Executive Shake-Up at Match Group
TECH CRUNCH - Match Group is bringing on former VP of Product at Snap Will Wu as its new CTO in a newly created role. Wu will oversee product innovation across Match's portfolio of apps. Match says Wu will now work directly with its executives to launch new features, emerging technologies, and innovative products. Gary Swidler, who was previously the COO and CFO of Match, will become the president and CFO of the Group. In addition, Malgosia Green, who was previously CEO of Plenty of Fish, will become CEO of Match Group Asia. Hesam Hosseini, the CEO of Match and Affinity brands, will become CEO of Evergreen & Emerging Brands. In this position, Hosseini will oversee Match, Meetic, Plenty of Fish and OkCupid, in addition to emerging brands such as The League, BLK and Chispa. Last, Justin McLeod, the founder & CEO of Hinge, will now report directly to Kim.
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Land of the Giants: Dating Games - How Algorithm Works
THE CUT - Asking a dating exec how their matchmaking algorithm works is like asking Coca-Cola for its top-secret formula. Tinder says that it looks at things like app usage, profile details, and swipe history to find matches. Bumble also says it looks at swipe history, while Hinge didn't say much, except that its "proprietary algorithm" was based on work done by two Nobel Prize–winning mathematicians. In episode three of Land of the Giants: Dating Games, we dive into just how these algorithms work and speak with daters who are trying to hack the code that controls their love lives. Listen to the latest episode of Land of the Giants: Dating Games, a co-production between the Cut, The Verge, and the Vox Media Podcast Network.
by Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz & Lakshmi Rengarajan
See full article at The Cut
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Could Mandatory Background Checks Curb Trust Issues on Dating Apps?
GIZMODO - A roundtable discussion was held in Sydney to come up with ways to curb harassment on dating platforms. Ministers, victim-survivors, tech companies, and authorities met online with representatives of Bumble and Tinder. Australia's eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has warned dating apps that they need to make significant changes and improvements to protect users or face a mandatory code. She's calling on dating apps to be more transparent with their data and what additional safety measures they will implement. Bumble said it had implemented security measures in recent years including a block and report tool that allows users to report any suspicious behavior, photo verification, and Private Detector, which uses AI to detect and blur potentially crude images. The company has also released Private Detector on GitHub, allowing other apps to access the tool. Tinder has photo verification, anti-harassment prompts, and a Trust and Safety team to mediate any reports of concerning behavior on the app. The company also created the Match Group Advisory Council in 2018 to advise Tinder on preventing sexual assault, sex trafficking, and harassment.
by Nikki Main
See full article at Gizmondo
See the top news on Match Group
See the top news on Tinder
See the top news on Bumble
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Announcing LTR Edition 19 With Geoff Cook (CEO of The Meet Group), and Carmelia Ray (celebrity matchmaker)
OPW - Edition 19 of the LTR (Love, Tech, Relationships) online experience will be on Wed 1st February at 12 noon EST (New York time). In this edition, we will hear from Geoff Cook, CEO/Co-Founder of The Meet Group & co-CEO of ParshipMeet Group, on the topic of "Stepping Stones to Innovation", followed by Carmelia Ray, a celebrity matchmaker, on "The future of content marketing, social selling, and brand recognition through TV and media."
We have a half-hour of networking on virtual tables, followed by 50 mins of presentations, and then another short networking session. 1.5 hours all-in.
If you hold a full-time leadership role at an Internet dating company then you are welcome to join IDEA for free and welcome to join LTR events for free.
See the LTR Edition 19 speakers and invite page here
Email mark@courtlandbrooks.com to RSVP.
This LTR is kindly sponsored by technology providers Livebox by The Meet Group, RealGifts, Courtland Brooks and Matchmaker.com
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Grindr: Stock Price Implodes but the App Is Growing Fast
SEEKING ALPHA - Grindr went public with an overvaluation of $2.1B through a SPAC deal, leaving only 500K shares available for the public to trade. While the stock has imploded, we should not disregard that Grindr has a scalable business model with large profit margins and the ability to generate serious cash. It is the largest LGBTQ social and networking app, with ~11M users exchanging ~12B messages per day. It is growing faster than direct online dating peers, with 32% YOY revenue growth and 42% YOY paid user growth.
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First-Dating-App Led Research Study of Hispanics in College
PR NEWSWIRE - Part of the Match Group, Chispa has, for the first time, taken a deep look at the Latin Gen Z population, with a specific emphasis on college-aged singles. Top research findings include: 72% of Hispanic Gen Z college students have met someone online, while Hispanic Gen Z female college students are more than three times more likely to meet a partner online than at church. 74% of Hispanic Gen Z students believe that marriage should not be exclusively between a man and a woman. Chispa is the largest dating app made for US Latinos.
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Bill Promoting Online Dating Safety Passes Through Utah House of Representatives Committee
UPR - House Bill 18, a bill aiming to keep people safe on dating apps, has passed in the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Standing Committee. Dating apps must disclose if they've done background checks on users, sending emails to all users if an account is suspected of catfishing. After passing the committee on Friday afternoon, the bill will head to the House floor and, if passed, will go to the Senate.
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Netflix Teams up With Bumble so Users Can Bond Over TV Shows
TECH CRUNCH - Bumble is launching a weekly in-app Netflix-themed question game called "Netflix Nights In" that asks users questions about a popular Netflix show. Users can play against their match to see who can answer all the questions correctly. According to a recent Bumble survey, 78% of users think it's easier to talk to matches when they have similar TV and movie tastes. 72% of the survey respondents said they've talked about TV shows and movies on a date. "Netflix Nights In" will start on January 30 and ends on March 13. The question game is available to Bumble users in the US, Canada, and the UK.
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Bharat Matrimony - Online Matrimony Trends Report 2022
NEWSPATROLLING - This annual report is based on users' activities on Bharat Matrimony, India's biggest matchmaking platform. 2022 saw 280M member logins from singles across India and abroad. A total of 432,520 members confirmed meeting their life partner on Bharat Matrimony last year. Singles between 25 and 29 years were the most active users on Bharat Matrimony - with Sundays being the most active time when online sessions peaked.
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