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

Asian Internet Dating and Matchmaking Conferences

OPW - Apr 18 - Want to get your head around Asia? There's a couple conferences we'd like to put on your radar. But best book soon, as they're coming up fast. They're in Singapore at the amazing Marina Sands Hotel. I'm speaking at both of them.

The 1st is the GDI Singapore Dating Conference on May 13-14th, and is 250 GBP. Leaders from Paktor, Pairs, The Meet Group, Matrimony and Spark Networks will be speaking.

The 2nd is the Global Love Conference on May 15-16th, is $295, and will be more matchmaking focused. Leaders from Viola.ai / Lunch Actually, 2 Red Beans, Paktor, and the Matchmaking Institute will be speaking. (Here's a feel good $50 discount code 50OFFSG)

I hope to see you there.

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Hinge CEO: Advertising Would Be 'Antithetical' to Our Message

THE DRUM - Apr 17 - Hinge brands itself as the dating app that's 'designed to be deleted'. Justin McLeod, founder and CEO of Hinge, said the goal is to create an entertaining but ultimately effective user experience that takes people off the app and out on dates. "We don't use advertising...because that would be pretty antithetical to the way that we work," said McLeod. "If you run ads, then you need people to spend a lot of time on your platform so that you get a lot of ad impressions, and we're trying to get you to spend less time in the app." McLeod said he could see Hinge exploring brand partnerships that "deliver value to our users," but the app will "almost certainly" never sell ad inventory.

by Andrew Blustein
See full article at The Drum

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Walt Disney and Badoo Join Companies Pledging Money to Rebuild Notre-Dame

TECH CRUNCH - Apr 17 - Walt Disney and dating app Badoo are the latest companies to pledge funds for the rebuilding of Notre-Dame after the historic cathedral sustained severe damage in a fire earlier this week. Disney is giving $5M, while Badoo will donate all of its April profits from its 22M users in France. In total, ~$1B in total has been pledged from individuals and companies. President Emmanuel Macron has set an ambitious five-year plan to restore Notre-Dame, though restoration experts say it may take as many as 15 years.

by Catherine Shu
See full article at Tech Crunch

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Dating App Hily Is Now Also Popular in Ireland

IRISH POST - Apr 16 - Right after its recently launch in the UK and Ireland, the app made it to the top charts in Apple Store, beating its top competitors in overall download numbers. It is considered to be one of the fastest growing dating apps. "The most interesting things on Hily happen when a user actively engages with the application, swipes left or right, writes messages, sends bubbles," says Hily's co-founder Yan Pronin. "Based on this information, Hily identifies the interests and preferences of each user – things like who this person really likes and which potential matches will generate the best quality interaction."

See full article at Irish Post

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How U.S. Patent and Litigation Abuse Can Deter Small Inventors: The Story of Cheek'd

IP WATCH DOG - Apr 15 - "I wish I'd never filed for this patent," says Lori Cheek, founder of Cheek'd dating app. Her patent No. 8543465 addressed: A method, software product and card for personal online/offline meeting. She applied for this patent in 2010 and it was granted on Sep 24, 2013. Soon after, a friend suggested she apply to be a contestant on Shark Tank. Her episode aired in 2014. The criticism she received on the show did cause Cheek to reconsider the business idea. She and her partner soon after developed a Bluetooth dating app, abandoning the card-based approach.

Q: What happened after your Shark Tank appearance?
A: I got an email from Alfred Pirri lawyer. After seeing a rerun of my Shark Tank episode, he was claiming he had the idea for my business in 2006, told his therapist about it in 2008, and that she had then told me - even though I've never met the therapist in my life. He is suing me for ~$5M.

Q: How has this experience made you feel about the U.S. patent and legal systems?
A: I just don't understand how it can even go this far. I've joined forces with a group of other inventors who are reaching out to Congressman Jerrold Nadler to see if he can change the system to make it easier for inventors to hold onto and enforce their rights.

Q: What advice do you have for other aspiring inventors?
A: I would still say go through the motions and read up on the risks—definitely still get a patent, and trademarking is important. I've asked my lawyer what I could have done differently, and he said I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and that if I hadn't gone on Shark Tank, I wouldn't be here.

Cheek's lawyer, Lawrence Goodwin, said that Pirri's lawsuit is "a fantasy". "We've got solid evidence that she came up with the idea before Pirri even started the therapy," Goodwin said. But that doesn't change the fact that Cheek will have to shell out thousands while the case makes its way through the system.

by Eileen McDermott
See full article at IPWatchdog

See all posts on Cheek'd

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Momo: A Great Tech Stock No One Is Talking About

PROFIT CONFIDENTIAL - Apr 15 - Part of the problem might be that Momo is based not out of Silicon Valley, but China. And the U.S. and China have not exactly had the closest friendship over the years. Fraudulent Chinese stocks have also been an ongoing concern. With a market cap of $7.6B, Momo is not exactly a tiny company operating in a shady business. It's a leading mobile social networking app and deserves much more attention than it receives from the average investor. The company's monthly active users (MAUs) reached 113.3M in December 2018, up from the 99.1M YOY. Momo stock is up 71.5% year-to-date.

by John Whitefoot
See full article at Profit Confidential

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'Spottle' App Matches Singles During a 30-Second Video Chats

NEWSWIRE - Apr 17 - Spottle is a new dating app that lets users meet people in real time with a 30-second video chat instead. It takes place every Thursday and Saturday night at 9 p.m. ET. To play, users give the bottle their best spin, and when it stops, they'll enter into a 30-second video chat with their potential match. They can give their date a virtual "kiss" and see if they return the affection. If they do, it's a match! With that mutual kiss, users can then send messages, view profiles, and continue video chatting inside the app.

See full article at Newswire

See all posts on Spottle (formerly Spin The Bottle)

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Match Group to Increase Headcount in Asia

FINANCIAL TIMES - Apr 15 - Match Group is planning to expand headcount in Asia by 40% this year and overhaul its executive team, as part of a push into the region's online dating market. The group is planing to invest tens of millions of dollars a year on a hiring spree as well as additional marketing in the region. Several directors for individual brands in Asia will now become general managers across all the Match apps. In the past two years, the company has opened offices in South Korea, Japan and Indonesia, and continued to expand its presence in India. The plan is to open an office in Singapore in the coming months. But it does not operate in China, where Tinder is banned. The company is hunting for opportunities for either "incubating or buying" a Chinese dating app.

by Hannah Murphy
See full article at Financial Times

See all posts on Match Group

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Atari Is Investing in Qutie, a LGBT Dating App

PR NEWSWIRE - Apr 16 - Atari, one of the world's most iconic consumer brands, announced today an additional investment in LGBT Qutie. Since its launch last May, Qutie has seen ~400% growth in monthly user acquisition. "This new larger investment from Atari will allow us to scale our growth," said Jordan Weiss and Rachel Kimelman, Co-Founders of Qutie.

See full article at PR Newswire

This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.com

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Facebook Dating Will Allow Users to Connect Instagram Account

SOCIAL BARREL - Apr 15 - Facebook Dating is working at allowing users to connect to their Instagram account via their dating profile. This is in line with Facebook's vision of interconnecting its trio of apps, which include WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook.

See full article at Social Barrel

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Ashley Madison to Launch TV Campaign

THE DRUM - Apr 15 - Ashley Madison's latest TV campaign features two female members who are cheating. The ad reveals what women like most about their affairs. It will be running from April 15 to May 11 on the Viacom network's Paramount TV station.

See full article at The Drum

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Sex Attacks Involving Dating Apps on the Rise

BBC - Apr 15 - Offences where a dating site was mentioned in a police report increased from 156 in 2015, to 286 last year, according to figures from 23 of the 43 forces in England and Wales. Match Group said it uses "industry-leading automated and manual moderation and review tools, systems and processes - and spends millions of dollars annually - to prevent, monitor and remove people who engage in inappropriate behaviour from our apps".

by Michael Rose & Nicola Dowling
See full article at BBC

See all posts on Match Group

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BharatMatrimony Launches "Find Your Equal" TV Campaign

LINKEDIN - Apr 15 - BharatMatrimony, India matrimony service, has partnered with NDTV to do a campaign 'Find Your Equal – In Marriage, In Life'. The show premiered on Sunday 14th April on NDTV India and NDTV 24x7.

See all posts on BharatMatrimony

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Government Spends $1M on Study of Online Dating Habits

KTXS - Apr 14 - There are 40M Americans using online dating sites. U.S. government researchers looked at online dating habits of singles in New York, Boston, Chicago and Seattle gauging a person's attractiveness by the number of messages he or she receives. Sen. Rand Paul expressed concern that taxpayers' money is being wasted on unnecessary studies as debt continues to skyrocket.

by Kristine Frazao
See full article at KTXS

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Behind the Profile: Facing Discrimination on Grindr

TORONTO OBSERVER - Apr 14 - "Online discrimination has reached epidemic proportions affecting not only Grindr but other social networks," said Landen Zumwalt, head of communications at Grindr. Unlike Tinder or Bumble, in which both users must consent to a match, Grindr allows users to openly message anyone who is active and physically nearest to them. That opens up avenues for racism and abuse. Last year, Grindr released an awareness campaign called "Kindr" which is is built around education, awareness and specific policy changes.

by Kevin-Jose Da Silva-Vitorino
See full article at Toronto Observer

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Tinder Becomes the Top-grossing, Non-game App in Q1 2019

TECH CRUNCH - Apr 12 - For the first time in years, Netflix is no longer the top grossing, non-game mobile app. That title now goes to Tinder. The change in position is not surprising, given Netflix's decision in December to stop paying the so-called "Apple tax." Netflix no longer allows new users to sign up and subscribe to its service through its app. Now, instead of giving up its 15 - 30% cut of subscription revenue, new users have to sign up through Netflix's website. Tinder saw revenue grow by 42% YOY to reach $260.7M, up from $183M in Q1 2018.

by Sarah Perez
See full article at Tech Crunch

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How Hinge Hopes to Resist the Gamification of Dating

CREATIVE REVIEW - Apr 11 - Dating app Hinge rolls out a vibrant new interface. CMO Nathan Roth spoke about the app's approach to measuring success and the design features that encourage users to delete it. Hinge is reminding its users repeatedly that it is "Designed to be deleted". The app actively encourages users to meet and take things offline. "We measure success by the number of dates we set up each week," said Roth. Last year, the app launched a feature called 'We Met' to get feedback on its people's dates, with the aim of learning more about individual members and streamlining any future recommendations. "It's working. Hinge members only spend six minutes a day setting up dates." he says. Last year, Hinge also made the news for announcing they were looking to recruit an Anti-retention Specialist, a role which is in the final stages of being filled. Roth says this 'digital wellness expert' will help identify more ways to encourage users to to get off the app.

by Salonee Gadgil
See full article at Creative Review

See all posts on Hinge

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Disney Fans Are Luckier Finding Love Online

USA TODAY - Apr 11 - Data from Plenty of Fish reveals that singles who have expressed an interest in Disney are 3.6 times more likely to leave the app in a relationship compared to singles who more generally list interests in music and movies. POF uncovered the Disney love connection after analyzing ~ 7M user profiles. Women interested in Disney are 25% more likely to receive messages on POF compared to females who list more common interests.

by Edward C. Baig
See full article at USA Today

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App Download Up 10% YOY

MOBILE WORLD LIVE - Apr 11 - ~30B apps were downloaded from Google Play and Apple's App Store in Q1, up 10% YOY and the largest quarter ever, according to App Annie. App Annie noted Brazil was also a contributor to iOS download growth, although mature markets including the US, Japan, South Korea and Germany were the biggest drivers. But downloads in China softened, which was attributed to game licensing freezes. Dating app Tinder took top spot for consumer spend on non-gaming apps for the first time, which was attributed to both its own strong year-on-year numbers and Netflix no longer taking on new subscriptions on the app stores.

by Steve Costello
See full article at Mobile World Live

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Study: People Don't Mind Breaking Up Over Bad Grammar

MASHABLE - Apr 11 - Grammar is a major turn on. According to Landmark study, 88% of women says grammar is important in selecting a partner, compared to 75% of men. 23% individuals would break up with someone over poor grammar.

by Tanzim Pardiwalla
See full article at Mashable

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Internet Dating Jobs Listing Update - April 2019

OPW - Apr 12 - The new Internet dating jobs listing is live on the Internet Dating Jobs blog.

Below see a couple of this month's most interesting offers:

Badoo
  Head of Internal Operations and Properties

eHarmony
  Director of Affiliates & Partnerships, Acquisition Marketing

Hornet
  Head, User & Revenue Growth

Match Group
  VP, Product

Meetic
  Brand Acquisition Director (UK/Nordics/Germany)

The Meet Group
  Product Manager, Growlr

Tinder
  General Manager, Japan

To see more open positions go here.

Do you have an idating industry job offer which is not included? Please, send it to petra@courtlandbrooks.com and we will add it to the list.

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