Why the C.E.O. Behind Match.com and Tinder Took a Stand on the Texas Abortion Law Debate in Texas
The Internet dating business is booming because it’s so easy for users to meet new people (or to see old ones). The vast majority of users are women, not men. Because of this, people are flocking to sites where they can go after a casual encounter or a more serious relationship.
The growth of online dating is especially hard on women who are having to choose between dating apps or a real relationship. As a result, more and more women are turning to a new site: Match.com.
On Thursday, Match.com and its parent company, IAC, announced that they would stop advertising on Texas’ ultrasound law, HB 2. But they made the decision before the Texas law was even filed. This meant that the company might not have had to give the women in Texas any indication of its position on the bill.
That’s because it’s really hard for companies like Match.com and Tinder to make it known that they’re not going to advertise on a particular set of laws. To do so would risk alienating potential customers. On the other hand, this was a chance to show that companies like Match.com and Tinder are on the side of life and don’t want an abortion ban to have a major impact on their businesses.
The only way for a company like Match.com to get the word out about that is to have the people who are most interested in the law (an estimated 16 percent of its customers) oppose it. If they don’t know the law is being proposed, or if they don’t know what the law is, then there’s no chance of them opposing it.
In effect, the company had to make a public stand against a law that would outlaw many abortion procedures and take away a lot of the most widely used forms of birth control in the U.S. That means that even if they advertise on the law, they may not be able to stand with the other major players in the abortion debate.
So far, it looks like they’ve done the right thing.
Match.com and its parent company, IAC, announced Thursday that they had decided to stop advertising on the Texas’ ultrasound law, HB 2, which is being debated in the state Senate. The decision