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

During Coronavirus Lockdown, Tinder Surpasses Bumble, OkCupid and Hinge Downloads

FOX BUSINESS - Mar 25 - While many businesses have suffered dramatically under the coronavirus, its been a great week for Tinder, which saw an increase in first-time installations of the app in the U.S., according to Sensor Tower. First-time installs of Tinder were up 13% last week in the U.S. compared to the week of March 2, but were down 5% worldwide for the same comparison period. Bumble's downloads fell 10% in the U.S. and 11% worldwide, Hinge downloads fell 7% in the U.S. and 12% worldwide, and OkCupid fell 16% in U.S. and down 20% worldwide.

by Lucas Manfredi
See full article at Fox Business

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Match Sets up Advice Hotline for Dating in Age of Social Distancing

THE MOTLEY FOOL - Mar 25 - Match Group is launching The Dating While Distancing Hotline, a free service where daters can chat live with an expert for free about concerns they have regarding the current dating scene. Callers can get advice on how to navigate quarantines, setting up successful video dates, and more. Match's advice hotline number is 888-302-6224 and is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. CST.

by Rich Duprey
See full article at The Motley Fool

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App Annie Announces Top Publishers 2020

PR NEWSWIRE - Mar 24 - In its Top Publisher Award, App Annie recognizes the most innovative and successful publishers around the world. The Top 52 Publishers, as measured by app store revenue estimates in the last calendar year, are from 12 countries. Again this year, publishers from Asia dominate the list. The United States had the most top publishers of any country, with 17. "Dating apps have had strong growth on mobile for the past several years," said Justine Sacco, Chief Communications Officer for the Match Group (IAC). "To have Tinder as the top ranked app of all non-gaming apps globally, proves how central mobile experiences are to our customers and to our success."

See full article at PR Newswire

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The Top Dating Industry News for March 24th

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Losses in Online Dating Scams up 40% Since 2018

NEWSDAY - Mar 24 - The FTC recently released data that consumers reported $201M lost in online dating scams in 2019, up ~40% since 2018. One group that is particularly vulnerable to online dating scams is the "over 60" demographic, due to digital naivete, seniors are often lonely, more trusting and have time on their hands, an ideal set up for falling victim.

by Sheryl Nance-Nash
See full article at Newsday

Bumble Folks Are Flirty

TMZ - Mar 24 - Since the COVID-19 outbreak, Bumble's seeing a 21% increase in its voice chat and video call usage, and people are staying on the line longer than normal, as in 15 minutes on average. Bumble says messages are being exchanged at a higher clip overall in San Francisco (26% bump), NYC (23% increase) and Seattle (21% jump). Bumble and Tinder are doling out dating advice for the COVID-19 era and encouraging singles to get to know someone without meeting up in person.

See full article at TMZ

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Exclusive Dating Apps in South Korea

KOREA HERALD - Mar 23 - In order to join dating app Amanda, users need to receive an average score of three or higher out of a possible five points from 20 members of the app. GoldSpoon, which takes its name from the term used in Korea to refer to people from wealthy families, only allows rich men to join the app. They must own an imported car, having a house in the three most expensive districts in Seoul, earning ~70M won ($56K) or having a highly paying professional job. Women applicants must have a professional job or an appearance that passes the test by the members in the app. The acceptable age range is 20 to 40 for both men and women. Educational background is another factor restricting those who can join certain dating apps. SKY People and Diamatch requires applicants to the app to verify having attended or graduated prestigious universities or to be working for a major company.

by Lim Jang-won
See full article at Korea Herald

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Q&A With Bumble's Vice President of Strategy, Priti Joshi

MENAFN - Mar 23 - As India stays home to prevent the spread of COVID-19, online dating is on the rise. Bumble says that the e-dating space in India will see a gendered shift, with more women taking the lead, and an increased desire for meaningful, lasting connections.

Q: What is India's dating scene like? What makes it unique, as compared to other countries?
A: It is highly fragmented. On one side, there are many global apps focused on dating, and on the other, there are local, homegrown players focused on dating or matrimony. Bumble saw an opportunity to play in the middle - to bring to India a social network where women are empowered to make the first move.

Q: Specifically for women, online dating can get a little tricky. What do you think is women users' ask of an online dating platform?
A: We care deeply about bringing people together with a mission to end misogyny. It was important for us to prioritise safety features.

Q: What have been your key observations over the years since you launched?
A: Over this last year, Bumble India's user base has quadrupled to 2M users and one of our fastest growing user segments is Gen Z. We've also seen that women in India are empowered and excited to take control. Furthermore, we've seen that 40% of women in India use more than one mode on Bumble.

by Siddhi Jain
See full article at MenaFN

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Extra-marital App Gleeden's Subscriptions up 70% in India

DAIJIWORLD.COM - Mar 23 - Extra-marital dating app Gleeden has seen subscriptions increased by 70% in India as more people stay home. Gleeden has seen longer threads in chats (2.5 times times longer than usual), an increase in the upload of pictures in both public and especially private albums and in the number of members who are updating their profiles with a new description. Gleeden started its operations in India in 2017 and now claims to have over 8 lakh active Indian users.

See full article at DaijiWorld.com

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Coronavirus Makes Dating a Lot More Complicated

WALL STREET JOURNAL - Mar 23 - Trying to build a relationship while reducing human contact during the coronavirus pandemic is tricky. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio weighed in to give dating advice earlier this month. "If you're sick, don't go on a date. If the date is sick, don't go on the date," he said. As far as kissing at the end of a date, he called it "wise" to abstain. That was then. Now, much of the country has been ordered to stay inside their homes, and most Americans have cut off in-person contact. This leaves little room for romance. But human nature dictates: the longer people are isolated, the more they crave companionship. "People don't want to feel alone, and they've already watched everything on Netflix," said Adam Cohen-Aslatei, CEO of dating app S'More. The average number of daily users of S'More increased 28% the third week of March and the length of conversations has doubled. Say Allo saw a 350% increase in video-date sessions in the early weeks of March.

by Georgia Wells
See full article at Wall Street Journal

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Tinder Users Score Higher on a Measure of Narcissism and Psychopathy

PSYPOST - Mar 22 - New research provides evidence that Tinder users tend to have a "darker" personality compared to those who don't use the dating app. The study, published in the Journal of Individual Differences, examined the so-called "Dark Triad" personality traits of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Previous research conducted by Sevi has found that Tinder users tend to be less disgusted by sexual situations and more likely to engage in risky behaviors related to their health.

by Eric W. Dolan
See full article at PsyPost

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Tinder Offers Tinder Passport for Free

THEVERGE - Mar 20 - Starting next week, Tinder is making its Passport feature free for all users through April 30th. Passport allows people to pay to swipe abroad wherever they want. It usually costs money to access through either Tinder Gold or Tinder Plus.

by Ashley Carman
See full article at The Verge

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OKCupid: "Now Is Not the Time to Go to a Bar"

DAILYMAIL.CO.UK - Mar 20 - Several dating apps have warned users not to meet their dates in person. Most are encouraging some form of virtual dating, either by phone or video chat. Coffee Meets Bagel has even suggested several creative virtual dates Just last week, an OKCupid survey found that 88% of users were still willing to go out on dates - though the situation has been changing rapidly. OKCupid tweeted a message on March 16. "We don't know who needs to hear this, but now is NOT the time to go out with your date to a bar. FaceTime, Skype, call, text, call, message on our app....all very romantic right now," they wrote. Hinge has had a similar message about staying home for its users. "Love in the time of Coronavirus is absolutely possible, and we're here to help you through it," they wrote on Twitter and Instagram.

by Carly Stern
See full article at DailyMail.co.uk

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Tinder U's 'Still in Session' Lets College Students Swipe Everywhere

ELITE DAILY - Mar 20 - Tinder U's "Still In Session" just launched, allowing students to connect with others near or far while they're quarantining. Tinder U, a version of the dating app that's reserved solely for college students, typically allows users to find and match with others at their own schools or on nearby campuses. That means that their swiping pool is limited to people within a short distance range that's set by the app. Obviously, the coronavirus outbreak has changed a lot, with many students moving home for the remainder of the semester. That's where the new "Still in Session" feature comes in: Tinder U has officially removed its distance radius, so students can connect with other students no matter where they live.

by Rebecca Strong
See full article at Elite Daily

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