IAC on Tuesday announced that its popular dating site, Match.com, has acquired smaller rival OkCupid for $50 million.
In a statement, Greg Blatt, chief executive of IAC, said OkCupid was the "best" and "fastest-growing site" in 2010.
"We know that many people who start out on advertising-based sites ultimately develop an appetite for the broader feature set and more committed community, which subscription sites like Match.com and Chemistry.com offer, creating a true complimentary relationship between our various business models," Blatt said.
OkCupid, a free online dating site boasting 3.5 million users, resonates mostly with young adults who enjoy its free services, cheeky personality quizzes, blogs, and forums. In January, its official dating observations blog posted a statistical analysis of why Cute Girls Are The Lonely Ones.
Meanwhile subscription-based Match.com was launched in 1995 and boasts over 5.8 million unique visits each month. Its plans start at $16.99 a month for a minimum of six months.
"This marriage offers us the best of both worlds: the autonomy to continue pursuing OkCupid's original vision and the ability to leverage Match's reach and expertise to grow even faster," said Sam Yagan, co-founder and CEO of OkCupid.
Yagan will remain on board to run the business.
OkCupid was founded in 2004 by Harvard University alum Chris Coyne, Christian Rudder, Max Krohn, and Yagan. The group also founded SparkNotes.
Earlier this week, rival dating site PlentyofFish.com was hit by hackers in a bizarre scheme that involved accusations of extortion, and Russian scammers.