TECH CRUNCH – Match Group has eliminated the Chief Operating Officer role, leading to the departure of COO Hesam Hosseini after 18 years with the company. The decision comes as the dating-app industry faces declining engagement, particularly among Gen Z users. The change is part of a broader restructuring under CEO Spencer Rascoff, aimed at streamlining operations and cutting costs.
LINKEDIN – Meetic has introduced a new series of in-person “Speak Easy” dating events in 2026, designed to facilitate real-life connections through structured conversation. The format begins with a small-group discussion segment using guided questions intended to help participants break the ice and encourage more natural interaction, before shifting into a more informal social gathering. The first event this year brought together ~70 participants, with more events planned in several French cities in the coming months.
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OPW – Match Group will host its first product event, SPARKS 2026: Start Something New, on March 12 at 2:00 p.m. EST. The event will feature keynote presentations from Tinder executives and outline upcoming feature updates and the company’s product roadmap. A live webcast will be available on Match Group’s investor relations website.
RTL TODAY – Crush is a new Luxembourg dating platform that requires users to meet at organised in-person events instead of chatting online. Founded by Tom Sawyer and Wesley Hourdequin, the platform vets every profile to ensure authenticity and focuses on safety and real-life interaction rather than swiping and anonymous messaging. Profiles are not publicly visible, and matches happen only at curated events attended by the founders.
FORBES – Former Hinge executives Sam Levy and Tim MacGougan have raised $8.5M in seed funding to launch Rodeo, an app designed to turn social media content into real-world plans. The app extracts details from links or screenshots, such as restaurant addresses or ticket information, and converts them into shareable calendar holds to help users make plans with friends. After a 20,000-user beta, Rodeo secured backing from Foundry, 359 Capital, and Oceans, and has grown through TikTok-driven marketing and creator partnerships. The company is not yet generating revenue but is exploring future monetization through partnerships with platforms like Ticketmaster and OpenTable or a potential freemium model.
TOP CLASS ACTIONS – Tinder has agreed to pay $60.5M to settle a class action lawsuit alleging it charged users over age 28 or 29 in California more than younger users for Tinder Plus and Tinder Gold subscriptions, in violation of state discrimination and unfair competition laws. The company denies wrongdoing but will compensate eligible California subscribers who paid higher age-based prices.
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BARCLAYS – 56% of Gen Z singles are prioritizing meeting a partner in-person as romance scams become more sophisticated. 66% of UK adults say AI tools are making online dating scams more difficult to detect, with 53% concerned about voice or image impersonation. Barclays claims data shows victims of romance scams lost £7k each on average in 2025, and 67% originated on dating sites and social media platforms.
Kirsty Adams, Fraud & Scams Expert at Barclays, shares her SAFE guidelines:
S – Stay on the platform
A – Ask someone you trust if something doesn’t feel right
F – Flag money requests
E – Exit safely and report if you have been asked for money or if something feels wrong
LINKEDIN – The latest episode of the Harvard Data Science Review Podcast explores how data science shapes modern dating, questioning whether algorithms optimize for lasting relationships or simply user engagement. Host Liberty Vittert Capito and guest co-host Miguel Paredes are joined by Amy Andersen of Linx Dating and Adam Cohen-Aslatei of Three Day Rule Matchmaking to examine the gap between what people say they want and what they need, the limits of swipe-based systems, the value of post-date feedback as data, and whether AI enhances matchmaking or risks oversimplifying human connection.