Match Group to pay millions in FTC settlement over fake ads

Dating app conglomerate Match Group has agreed to pay the Federal Trade Commission $14 million in a settlement of a 2019 suit.

Six years ago, the FTC alleged that Match Group used fake advertisements of potential matches to lure people to buy paid subscriptions. The suit also alleged that the company deceived users in other ways, like making "guarantees," not providing services it told users it would, and making it difficult for users to cancel subscriptions.

In 2022, a judge dismissed much of the suit, citing that Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act deemed Match Group not liable as it was an online publisher. But now, Match Group is paying $14 million of the original $884 million the FTC sought, the agency announced. Match has also agreed to "permanently stop" deceptive advertising, misrepresenting guarantees, locking consumers out of paid accounts, and to make it easier to cancel subscriptions.

In the filing, many of Match Group's properties are listed under covered filings — but Tinder and Match aren't.

"Match Group admits no liability as part of this resolution and was fully prepared to take the case to trial, but opted to resolve the case to put the matter behind it. The FTC's outdated claims are entirely moot, as the alleged practices at issue ended years ago or are based on mischaracterizations that do not reflect our business today," the company told PCMag (which, like Mashable, is owned by Ziff Davis).

In 2023, Match rolled out its own campaign to stop romance scams, with in-app messages flagging scammy behavior.