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

OKCupid Is Hit With A Suit

COOK COUNTY RECORD - Apr 21 - A man who paid premiums to access A-list dating prospects on OKCupid, only to find out most were dead ends, is suing Match Group in a $5M class action complaint, accusing the company of setting him and other users up to get stiffed. He said Match Group, charges its premiums ($10 - $20/month), to connect with "A-List" OkCupid customers who "liked" a user's profile. After coughing up the cash, the users "routinely learn that most of the users who like them have inactive accounts".

by Scott Holland
See full article at Cook County Record

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Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Forget Non-Disparagement Clause, Clients Are Free To Post Reviews On Social Media

LOS ANGELES TIMES - Apr 21 - Daniel Levine paid $5k to the dating service Master Matchmakers to help him find true love. Now, instead of a soul mate, he has a sworn enemy in the form of the company's CEO, Steven Ward. Levine also turned to Google and Yelp. He posted reviews saying that Master Matchmakers "takes advantage of people, offering a service they do not perform." Master Matchmakers had a so-called non-disparagement clauses - provisions that increasingly cropped up in consumer contracts in recent years that forbid people from saying bad things about a company, including on review sites such as Yelp. But a new federal law, the Consumer Review Fairness Act, took effect last month. According to the Federal Trade Commission, it "protects people's ability to share their honest opinions about a business's products, services, or conduct, in any forum, including social media." The law doesn't give carte blanche to post opinions that are harassing or abusive in nature, or that are "clearly false or misleading."

by David Lazarus
See full article at Los Angeles Times

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Dating Services That Connect Singles Using Cannabis

NEW YORK TIMES - Apr 21 - "Cannabis is almost an analogy for being authentic," said Ms. Peckler, the founder of Highly Devoted in LA, an online matchmaker that connects cannabis-using singles. "If this is a part of your life, then you should be honest about that, especially if you're trying to start a romantic relationship with someone." The My420Mate and High There are two of the other dating services that connect people based on their mutual affection for cannabis. Ms. Peckler thought of the idea for Highly Devoted after meeting her husband when smoking with him and his friends while attending the University of Illinois. She worked as a matchmaker in Chicago, followed by a job with a cannabis consultation firm that advised medical and recreational marijuana dispensaries in emerging markets. She formed Highly Devoted in 2015.

by Dan Hyman
See full article at New York Times

See all posts on High There!
See all posts on My420Mate

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LGBT Dating Apps Blocked In Indonesia

INSIDE INDONESIA - Apr 19 - Several dating apps, including Grindr, Blued and BoyAhoy, have been blocked in Indonesia. The Ministry of Information said these apps were being used by paedophiles to pimp teenage boys.

by Dina Listiorini & Sharyn Graham Davies
See full article at Inside Indonesia

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Top 4 Interesting Conferences For Internet Dating Innovators

OPW - Apr 21 - I'm headed out to the following conferences. Please let me know if you're headed there as well.

Matchmakers Conference - NYC - April 27-29
I'm speaking about the iDating industry, and going through their entire matchmaker training program as well, which is on 25-26. Matchmakers know the real world. The insights should be invaluable.

Grow.co's Mobile Apps Unleashed - Vegas - May 3-4
I went to this last year and was impressed. Lots of iDating mobile vendors present. Plus, Tinder is speaking. Albeit, just 20 mins Q&A with Jeff Morris, Revenue Director. See agenda.

Behave - NYC - May 7-9
This is actually a spin-off of the amazing website WhichTestWon.com. Run by Bouncex. So it's just the right flavor of behavioral economics for us. Most behavioral economists seem to be focused on government or finance. This conference is focused on business, and digital. Awesome. Really looking forward to this one. Tinder's sociologist, Jessica Carbino, is speaking at it. Also 'Pre-suasion' author Robert Cialdini. Awesome!

Mobile Dating Conference - L.A. - June 1-2
The essential mobile dating conference. I'll be keynoting and focusing on mobile dating industry advances. Set in a wonderfully zen-relaxing hotel. A place to discuss the industry with other executives in the industry. I'll also be premiering my documentary on the Indian dating market on June 1st at this show.

Post by Mark Brooks @ Courtland Brooks.

Match.com Launches First Chatbot 'Dating Coach' On Facebook Messenger

MIRROR.CO.UK - Apr 19 - Known as Lara, the chatbot launched by Match.com, uses contextual understanding and speech recognition and works through the Facebook Messenger app. Throughout a casual conversation, Lara will ask for some personal details, including age, location and sexual preference before inviting users to set up a Match account. Once users are set up, Lara will continue to talk to them in order to help them find other singletons with similar interests to their own. Lara was first launched in France in 2016, and it is now ready to be rolled out to UK users.

by Jeff Parsons
See full article at Mirror.co.uk

See all posts on Match.com

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

MeetMindful Raises $1.8 Million

DENVER BUSINESS JOURNAL - Apr 19 - A Denver online dating firm MeetMindful, which tries to match people based on likes such as spirituality, volunteering, green living and meditation, raised $1.8M in funding. The funding came from: Bridge Builders Collaborative; Paul Tarell, CFO of Gaia; Reid Tracy, CEO of Hay House; Tara Brach, "mindfulness teacher;" Nelstone Ventures; and Techstars.

by Ben Miller
See full article at Denver Business Journal

Mark Brooks: We interviewed MeetMindful CEO Amy Baglan last week.

See all posts on MeetMindful

This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Clikd Is A New Picture-based Dating App

CHRONICLE LIVE - Apr 19 - New dating app clikd matches users by asking them questions which they answer by picking pictures. All the questions come in the form of two pictures and users have to choose between the two. The app comes with its own database of questions, but if users can create their own questions and take their own pictures. The app is free but users can also unlock premium features such as more daily recommendation though a subscription, which costs £4.99 a month.

by Jonathon Manning
See full article at Chronicle Live

Mark Brooks: I met the CEO of Clikd in London recently and was very impressed with this app. The pictures spur discussion in a fun and effortless way.  

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Looks Don't Matter That Much, According To Tinder's Users Survey

PR NEWSWIRE - Apr 19 - Tinder has announced results from "Modern Dating Myths," a first of its kind survey that unveils millennial dating habits. Key findings:

• People who date online are likely to have more committed relationships than those who do not date online. Only 9% of Tinder users report that they find it challenging to maintain a committed relationship.
• For Tinder users, age and education are the top two most important factors, with appearance ranking third when considering a potential date.
• ~70% of Tinder users always use condoms when having sex for the first time with a new partner; this compares to the 58% of their offline dating counterparts who report the same.

See full article at PR Newswire

See all posts on Tinder

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Wingman Dating App Lets Users Play Matchmaker For Their Friends

MASHABLE - Apr 20 - Wingman is more like a matchmaking app. Singles can't create their own profiles or connect themselves with people. Their fate rests almost entirely in the the hands of their friends - wingmen or wingwomen. The app is the brainchild of Tina Wilson. She found herself single after a breakup and had a squad of friends who were eager to drag her into the world of online dating. They started searching sites for her. It was then that she realized there really was no easy way for friends to help each other out. And that's how Wingman came to be. She's been beta testing it in the UK and Australia for several years, and now she's ready to make it official in the U.S.

by Cassie Murdoch
See full article at Mashable

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Q&A With The CEO Of Dating App Badoo

BUSINESS INSIDER - Apr 18 - Andrey Andreev hasn't done any interview since 2013. He is the CEO of Badoo. Russian-born Andreev prefers to maintain a low-profile, despite his app's popularity. Badoo was the most downloaded dating app in 21 countries in 2016, ahead of Tinder which was the most downloaded in 18 countries. Badoo has been completely redesigned. Andreev admitted that it was long overdue. Badoo was launched in 2006, and it raised $30M from Russian VC firm FINAM Technology Fund in 2008. The fund bought 10% of Badoo, which valued the business at $300M, before buying another 10% in 2009 at a higher valuation. Badoo does deals with other dating apps but it isn't looking for acquisitions. Smaller apps (Blendr, Huggle, Chappy) use Badoo's technology in exchange for a 50% revenue share deal. The most high-profile partnership that Badoo has is with Bumble. The partnership between Badoo and Bumble isn't a 50/50 revenue share deal, Andreev said. Read the full Business Insider interview.

by James Cook
See full article at Business Insider

See all posts on Badoo

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Premium International Dating Conference To Take Place In July 21-22, 2017 In Minsk

WEBWIRE - Apr 18 - The iDate Premium International Dating and Dating Agency Conference will take place in July 20-21, 2017 at the Comfort Hotel in Minsk. You can register here.

See full article at Webwire

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

$314 Million In Sales Expected For Match Group In Q1

THE CERBAT GEM - Apr 16 - Wall Street analysts expect that Match Group will post sales of $314M for Q1. Match Group posted sales of $285M in the same quarter last year, which suggests a positive YOY growth rate of 10%. Match Group is expected to announce its next earnings results on May 2nd.

by Scott Moore
See full article at The Cerbat Gem

See all posts on Match Group

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Man Sues Grindr After 1K Men Turned Up At His House Looking For Sex

DAILYMAIL.CO.UK - Apr 15 - A Grindr user is suing the gay dating app after a former partner created a fake profile and invited people to his apartment who he claims tried to rape and kill him. He also stated that he has previously logged 50 complaints to Grindr about the fake accounts and filed 14 police reports, but nothing came of them.

See full article at DailyMail.co.uk

See all posts on Grindr

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Dating App Happn To Introduce Subscriptions

BUSINESS INSIDER - Apr 14 - Happn plans to introduce subscriptions as part of a drive to become profitable this year. Subscribers to Happn wouldn't see any ads, which is how the app is now funded. The app launched 3 years ago and attracted 25M users. The goal is to become profitable in 2017 with 40M users, which means international expansion. The company was also testing artificial intelligence to rank profiles to offer better matches for its users. AI ranking would be introduced within a few months.

by Shona Ghosh
See full article at Business Insider

See all posts on Happn

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team