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

Meetsy Helps to Create More Face to Face Interactions

GLOBE NEWSWIRE - Sep 23 - Sophomores at USC and UC Berkeley, Daniel Hanasab and Sean Toobi, have developed an app called Meetsy that is changing the way we initiate face-to-face conversations. In just a couple of months, Daniel and Sean have taken the start-up world by storm with tons of venture capital attention, Meetsy is now an incubated company through the University of Southern California's affiliated Troy Labs, with many venture-backed start-up founders as mentors. According to its founders, Meetsy is the first "head-up" social network platform where quality in-person conversation is king, not screen-time. The app notifies users in real-time of people with commonalities in the same room, allowing them to skip the swipes and make meaningful relationships. Users can choose to get notified when someone in the room shares certain qualities. Then, users "Wave" at potential friends that share similarities and proceed to jump right into face-to-face conversation.

See full article at Globe Newswire

This post also appears on VerySocialNetwork

Hinge Is on Track to Triple Its Revenue This Year

MARKETWATCH - Sep 22 - Since Match made its first investment in Hinge back in 2017, the dating app has seen its user base grow 20 times, according to Match. Hinge was launched in 2012 as an app seeking to move beyond the "hookup culture". When Match initially got involved with Hinge, the app had a fairly limited set of revenue-generating features. Now Match is "finally focusing on monetization," according to Amarnath Thombre, CEO of the company's Americas business, who oversees its non-Tinder properties. The recent push has Hinge on track to triple its revenue this year.

by Emily Bary
See full article at MarketWatch

See the top news on Hinge

Tinder Introduces Passions

HINDUSTAN TIMES - Sep 23 - Passions feature can be added to users profiles. They are allowed to pick a maximum of five Passions and a minimum of three Passions, such as working out, travel, Netflix etc. When they match with a person on Tinder, they will be able to see which Passions are in common.

See full article at Hindustan Times

See the top news on Tinder

The Meet Group Launches Face Verification

BUSINESSWIRE - Sep 21 - The Meet Group rolls out AI-powered face verification using FaceTec's 3D selfie technology, a human liveness check. Verification badges roll out to MeetMe member profiles this week, then Skout and Tagged within months. FaceTec's AI software confirms the user is physically present in front of the camera. As badge adoption increases, it will become a prerequisite for certain activities like sending photos in chat. Additionally, FaceTec's AI provides a 3D age estimation.

"At the beginning of this year, I set forth our commitment to safer dating in 2020, addressing key issues affecting dating apps everywhere: Authenticity, Age Estimation, Device Blocking, and Textual Screening," said Geoff Cook, CEO of The Meet Group. "With the launch of the Profile Verification Badge on MeetMe, we are...helping to ensure authenticity and end catfishing."

Other initiatives include using URSafe so members can stay connected in an emergency, collaborating with Microsoft on Project Artemis which uses common textual patterns and an age detection engine to prevent child exploitation, the introduction of a Safer Dating Advisory Board of epidemiologists and infectious disease experts to provide advice aimed at reducing the risk of contagion while dating, and implementing DeviceCheck to block bad actors' devices. See TMG's safety overview.

See full article at Businesswire

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

This post also appears on VerySocialNetwork

What Are Your Productivity Hacks?

OPW - Sep 21 - We are in slightly crazy times and most of you have had to quickly disburse your offices to the work-at-home wind. How's that gone for you? What have you learned? What, may I ask, are the tips, tools, and techniques that have most improved your productivity? How have you helped keep your team on point, motivated to the cause, and communicating effectively? Please send an email to mark@courtlandbrooks.com with your thoughts.

I'll review and include the top ideas from the dating and online social community industries in our next IDEA Webinar, which will be on Friday 2nd October at 11am EST. You can sign up early here. Free, but limited to 100 places.

IDEA Webinar kindly sponsored by RealMe and vPaaS by The Meet Group.

Class Action Alleging Grindr Sold User Data

THE BAY AREA REPORTER - Sep 18 - A class action complaint against Grindr for privacy violations may not be able to proceed in traditional court but may go through arbitration. User Robert Bergeron sued Grindr after allegations it shared personal user data with third parties to the highest bidder without obtaining consent of users or telling them who those entities are, the initial federal court complaint states. Data included 'chat message text, chat images, e-mail address, display name, About Me, HIV status, linked Facebook & Twitter data, and more. They're claiming $5m+, which if the case went forward as a class action lawsuit would be spread among the members of the class. A 98% stake in Grindr sold a 98% stake in March to U.S.-based San Vicente Acquisition Partners.

by John Ferrannini
See full article at The Bay Area Reporter

See the top news on Grindr

Podcast Interview: Whitney Wolfe Herd of Bumble

NPR - Sep 19 - Last year Bumble launched video chat. It was initially slow to take off. That changed after the pandemic. Whitney Wolfe Herd says many Bumble users are getting to know each other on video before meeting in person - a trend that could change dating for the better. Hear podcast for more...

by Guy Raz
See full article at NPR

See the top news on Bumble

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OPW - Sep 20 - We're dedicated to providing executive summaries on the news you can use, to get smarter, and make better decisions.

Hinge Reports Decline in Ghosting During the Pandemic

HYPEBAE - Sep 17 - Dating app Hinge reports a 27% decrease in ghosting amongst users over the course of August 2020 as compared to August 2019. Hinge users also report going on 17% more dates last month as compared to the year before. Read the full Ghosting report.

by Alexandra Pauly
See full article at Hypebae

See the top news on Hinge

IDEA Webinar - Dating Trends - 6 Key Findings

OPW - Sep 19 - Here's the video from the last IDEA webinar. See it, or read it here.

Things are changing quickly in the dating space. I encouraged RealMe to run this survey and analysis to help us get our heads around how things are changing for the dating industry, in 6 aspects. FTI Consulting ran a 3,300 person strong survey and performed the analysis.

In this webinar you'll get the answers to the following six questions.

• What is motivating online daters now?
• What new dating behaviors are emerging now?
• What is the new norm?
• What is contributing to the disparities in dating behavior?
• What gaps are influencing changes to dating behavior?
• Where's the opportunity?

PRESENTERS
Dan Healy - MD, FTI Consulting
Neil Davis - CBO, RealMe
Courtney Kovacevich - VP, RealMe

HOST
Mark Brooks - President, IDEA.gp & CEO, Courtland Brooks

See the full transcript

How Long Does It Take to Decide if You Fancy a Match

EHARMONY - Sep 17 - A new experimental study by cognitive psychologists gives new insights into how we make key decisions on dating apps.

by Rachael Lloyd
See full article at Love Decoded

See the top news on eharmony

OkCupid to Launch 'VILF' Campaign to Encourage Voting

FOX NEWS - Sep 17 - OkCupid is encouraging its users to vote, and it's doing so with a provocative saying. The app is launching a VILF badge, which is a play on popular suggestive terms like MILF or DILF. However, in this case, OkCupid users can tack VILF badges onto their profiles to let all their potential dates know that they are voters and have a risqué sense of humor.

by Courtney Moore
See full article at Fox News

See the top news on OkCupid

Blued Introduces "Community" Feature

GLOBE NEWSWIRE - Sep 16 - Blued now enables users to join groups covering diverse topics and express themselves, similar to Facebook Groups. As of Jun 30, 2020, Blued had 6.4m monthly active users worldwide, up 11.2% YOY. ~Half are outside China. Each active user spends 60 mins and 16 sessions on Blued every day.

See full article at Globe Newswire

See the top news on Blued

The Meet Group: World's Largest Virtual Speed Dating Event

BUSINESSWIRE - Sep 16 - The Meet Group will host the world's largest virtual speed dating event, partnering with Plenty of Fish to each donate $10,000 for a total of $20,000 to Feeding America on Sun 20th Sep. Available to MeetMe, Skout and POF members. "The pandemic has forever changed the nature of dating, tilting it toward video," said Geoff Cook, CEO of The Meet Group. "With 1.2m broadcasters and 8.9m viewers per month, our livestreaming solutions are changing the nature of dating apps, adding an element of social entertainment while providing meaningful connection and an antidote to loneliness. We are thrilled to partner with Plenty of Fish to host the world's largest speed dating event."

In a recent survey of MeetMe daters, 76% of respondents said they feel they are better able to connect with people over video. The average participating member on The Meet Group's livestreaming platform spends 30 mins a day streaming or watching and 7.6m matches were made on NextDate since March. "As one of the first dating apps to bring livestreaming to our members, we've continued to see enthusiasm for distance dating," said POF CEO Malgosia Green.

See full article at Businesswire

5.5m+ Plenty of Fish members have used the livestreaming feature since launch and 250k+ POF members use the feature daily. 50% of livestreaming users are Gen-Z and millennials.

See full article at PR Newswire

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

HubPeople Using Netcore for AI Email Delivery

PR NEWSWIRE - Sep 16 - UK-based HubPeople, a dating technology platform, partnered with Netcore for lightning-fast email delivery and address delays in email delivery and spam concerns that arose with higher email volumes. HubPeople chose Netcore Pepipost. Netcore delivers billions of emails every month for the world's leading brands such as Standard Chartered, Flipkart, and Disney Hotstar.

See full article at PR Newswire

See the top news on HubPeople