TECH CRUNCH - Oct 23 - Vibes, founded by an all-female team, aims to be different than other dating apps. The swipe mechanics are still there, but that's about the only similarity you'll find between Vibes and the likes of Tinder, Hinge, Bumble and others. Text messaging is not part of the experience. When users sign up, they first must agree to the app's code of conduct. Vibes' code of conduct centers around respecting others. Then they chose whether they're down to vibe with people whose preferred pronouns are him, her or them. Next, they select photos and a conversation starter. If they match with someone, they'll record a short, pixelated video answering their question. For every first message they receive, Vibes requires them to actively acknowledge if the message was or was not okay with them. Vibes soft-launched back in July and currently has a few hundred people using the app. Vibes, which has $1.5M in funding, is free to use but envisions developing a freemium model down the road.
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Dating App Vibes Aims To Create A Safe, Authentic Space For People To Meet
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Cove, A Dating App For Those Looking To Disassociate From Hookup Culture
PR NEWSWIRE - Oct 23 - Cove, a new dating app launching this October, focuses on motivating and advancing deeper conversation to uncover chemistry. The word Cove is derived from the "co" of "conversation," and the "ve" from "love" (COnversation + loVE = COVE). Cove requires interested users to apply for membership, rather than allowing just anyone to join. Some people are verified via LinkedIn, while the more creative professionals, who might not have a LinkedIn account, will be verified via Instagram. Once verified, male users can invite women to #MeetInTheCove. Men have a limited amount of invites they can send out. If a woman accepts an invite, text messages can be sent and received through the app. Once 7 texts have been exchanged, both sides must agree within 48h to move the conversation to voice messages (Level 2). Level 2 allows for 3 voice messages to be exchanged, while temporarily removing texting. After three voice messages are exchanged, it's time for video messages (Level 3). Level 3 is complete after one video message is exchanged. If these three levels of communication are not completed within 10 days, the match disappears forever.
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More Companies Are Enlisting "Real People" To Market Their Products
VOX - Oct 23 - Bumble rolled out a new campaign last week featuring billboards in Times Square, posters in subway stations across the city, and ads in the New York Post. The campaign, which is called #FindThemOnBumble and reportedly cost several million dollars to execute, features 112 people whom the company has deemed its "most inspiring users" in New York. Bumble is by no means the first company to use "real people" to advertise its product. Dove's "real beauty" commercials, which have been around for more than a decade now, "always feature real women, never models," according to the company. The people featured in Bumble campaign may be real people - real Bumble users - but they aren't exactly ordinary. They are models, actors and personal trainers, a professional ballerina, and the founders of several companies, including SoulCycle, Sweetgreen, By Chloe, and Refinery29.
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The Founder Of FCancer And Motherlucker Joins Bumble As A Senior Advisor
FORBES - Oct 23 - When Yael Cohen Braun's mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, she made a shirt for her mom that said "Fuck Cancer." The mantra turned into a movement when Cohen Braun started Fuck Cancer, her nonprofit dedicated to early detection, prevention and garnering support for people affected by cancer, in 2009. She also launched her judgment-free digital media property Motherlucker. Dating app Bumble today announced that Cohen Braun has joined the team as a senior advisor and that they have acquired the assets of Motherlucker. Cohen Braun will work directly with the senior executive team on the growth of Bumble Date, Bumble BFF and Bumble Bizz as well as focusing on brand partnerships, business growth and scale and other general advisory services, according to Bumble.
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Cheats Spark More Interest On Tinder
SUNDAY TIMES - Oct 21 - 25% of the dating app's users are in long-term relationships, say researchers. "A lot of people use Tinder while in a committed relationship," said Elisabeth Timmermans, a social scientist based at Erasmus University in the Netherlands, whose study of online dating included users in Europe and the US. Timmermans and her colleagues studied the dating habits and lifestyle of 1,482 Tinder users and asked them to take personality tests to see if genuine singles were any different from cheats. Individuals scoring high on psychopathy were more likely to use Tinder "in order to create a target-rich mating environment", says the study, published last week in the journal Computers in Human Behaviour. Also, attached men on Tinder are often just seeking approval. Only 50% of them reported having sex with a Tinder partner. All women who were using dating apps while in a committed relationship reported engaging in sexual intercourse [outside the relationship]," reported Timmermans and her colleagues.
Q&A With Mark Brooks
Sunday Times: Is the industry aware and concerned of the very high proportion of non-singles using the dating apps?
Mark Brooks: Yes, absolutely. They tend to lurk and 'test the waters.' I think when Ashley Madison started to come on the scene they sucked up many of the marrieds, and gave them a better home.
ST: Do you warn users about this?
MB: Some dating apps require Facebook login, and when they see status is married, they don't allow them in. Hinge used to do this for example. But most dating apps make no attempt to sift out marrieds. It comes with the territory to some extent, but it would be great if dating services did more to protect the interests of those who do not want to meet marrieds.
ST: The research suggests that the non-singles using Tinder are nastier people and should be treated with caution. Is this fair?
MB: Nastier is a strong but apt word. I think marrieds who are on Tinder are renegade. They're going to naturally have character traits that lead them to sign up and mislead singles. But many of the marrieds are mostly there to prop up their egos to see if they've still got game.
ST: The research also warns that such apps are designed to be addictive. Do you accept this?
MB: OMG! Absolutely. Tinder was definitely designed to be highly addictive and game-like. It was spawned on campus and the creators tried to steer clear of dating nomenclature. It was and still is a game.
ST: What are the benefits of using apps like Tinder for a) singles b) non-singles?
MB: It's a great starting point. But I think singles tend to need for more, and that's the brilliance of Match acquiring them. People will tend to want more, and upgrade to other dating apps, like Match.
ST: Is there any evidence that single people meeting via apps like Tinder are likely to have better quality relationships because they have effectively already been matched?
MB: There should be, but I see little compelling research. Dating apps seek to improve on the real world, and I think they do. But they do not meet their potential. We're leaving a lot of value on the table IMHO.
ST: Have you any stats on the numbers of longer-term relationships resulting from meeting on Tinder?
MB: I wish. That would be golden. I know of no longitudinal studies on the subject alas. eHarmony made some attempts in the past, but I've not seen anything emerge from Tinder yet.
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Dating Now Dominates The UK's Top Grossing Lifestyle Apps
ELITEBUSINESS MAGAZINE - Oct 21 - "Online dating used to be an absolute mystery, even at times a socially ostracised behaviour," says Robyn Exton, founder and CEO of HER, the app for lesbian, bisexual and queer people. "According to Statistic Brain, one fifth of all current committed relationships began online," Exton says, while calling it "normative." A 2017 study from TSB, the bank, found dating pumped £14.5B into the UK economy and dating apps accounted for ~£11.7B of the sum. As of Oct '18, dating dominates the UK's top grossing lifestyle apps on the App Store, accounting for half of the top ten, according to App Annie. Tinder, Bumble and happn also account for the top three grossing lifestyle apps on Google Play. According to Didier Rappaport, CEO and co-founder of happn, the location-based dating app that crossed the 50M user milestone in June 2018. Despite the various players entering the market, the pay-off is growing alongside it. App Annie revealed on Valentine's Day 2018 that the global consumer spend on dating apps on the App Store and Google Play had risen by 95% YOY between 2016 and 2017.
by Zen Terrelonge
See full article at EliteBusiness Magazine
See all posts on Her See all posts on Happn
See all posts on Bumble See all posts on Tinder
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Shanghai Matchmaking Event Should Not Have Age Restrictions
GLOBAL TIMES - Oct 21 - Shanghai's annual matchmaking event, commonly known as "the 10,000-person matchmaking fair" will be held at Yuehu Sculpture Park in Songjiang district next month. The age limit of participants will be lowered from 45 to 40 years old. According to big data from previous Shanghai love and marriage fairs, ~300K single men and women have participated in the matchmaking event since it was first launched in 2003. However, only ~16K couples actually went on dates after they met at the event and ~5K of those couples got married. Since only 1.6% of all previous participants were aged between 40 and 45, the success rate of participants in this age group is very low. But governments and related institutions should provide more channels for older (and younger) people to meet potential spouses regardless of age. Back off and let them decide which age is acceptable.
by Du Qiongfang
See full article at Global Times
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This Philly Dating Service Charged An 85-year-old Widow $4,750 And Gave Her One Option
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER - Oct 19 - Mary Kane, an 85-year-old widow, said she felt lonely last month when she contacted Philadelphia Singles, a matchmaking service, seeking a companion after her husband died in May. She said she was pressured into signing the contract. "They said: 'If you walk out of here, that's it. You can't have second thoughts and come back and sign up,'" said Kane, who believed the firm did not come close to living up to its offer. Kane isn't the first to accuse Philadelphia Singles and its affiliates of bad business practices. "Generally speaking, women over 60 are demographically, statistically at odds with both matchmaking and dating," said Mark Brooks, CEO of the Internet Dating Excellence Association. "At this kind of price point and for her demographic, it's an impossible job. They have no business taking her on."
by Christian Hetrick
See full article at The Philadelphia Inquirer
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Grindr And MOSAIC Release Middle East And North Africa GBTQ Survey Report
GLOBENEWSWIRE - Oct 19 - Grindr in partnership with the MENA Organization for Services, Advocacy, Integration & Capacity (MOSAIC), released the results of a new survey report "The Regional Livelihood of GBTQ Using Grindr," which captures the experiences of gay, bi, trans and queer (GBTQ) Grindr users living in the Middle East and North Africa. 71% reported that their parents and/or relatives do not know at all about their sexual orientation. 13% of respondents said their parents and/or relatives know about their SOGI; however, only 6% said their family is supportive. 64% of respondents said they either did not know or are unsure of what their legal rights are within their own local community. View the full report.
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Mobile Operator Three's New Push Is Using Snapchat, Instagram And Tinder
DIGIDAY - Oct 19 - Three, the U.K.'s smallest mobile network, will run platform-specific promotions on Snapchat and Tinder over the next three months. Tinder will feature profiles for Henry VIII and his six wives, who all appear in its latest ad.
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Match Hires 72andSunny Creative Agency
ADWEEK - Oct 19 - 72andSunny said its first work for Match is slated for an early 2019 release. Match spent ~$52M on measured media in the U.S. last year and $42.5M just in the first half of 2018, according to Kantar Media.
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UAE Continues To Block Dating Sites, But Allows Tinder!
MARK BROOKS - Oct 18 - It's no secret that the UAE blocks dating sites. I'm in Dubai for a few days and I thought I'd check the top ten dating sites in USA according to Experian for September 2018. Here's the results.
1 POF - blocked
2 Match.com - blocked
3 Zoosk - blocked
4 OkCupid - blocked
5 Adam4Adam - blocked
6 OurTime - blocked
7 SPDate.com - blocked
8 Badoo - blocked
9 Tinder - wow, Tinder is available and not blocked!
10 AshleyMadison - blocked
I also checked Matrimony and Shaadi and they're both open and available. UAE doesn't allow Internet dating but it does allow select matrimonial services. So how does Tinder make the cut? Does anyone have any insight on this?
See full article at the Courtland Brooks blog, which includes an additional 9 rankings from Experian.
Post by Mark Brooks, CEO IDEA
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Pickable Dating App Lets Women Browse Anonymously
GOTHAMIST - Oct 18 - For women, Pickable requires no photo, no name, no age and no profile - they don't even need to sign up. Men upload a picture, set themselves as "Pickable" for a certain timeframe, receive real-time updates of the women currently browsing their photos, and chat requests from women in proximity who want to meet them. No swiping involved.
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Wolfe Herd Made It To Marie Claire's New Guard List
MARIE CLAIRE - Oct 18 - For 6th annual New Guard list, Marie Claire magazine is highlighting the 50 women who really owned 2018. They're disrupting billion-dollar industries (like Bumble's Whitney Wolfe Herd and Glossier's Emily Weiss), founding billion-dollar companies (including Adi Tatarko of Houzz and Anne Wojcicki of 23andMe), taking them public (see: Eventbrite's Julia Hartz and Stitch Fix's Katrina Lake), and of course, running them (congrats Susan Wojcicki of YouTube and Sukhinder Singh Cassidy of StubHub).
by Megan DiTrolio & Sara Holzman & Colleen Leahey McKeegan
See full article at Marie Claire
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New Scammer Research By Barclays
THE FINANCIAL - Oct 18 - According to new research from Barclays, one in three romance scams (37%) results in losses of ~£5K. Almost two-thirds of cases (57%) result in losses of ~£2K. 'Baby-boomers' now represent 55% of all reported instances of romance scams. Almost half of daters (43%) admit they would trust someone after speaking through a dating site for just two weeks. Men are likely to trust a potential partner much sooner, 53% saying that they would trust someone up to two weeks after they start talking, compared to a third of women (33%).
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