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

Q&A With Founder of Video Dating App Loko

THE DAILY FRONT ROW - Aug 30 - Vivek Jain is the founder and CEO of Loko, a video dating app.

Q: What differentiates Loko from other dating apps?
A: We only allow video profiles, and the only method to communicate is through a video chat - or what we call an "Elimidate." The idea is to have a short video date before meeting in person to get the awkward first date out of the way.

Q: Does the video format really cut to the chase of finding out who someone is?
A: I think nothing does so more than meeting in person. But video is as close to meeting in person as it gets.

Q: Has Loko had any success stories yet?
A: We're too young still. We will soon be announcing a campaign in which we will be paying for the honeymoon of the first couple that meets on Loko and ends up getting married.

Q: Where does the name Loko come from?
A: It's Hawaiian, and it means "character" and "disposition." We're about personality more than anything else, so it really fits. It's also an anagram for "look."

See full article at The Daily Front Row

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Dating Apps Are Making Marriages Stronger

WALL STREET JOURNAL - Aug 29 - Researchers from the University of Chicago found that more than a third of U.S. marriages between 2005 and 2012 started online - and that online couples have longer, happier marriages. They also found that more anonymous online communications produced greater self-disclosure. "Humans started down a path to becoming isolated the moment the first person put on the headphones of their Sony Walkman," says Eric Resnick, a professional dating profile ghostwriter in Orlando, Fla., who met his wife online. "We hide in our phones. Online dating sites and apps make it possible to reach out in a way that doesn't make most people uncomfortable." It also helps them open up. "Most online daters have a tendency to discuss the reasons their last relationships have failed without even realizing it," says Mr. Resnick. A 2017 study by researchers at the University of Essex in the U.K. and the University of Vienna in Austria, published in the social-science journal SSRN, found that marriages created online were less likely to break up within the first year than marriages that started offline. The researchers suggested that people who meet online are more likely to be compatible precisely because they're matching with partners they might have otherwise overlooked.

by Peggy Drexler
See full article at Wall Street Journal

Spark Networks SE Reports First Half 2019 Results

PR NEWSWIRE - Aug 29 - Spark Networks, parent company of EliteSingles, eDarling, Jdate, Christian Mingle, JSwipe, SilverSingles, Attractive World, and Zoosk, reported its first half 2019 financial results. H1 2019 revenue was €49.2M, down 7.1% YOY. The YOY decrease was attributable to the 9% decrease in the number of Average Paying Subscribers. Net loss was €4.9M, an increase of €3.8M compared to €1.1M in the H1 2018. The YOY increase in net loss was primarily attributable to higher professional fees related to the merger with Zoosk that closed in the H2 2018, and an increase in income tax expense in the H1 2019.

See full article at Spark Networks website

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Venntro Media Group Celebrates 16 Years in Business

PRESS RELEASE - Aug 30 - Venntro Media Group, the operator of SaaS platform WhiteLabelDating.com, celebrate their 16th year in business this week. Venntro is part of the Tech City UK Future Fifty programme, is a City A.M. Leap 100 company and has been recognised as delivering significant economic impact to the UK by London Stock Exchange Group, named in its '1000 Companies to Inspire Britain' report for two consecutive years.

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Gay Dating App Blued Plans U.S. IPO at $1 Billion Value

BLOOMBERG - Aug 30 - Blued, China's largest gay-dating app, is planning a U.S. IPO that could raise ~$200M. The share sale will likely take place next year and could value Blued at ~1 billion. Founded in 2012 by former policeman Geng Le, Blued has become an icon for the Chinese LGBT community and attracted ~$130M in venture capital as of March. The dating app also offers live streaming and connects men who want to become parents with overseas surrogates.

by Crystal Tse, Lulu Yilun & Manuel Baigorri
See full article at Bloomberg

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Tinder Seeks Arbitration for Ex-Exec's Sexual Assault Claims

LAW360 - Aug 30 - Rosette Pambakian, a former Tinder marketing executive claiming the dating app and its parent company unlawfully fired her after conducting an investigation into her alleged sexual assault by Tinder's former CEO Gregory Blatt, must pursue her claims in arbitration. Rosette Pambakian, who was Tinder's head of marketing and communications, signed an agreement that requires her to resolve all employment-related issues outside of court, the dating app, parent company Match Group and Gregory Blatt told the judge Wednesday in a motion to compel arbitration.

See full article at Law360

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Concern Over Dating Apps After Increase in Rapes in Scotland

BBC - Aug 30 - Police Scotland figures revealed ~160 people in a year reported being raped on a first or second date. Most had been talking with the perpetrator on dating apps or social media before they first met. The figure from 2018-19 equates to almost 11% of all rapes committed by someone other than a partner or ex-partner. Police have launched an awareness campaign - #Get Consent - to warn sex without consent is rape. The campaign costing £30K will feature posters in phone boxes and club washrooms and will run on social media platforms.

by Reevel Alderson
See full article at BBC

Challengr: Dating App Where Users Create and Respond to Challenges

DIGITAL JOURNAL - Aug 29 - Challengr is a new dating app that, created by Garrett Fritz (an MIT Aerospace Engineer). The app lets users create and respond to challenges within the app. They can pick a challenge they like and respond using a photo or video. Some examples are as simple as 'what was the last podcast you listened to' and can be intense like 'show me a video of you doing 20 pull-ups'.

See full article at Digital Journal

Q&A With Bumble CEO About Making Sending Unsolicited Nude Photos Illegal

REFINERY29 - Aug 29 - On Sep 1, House Bill 2789, which criminalizes the sending of unsolicited sexual photos via text, DM, AirDrop, email, social media, and dating apps in the state of Texas (where dating app Bumble is based), will become law, in large part due Bumble CEO's efforts.

Q: As the founder and CEO of Bumble, why was it important for you to get involved in the passing of this bill?
Whitney Wolfe Herd: When unwanted sexual photos are sent through Bumble, we ban those users right away, but that's not enough. I hated that there was no real accountability outside of our app. So about a year ago, my team and I started working with lobbyists and passionate state representatives. We wanted to make unsolicited lewd photos illegal.

Q: What responsibility do dating apps and users have to protect against digital sexual harassment?
A: We're calling our peers - social networks, messaging apps, and Internet companies of all kinds - to raise their standards. You can still drive massive profit and be a good business model while pushing the needle on safety and privacy for users. And if you're on the receiving end of an unsolicited lewd photo on any platform: report it.

Q: With the new law, what remains to be done?
A: Bumble will continue to fight for new laws that not only protect our users, but the digital space as a whole. We're committed to creating a kinder, safer internet.

by Anabel Pasarow
See full article at Refinery29

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Match.com Offers Dating Coaches to Its Subscribers

FAST COMPANY - Aug 26 - Introduced in New York City in May, the AskMatch dating coaching service is now available in 18 states and Washington, D.C., with plans to expand to all U.S. subscribers by January 2020. The coaching - typically over the phone - is included in Match's standard subscription. "We get people who say, 'I need help flirting. I forgot how to flirt,'" says Katie Wilson, a veteran dating coach who came to Match in Dec 2018 to build its team. Wilson spent four and a half years as a manager and director at matchmaking company Three Day Rule. The L.A.-based boutique service has had a partnership with Match since 2014, aimed at users who want to get personalized matchmaking. Three Day Rule coaches will appear in tips videos for AskMatch.

by Sean Captain
See full article at Fast Company

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Top Dating News - Momo+Tantan, iOS 13 Hiccups, and Paktor's New Feature

OPW - Aug 27 - Here's the top dating news in ~2 minutes. Subscribe to Two Minute Tuesdays (TMT) on Youtube (and turn on notifications) or to the podcast on Breaker, Google podcasts, Spotify, Anchor or Stitcher. 

Momo's Q2 Financial Results

PRESS RELEASE - Aug 27 - Net revenues increased by 32% YOY to RMB4,152.6M ($605M) in the Q2'19. Net income slightly decreased to RMB731.8M ($106.6M). Monthly Active Users on Momo app were 113.5M in June 2019, compared to 108M in June 2018. Total paying users of the company's live video service and value-added service, including 3.2M paying users of Tantan, were 11.8M, up from 11.6M in Q2'18.

See full article at Momo website

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Facebook Snagged Dating-related Patent This Month

SILICON VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL - Aug 26 - Facebook has secured a patent called "Systems And Methods For Providing a Community-Based Dating Service For a Social Networking System". Facebook is going to launch its Dating feature in the U.S this year. The patent, which Facebook filed April 29, lays out ways that the service would work. Facebook users would be able to unlock dating features associated with groups and events of which they are already members, allowing them to communicate with other members.

by Allison Levitsky
See full article at Silicon Valley Business Journal

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Lumen Sheds Light on Late-life Love

POSTMEDIA NEWS - Aug 26 - Lumen, a dating app for the 50-plus crowd, is a runaway success. The app launched in the UK last fall by co-founders Antoine Argouges (ex-Bumble) and Charly Lester, and has 1.2M users worldwide. The app uses AI to ensure users are who they claim to be (promising 100% photo verification); the opening salvo has to be longer than 50 characters. "Working for Lumen has made me realize how 'old' people think 50 is, and how untrue that perception is," said Charly Lester. "When someone pictures a 50-year-old in their head, most of the time the image they are thinking of is a 70-year-old. We need to shake up these perceptions because they are wrong, and damaging."

by Liz Braun
See full article at The ChronicleHerald

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International Online Dating Scam Busted in California

CNN WIRE - Aug 26 - In March 2016, a man claiming to be a US Army captain stationed in Syria reached out to a Japanese woman on an international site for digital pen pals. Over 10 months, she sent him a total of $200K that she borrowed from friends, her ex-husband and other relatives. But he did not exist. It was all an international online scam run by two Nigerian men in the Los Angeles area with the help of associates in their home country and other nations, federal officials say. And Thursday, US prosecutors charged 80 people (mostly Nigerians) in the widespread conspiracy that defrauded at least $6M from businesses and vulnerable, elderly women. Of those, 17 people have been arrested in the US so far and federal investigators are trying to track down the rest in Nigeria and other nations.

See full article at Q13 Fox