MASHABLE – Hinge will now give some users a second chance after minor harassment violations. Instead of an immediate ban, they must complete a short lesson on appropriate messaging before using the app again. Human moderators will decide which cases qualify. Serious or repeated offences will still result in a permanent ban.
AXIOS – Stoke is a new app launching in Miami to help people meet for dating or friendship at local bars, cafés and gyms. Users check in at a participating venue, choose what they are looking for and see who else is there. If two people are interested in meeting, a chat opens. It disappears when they leave the venue. Founder Kevin Battista will test Stoke across five Wynwood venues on November 7. A wider launch is planned for January, with 60 venue partners. The app will be free for users, with partner venues paying to appear on the platform.
BIGGO FINANCE – Match Group CEO Spencer Rascoff discussed Tinder’s turnaround on the In Good Company podcast with Nicolai Tangen. He said the company had become too focused on short-term revenue and had stopped innovating. During his first year, he visited all 12 offices, cleared Tinder’s product roadmap and restarted its internship programme. The company is building more social features for Gen Z, which makes up ~60% of Tinder and Hinge users. Rascoff said younger singles prefer meeting in groups and through low-pressure activities. Tinder Events operates in 25 cities and is expected to reach 75+ by year-end. Double Date is used by ~25% of Gen Z users in the US and nearly half in Norway. Match Group has ~2,000 employees and operates in ~200 countries. Tinder is the leading dating app in 166 markets. Rascoff said free users remain essential because they create the large dating pool needed for the apps to work. He does not expect expensive matchmaking tiers to become a major source of revenue.
PRESS RELEASE – Ithaca Holdings has agreed to acquire Bumble in an all-cash deal valued at $1.3 billion. Shareholders will receive $6.05 per share, a 138% premium to Bumble’s closing price on October 9. The board approved the deal, and affiliates of Blackstone and founder Whitney Wolfe Herd provided the required shareholder approval. Bumble will become a private company and remain based in Austin, with offices in London and New York. Ithaca co-founders Ravi Gupta and John Hegeman will become co-CEOs, while Wolfe Herd will remain actively involved.
NBC NEWS – A year-long investigation by the US Congress Joint Economic Committee examined how Match Group handles romance scams across Tinder, Hinge, and its other dating platforms. It found that some of Tinder’s fraud-detection models had not been updated for several years. In Q3 2025, ~1.5M suspected scammers or other bad actors on Tinder and Hinge matched with users, while ~500K exchanged contact details. Match Group has since introduced new detection models, added 169 automated rules, and improved 108 existing ones. Tinder and Hinge now require biometric face checks for new users, helping prevent banned users from returning under new accounts. Match Group said these measures have reduced exposure to bad actors by ~60%. The committee welcomed the progress but said continued investment would be needed as scam tactics evolve.
REUTERS – Bumble is in advanced talks to be acquired by Ithaca Holdings in a deal valuing the dating app company at $1 billion. Ithaca Holdings is a technology investment company founded by Ravi Gupta and John Hegeman. Bumble shares jumped 50% on Monday following the news. Bumble went public in 2021 at a valuation of $14 billion. Annual revenue declined nearly 10% to $966 million in 2025, while paying users fell more than 11% to 3.7 million. Founder Whitney Wolfe Herd returned as CEO in March 2025 and has since introduced AI-powered features and new ways for users to connect. Neither company has confirmed the proposed deal.
OPW – Longtime dating industry journalist Hanna Kozlowska’s new book, U Up?: An Intimate History of Online Dating, is available for pre-order ahead of its January 26, 2027 release. The book explores the history of online dating, from Victorian personal ads to modern dating apps, drawing on interviews with daters around the world. Kozlowska discussed the book with Mark Brooks during an LTR interview in 2025.
REUTERS – Norway’s data protection authority has fined Microsoft-owned advertising platform Xandr 92M crowns ($9.61M) for unlawfully sharing Grindr users’ sensitive data with thousands of advertisers. The data, which could reveal users’ sexual orientation, was shared through automated advertising auctions between July 2018 and April 2020. Xandr said it assumed Grindr had obtained consent but did not verify this. The regulator ruled that Xandr shared legal responsibility with Grindr, which was fined 65M crowns over the same breaches in 2021.
PRESS RELEASE – LGBTQ+ dating app Bindr announced it has passed 500K members and 600K downloads. The company said it adds ~20K members each month, with 80% based in the US and Canada. Co-founders Mary Richardson and Brandon Teller have now started investing in early-stage companies. They are focusing on LGBTQ+ founders, women-led businesses and startups in York and across Pennsylvania. They will also support the accelerator programmes that helped them build Bindr and their AI marketing platform, ColdStart.
DEXERTO – Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri ruled out plans for a dating feature while answering a follower’s question on his Instagram Story. He said a formal dating service would require substantial extra work and argued that people already use Instagram to find romantic connections through story replies, shared Reels, and direct messages.