Match Gets Snarky with Facebook After Dating App Announcement

(Bloomberg) -- Shares of dating app company Match Group Inc. tanked Tuesday after social media giant Facebook said it was building its own matchmaking app. But Match Chief Executive Officer Mandy Ginsberg is ready for a fight.

“We're flattered that Facebook is coming into our space -- and sees the global opportunity that we do,” Ginsberg said in an email. “We're surprised at the timing given the amount of personal and sensitive data that comes with this territory,” she added, referring to the recent outcry over how Facebook uses personal data in advertising.

Match fell 22 percent to $36.71 -- the biggest one-day drop in its history -- after Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company was working on a dating app leveraging Facebook's more than 2 billion-person platform. Ginsberg said she wasn't overly concerned. “We understand this category better than anyone,” she said.“ Facebook's entry will only be invigorating to all of us.”

The CEO of IAC/InterActiveCorp., which is Match's largest owner and also saw its stock hit by the Facebook news, had something to say, too. “Come on in. The water's warm,” CEO Joey Levin said in an email. “Their product could be great for US/Russia relationships.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Gerrit De Vynck in New York at gdevynck@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Robin Ajello, Andrew Pollack

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