolled out to all of the Company's main apps.

myYearbook derives its revenue from three sources: advertising, virtual-currency sales, and monthly subscriptions.[1] Advertising makes up two-thirds of its revenue, with the other sources making up the rest. It has an established sales office based in New York City and Los Angeles.

Origins
The myYearbook logo, which was used from 2005 to 2012.

Two high school students, Dave and Catherine Cook, created myYearbook during their Spring break of 2005. They persuaded their older brother Geoff, who had founded EssayEdge and ResumeEdge from his Harvard dorm room, to invest in their project. At the launch of the site, Dave was a junior and Catherine was a sophomore; the project was initially activated at Montgomery High School, in suburban New Jersey where they attended. The site was created entirely by workers in India.[2]

In 2006, myYearbook raised $4.1 million from U.S. Venture Partners and First Round Capital. In 2008, it raised $13 million in a Series B round.[3]

Features

In 2008, the company partnered with casual game developer Arkadium to bring Flash based games to the site. The games incorporated Lunch Money, the myYearbook virtual currency. Lunch Money earned playing games was usable elsewhere on the site.[4]

In April 2009, the site added the Meebo instant messaging client to the site in order to provide real time chat. In November 2009, myYearbook launched Chatter, a real-time stream that incorporated media sharing and gaming to help bring members together. Games playable inside the stream included Ask Me, Rate Me, and Two Truths and a Lie. These games incorporated mechanics to help myYearbook members meet each other. By April 2010, the site reported the Chatter feature surpassed one million posts per day.[5]

In January 2010, myYearbook rolled out a new site design aimed to appeal to an older demographic. myYearbook chose the final site design by crowdsourcing its members.[6]

In May 2010, myYearbook launched an iOS and Android mobile app designed to bring the Chatter real time feed to mobile devices.[7]

The company ended 2009 with a $20 million run rate.[8]

In December 2010, myYearbook partnered with Viximo service to provide better gameplay opportunities for users.[9]

In March 2011, myYearbook announced it had acquired Toss It, Tic Tac Toe, Minesweeper, SpringDroid, and Line of 4 to support its mobile strategy and grow its team. As a result of the acquisitions, Chris Hager of Austria-based FlockEngine and James O’Brien of UK-based SpringDroid joined myYearbook.[10]

In July 2011, myYearbook announced it had agreed to be acquired by Latino social networking site Quepasa.[11][12][13]

In December 2011, myYearbook launched an iPad app in an attempt to reach the tablet market.[14]

In June 2012, the company formed from the combination of myYearbook and Quepasa was renamed MeetMe. This change is because "Yearbook" means more about meeting friends from the past while "MeetMe" would convey the meaning of users making new friends, which is what the website is intended for.[15]

In October 2016, MeetMe acquired Skout, a global mobile app for meeting new people, for $55 million.[16][17]

On April 3, 2017, the company acquired if(we) and rebranded it to The Meet Group.[18]

In September 2017, Meet Group acquired German dating app Lovoo[19]

In 2020, The Meet Group was acquired by ProSiebenSat.1 Media with a parent company, ParshipMeet Group, being formed to manage both The Meet Group and Parship.[20][21]

See also

References
  1. "myYearbook Forgoes Freemium, Reports Virtual Goods Success". Socialtimes. 18 August 2009.
  2. Olsen, Stefanie (16 August 2007). "The secrets of a teen's Internet success". CNET.
  3. Kincaid, Jason (July 30, 2008). "Teen Social Network myYearbook Gets $13 Million". TechCrunch.
  4. POSTON, LESLIE (October 2, 2008). "myYearbook Finds Success in Casual Gaming". Mashable.
  5. "myYearbook's Chatter Reaches 1 Million Posts Per Day" (Press release). Business Wire. April 12, 2010.
  6. Kincaid, Jason (January 28, 2010). "MyYearbook Rolls Out Its Crowdsourced Redesign". TechCrunch.
  7. "myYearbook: Dating & Fun for Friends and Singles of Any Sex. Start Flirting Now for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store". Itunes.apple.com.
  8. OSTROW, ADAM (February 26, 2010). "myYearbook Revenue at $20 Million Annually and Growing". Mashable.
  9. TAKAHASHI, DEAN (December 16, 2010). "Viximo's game service reaches 100M users on dozens of small social networks". VentureBeat.
  10. "myYearbook Bets Big On Android With Acquisitions Of Five Apps". TechCrunch. March 31, 2011.
  11. "MyYearbook bought by Latino social network Quepasa". TechCrunch.
  12. Kim, Ryan (July 20, 2011). "Latino social network Quepasa swallows MyYearbook". Reuters.
  13. KIRPALANI, RESHMA (July 21, 2011). "New Jersey Siblings Net $100 Million for myYearbook Sale". ABC News.
  14. "myYearbook Launches iPad App" (Press release). Business Wire. December 19, 2011.
  15. Ha, Anthony (June 5, 2012). "Quepasa, MyYearbook Complete Rebranding As MeetMe, Will Start Trading Today As MEET". TechCrunch.
  16. "MeetMe Announces Closing of Skout Acquisition" (Press release). Business Wire. October 4, 2016.
  17. Yeung, Ken (June 27, 2016). "MeetMe acquires mobile flirting app Skout for $55 million in cash and stock". VentureBeat.
  18. "MeetMe Announces Closing of if(we) Acquisition and Rebrands to The Meet Group" (Press release). Business Wire. April 3, 2017.
  19. Butcher, Mike (September 20, 2017). "German dating app Lovoo is acquired for $70M by The Meet Group". TechCrunch.
  20. Nicola, Stefan (March 5, 2020). "ProSieben to Buy Dating Firm Meet Group in Tough TV Market". Bloomberg News.
  21. "The Meet Group Announces Closing of Acquisition by eharmony Parent Company Parship Group" (Press release). Business Wire. September 4, 2020.
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