Online Personals Watch: News on the Online Dating Industry and Business

IDEA Webinar: 5 Leading Dating CEOs: How to Meet People Without Putting Your Health at Risk!

OPW - Apr 7 - This is the 2nd IDEA Webinar. Now you can see as well as hear the participants. In this webinar, five leading online dating CEOs weighed in on some key questions in this very challenging time.

Panelists
~ Geoff Cook, CEO of The Meet Group
~ David Vermeulen, CEO The Inner Circle
~ Gloria Diez, MD of Mamba
~ Adam Cohen-Aslatei, CEO of S'More
~ Christiana Yebra, CEO of Vouch

Questions
- How are you encouraging your users to date safely right now? (4:55)
- Are you experiencing any app growth during the pandemic? Why? (16:30)
- What are your predictions for the dating industry as a whole during the next several months? (25:15)
- Do you think the way people are dating on mobile apps right now will end up changing forever because of this pandemic? In what way? (38mins)

*The Internet Dating Excellence Association exists to help the dating industry grow and deliver on its promise and full potential. See www.IDEA.gp.

COVID-19 Drives Up Use Of Schedule-Based Dating App Flutter

FORBES - Apr 8 - Dating app Flutter is seeing a surge in usage since the emergence of the Coronavirus. Usable for only six hours on a Sunday, Flutter wants its users to schedule, prepare and focus on their online dating. The app works at limited set times, with matches and messages disappearing at midnight. If two would-be daters don't act within the app's six-hour window to establish real contact outside Flutter, the connection is gone. "With the quarantine, we have seen a 23% increase in weekly users, a 53% increase in weekly matches and a 78% increase in weekly messages," says the app co-founder and COO Teddy Jungreis.

by John Scott Lewinski
See full article at Forbes

Hinge Launches 'Date From Home' Feature

MASHABLE - Apr 8 - Hinge is launching "Date From Home," a feature where users can easily tell someone whether they're ready for a virtual date. Hinge recently added a pop-up message to the app, advising its users to date at home. It points out that 70% of its members are down for a "digital date," over a platform like FaceTime or Zoom. While matches are messaging each other, the 'Date from Home' menu will appear and ask if they're ready for a digital date. Responses will remain private until both users are ready, and the feature will notify them. Then it's up to the users to take it from there.

by Anna Iovine
See full article at Mashable

See the top news on Hinge

Mark Zuckerberg Matched With His Wife's Friend While Researching Dating Apps

BUSINESS INSIDER - Apr 8 - Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg matched with one of his wife's friends while researching dating apps, according to a book by BuzzFeed reporter Alex Kantrowitz - "Always Day One: How the Tech Titans Plan to Stay On Top Forever". Since first announcing Facebook Dating at its annual F8 developer conference in 2018, Facebook has launched its dating service in more than 20 countries, including Colombia, Canada, and Thailand.

by Martin Coulter
See full article at Business Insider

The Top Dating Industry News for April 7th

OPW - Apr 7 - Virtual Dating on the Rise, GROWLr Live Video, Match Group Q1 Statement, Q1 Global Consumer app Spend.

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Life Lessons From Paktor's Co-founder

CNA LIFESTYLE - Apr 5 - As CEO of M17 Entertainment Group, the entrepreneur has led the firm to become the largest live streaming and social entertainment company in Asia. In 2012 Tinder and Coffee Meets Bagel launched in the US and Joseph Phua chose to build his own platform that catered to the Asian community. After completing his MBA at University of Chicago in 2013, he returned to Singapore and launched Paktor with his primary school classmate, Ng Jing Shen. Paktor now has 20+ million users across eight Asian markets. In Nov 2019 they acquired live streaming platform MeMe Live. "We connect people in real-time and provide them with entertainment."

by Chong Seow Wei
See full article at CNA Lifestyle

See the top news on Paktor

S'More Partners With HopeLine

GLOBE NEWSWIRE - Apr 6 - S'More the new anti-superficial relationship app, partners with HopeLine, the on-demand crisis intervention and suicide prevention service to support people in need by raising funds and awareness to serve the exploding demand for mental health services during this Coronavirus pandemic. Demand for mental health services has surged in recent weeks, ~40% increase according to HopeLine. S'More is launching a campaign, called "Social Distance is Not Emotional Distance" which will raise money and visibility to help HopeLine. For each new conversation started on S'More, a $1 donation will be made to HopeLine.

See full article at Globe Newswire

See the top news on S'More

57% of British Singletons Turn to Virtual Dating to Ease Loneliness

HAPPIFUL - Apr 6 - As a recent report from eHarmony details, over half of single Brits are turning to virtual dating. Not only does virtual dating allow users to keep on dating, a quarter of singletons said it gave them the opportunity to cut a date short if it wasn't working out, 'without any real life awkwardness'.

by Katie Hoare
See full article at Happiful

See the top news on eHarmony

OkCupid: Massive Spikes in Matching, Messaging and Virtual Dates Around the World

OKCUPID BLOG - Apr 6 - Singles are still dating, and because everybody is stuck at home, they have more time to fire up a conversation with someone new. In the past few weeks, OkCupid engagement has exploded. Matches on OkCupid have increased 10%, and conversations have increased ~20%. 51% of users prefer messaging and texting, 26% like video-chatting, 17% are relying on phone calls ad 6% are waiting to date till the pandemic is over.

See full article at OkCupid blog

See the top news on OkCupid

Coronavirus Is Changing Online Dating - Permanently

FORBES - Apr 5 - The coronavirus lockdown is changing how we date, likely shifting our habits permanently. Dating apps are pushing users to meet for virtual dates, rolling out new video-based features. "While we are socially distant, we definitely aren't disconnected," says Tinder CEO Elie Seidman, who reports daily messaging activity among the app's American users has risen by 10% to 15% across the country. Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd hopes people will use Bumble's in-app video chat feature. With more people at home, Bumble saw use of this function spike 93% between March 13 and March 27. The average call was ~30 minutes long. "We're hearing more and more about virtual coffee dates, dinner dates and movie dates," says OkCupid CEO Ariel Charytan. "We recently heard from a new OkCupid couple in Brooklyn who set up a candlelit dinner over video chat for their first date earlier this week." "For now, dating apps have little opportunity to turn this new user behavior into additional revenue streams. Estimates on revenue and profit are going to come down. No one really knows by how much," says Evercore analyst Benjamin Black. Spending on dating is "something you can pull back on. You're not gonna die without it. It's not a consumer staple." So far the apps' goal of maintaining their audiences seems to be working. The number of weekly active users across Tinder, Bumble and five more of the largest dating apps was largely unchanged from February into mid-March, according to App Annie.

by Adam Brown
See full article at Forbes

See the top news on Tinder
See the top news on Bumble
See the top news on OkCupid

Tinder Accuses Bumble of 'Exploiting' COVID-19 in IP Fight

LAW360 - Apr 3 - Tinder's lawyers are accusing Bumble of "exploiting the country's COVID-19 crisis" to delay an already-contentious intellectual property lawsuit. They claimed Bumble's lawyers were using the logistical problems posed by the coronavirus pandemic - namely, remote depositions - as a back door to postpone a July trial. A federal has agreed to postpone the July trial by two weeks but ordering discovery to continue on an updated schedule. Following that order, an attorney for Bumble strongly disputed Match's accusations. Match sued in March 2018, accusing Bumble of infringing both patents and trademarks by launching a "copycat" dating app with similar layout and "swiping" features to Tinder.

by Bill Donahue
See full article at Law360

See the top news on Tinder
See the top news on Bumble

Hily to Adopt Snapchat Stories

DIGITAL JOURNAL - Apr 3 - Dating app Hily is partnering with Snapchat to allow users to share their snaps in Hily profiles. Hily is the first dating app to adopt this new Snapchat feature called App Stories. To post their Snapchat stories to Hily, the users will have to connect the two apps. Everyone on Hily will see a pop-up banner with a set of clear instructions on how to use the new feature. The users will be able to repost Snapchat stories directly or share snaps without publishing them to Snapchat first. Hily (an acronym for "Hey, I like you") is a Las Vegas-based dating app with ~15M users around the globe.

See full article at Digital Journal

See the top news on Hily

Join OPW.news

OPW - Apr 5 - We're the straight-talking, no frills news summary service for dating executives. No fluff, just punchy news summaries.

Relationship AI Interview With CEO Karinna Karsten

OPW INTERVIEW - Apr 3 - I met Karinna several years ago in California. She's entirely devoted to the relationships and dating industry and has created an app that help daters keep track of the people they're dating, and their dates, and most importantly to help them make sense of it all. Think of Relationship AI as helping them with their dating decision making and life. I really think this is an essential tool for daters, and highly complementary with the dating industry. Here's my interview with the Karinna, the CEO. [Full disclosure: RAI is a client of Courtland Brooks] - Mark Brooks

Why did you start Relationship AI?
I spent years working as a relationship advisor and the CEO of LOVE TV, where I addressed the challenges facing millennials in dating, wellness, and building relationships. During this time I came to realize that dating has become increasingly complicated. Keeping track of your dating life in today's app-jungle, including real-life encounters, is becoming almost a full-time job.

Daters really need help in managing their dating activity and making the best choices around matches.

Relationship A.I. was born from the accumulation of all my data, research and work in the dating industry over the past 10 years.

What does Relationship AI do?
Relationship A.I. is a personal CRM to increase the ROI on the time spent dating. We are giving daters the ability to track their dating activity and create metrics to improve effectiveness and efficiency while dating. This has positive implications for the dating industry. It’s never been done before.

What is the pricing model?
We run a Freemium model, with paid features and upgrades coming in 2020.

How does it serve the interests of dating app owners?
Relationship A.I. provides a compelling incentive for daters that can reactivate a dating app's dormant database. We keep your brand top of mind with daters who are juggling anything between 2 and 7 apps at a time. Lastly, we add to your bottom line. There's rev share opportunities for dating app partners from our (upcoming) paid upgrades.

How far along is the app development?
We have just launched v1 on IOS. We are developing early traction and partnerships.

What are your plans for 2020?
Complete seed round funding and launch version 2 with out first paid upgrades on IOS and Android. We want to secure strategic partnerships with a few dating industry leaders.

How can the dating industry help, and work with you?
Relationship A.I. is designed as a complement, a unifier, a revenue enhancer and an evolutionary next stage for the dating industry. We welcome dating app owners and executives to reach out and discuss partnership opportunities with Relationship A.I. for your audience at info@relationship-ai.com. You can also find out more at www.relationship-ai.com and www.Karinnakarsten.com.

See the top news on Relationship AI

Consumers Spent $23.4B on Apps in Q1 2020

TECH CRUNCH - Apr 3 - According to new data from App Annie, Q1 2020 was the largest-ever quarter in terms of consumer spend on apps. In addition, the average weekly time spent in apps and games worldwide was up 20% YOY in the quarter. In Q1 2020, consumers worldwide spent $23.4B through the app stores - the largest-ever quarter. iOS accounted for $15B of that figure and Google Play was $8.3B. There were also 31B new app downloads in Q1 2020, up 15% from Q4 2019.

by Sarah Perez
See full article at Tech Crunch

There's No Better Time to Match on Tinder

VICE - Apr 3 - Tinder received ~3B swipes last Sunday worldwide - the most it has ever recorded in its eight-year history. British Tinder users are also having 12% more daily conversations on the app, and these conversations are lasting longer than average.

by Ruby Lott-Lavigna
See full article at Vice

See the top news on Tinder

Tinder "Passport" Feature Is Now Free

DAILYMAIL.CO.UK - Apr 2 - Tinder's Passport is normally available as one feature within the Tinder Plus and Gold paid subscriptions. The feature allows members to search by city or drop a pin anywhere on the map for free from now until April 30. Tinder's daily conversations have been up ~20% around the world - and the average length of the conversations is 25% longer.

by Cindy Tran
See full article at DailyMail.co.uk

See the top news on Tinder

Studies About Cheating

YOUR TANGO - Apr 1 - A report from the Institute for Family Studies estimates that ~13% of married women and 20% of married men admit to having cheated on their spouse at least once in their married lives. According to a study conducted by the people at Superdrug Online Doctor, a web-based pharmaceutical treatment and service provider in the UK, 41% of women and 33% of men said they cheated with a friend.

by Anka Radakovich
See full article at Your Tango

New Video From POF Explores the Pressures of Dating With Real Texas Singles

PR NEWSWIRE - Apr 2 - Bachelor Nation stars and newlyweds Ashley Iaconetti Haibon and Jared Haibon are exploring the realities of dating in the new "Dine & Dish" video from dating app Plenty of Fish. The couple is having a dinner with real Plenty of Fish members. According to a recent POF study of Austinites, 85% of local singles say dating in the city is tough, with over 2/3 of women believing that the majority of singles in the area are only interested in hooking up. Filmed on a ranch outside of Austin, in Dine & Dish: Texas Style, the group explores exactly what makes dating in Austin so challenging.

See full article at PR Newswire

See the top news on POF

GROWLr to Launch Live Video Dating to Respond to Pandemic

BUSINESSWIRE - Apr 2 - The Meet Group, a leading provider of interactive livestreaming solutions, is rolling out Live Video to users of its gay dating app, GROWLr. "In today's climate, livestreaming allows people to feel connected while maintaining proper dating distance," said Geoff Cook, CEO. "Since the outbreak, we've seen explosive, overnight growth of our other live video platforms, MeetMe, LOVOO, Skout and Tagged. In the last week, we saw a 33% increase in time spent in video and a 38% increase in video chats per day compared to the week before COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization."

See full article at Businesswire

See the top news on The Meet Group
See the top news on Growlr

Can Coronavirus Make Online Dating Safer and Global - Permanently?

OZY - Mar 30 - Physical dates are out. This is love in the time of coronavirus. Dating and romance are adapting. A growing number of apps and websites are now advertising virtual dating services aimed at keeping you safe, while some are allowing you to find dates in other parts of the world. League Live, launched by The League in late 2019, added a feature that allows users to message "isoDate", and become a member for free for their quarantine period. JWed launched video dates. Loko facilitates virtual dates. Plenty of Fish introduced a livestreaming feature. Tinder announced it is making Passport free for all users. It allows users to search for potential dating partners in faraway countries.

"Once the virus situation abates, virtual dating with video chat can still provide value as an initial step before meeting in person," Ben Rabizadeh of JWed says. Jeff Tinsley of RealMe, a platform dedicated to cultivating online safety, cautions "Don't expect people to be more honest just because it's a video date," he says, and that "as face-to-face meetups become less common, ...video dates have the potential to become the norm for now."

by Maroosha Muzaffar
See full article at OZY

See the top news on The League                See the top news on JWed
See the top news on POF                            See the top news on Tinder