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

Tinder Most Used Dating App Now

FORBES - Mar 29 - The 2020 SKYN Condoms Sex & Intimacy Survey was not designed to examine the current or post-COVID-19 world. Its data gathering and results just happened to take place while the global pandemic was getting its boots on and heading out from Wuhan. According to Skyn, 39% of respondents used Tinder over its rivals to find love. Generation Z folks said they were more likely than Millennials to use Tinder (48% to 36%). #2 was Match.com (33%) and #3 Bumble (19%).

by John Scott Lewinski
See full article at Forbes

See the top news on Tinder
See the top news on Bumble
See the top news on Match.com

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

How Is Coronavirus Affecting the Mobile Economy

APPANNIE - Mar 19 - The world is now turning to mobile to stay connected. AppAnnie took a look at Business, Education, Games, Social, Entertainment, Ride-Sharing, Food Delivery, Finance and Dating apps to unearth how coronavirus is impacting the way we conduct our lives each day. In China, city lockdowns began in January 2020. Consequently, in February, the daily time spent in mobile in China jumped to 5h per day, an increase of 30% compared to the average for 2019. Business and Education apps saw the biggest surge in downloads among categories of apps. We have seen a softening in active users among the top dating apps in the US in the weeks post-Valentine's Day, but it's important to note that we typically see a peak in usage surrounding Valentine's Day. Within dating apps, users can still be active by matching and messaging without actually meeting up in-person.

by Lexi Sydow
See full article at AppAnnie

93% of OKCupid's UK Users Would Still Go on a Date

THE GUARDIAN - Mar 16 - OKCupid has asked its users if coronavirus affects their dating life. OKCupid was prompted to ask the question after noticing a rise of 262% in the number of mentions of the virus in UK profiles between January and March. 93% of users said that they would carry on seeing people in real life, but the virus has apparently prompted people to spend more time looking for love: OKCupid has had a 7% increase in new conversations over the last five days, the company said. Tinder has started warning users of the risks of meeting in person, with an interstitial screen that pops up advising users to wash their hands.

by Alex Hern
See full article at The Guardian

See the top news on OKCupid

Survey: 92% of Americans Dating as Normal Despite Coronavirus

US NEWS - Mar 11 - An OkCupid survey found that 88% of people globally are continuing their dating as normal despite the spread of COVID-19. The number is even higher in the U.S., where 92% of Americans have continued to date as normal. Italians are least likely to go on dates, with just 45% of residents continuing to date as usual. Italy has been hit the hardest outside of mainland China with nearly 10,150 people diagnosed with the virus.

by Alexa Lardieri
See full article at US News

See the top news on OkCupid

40% of People Have Swiped Right on Dating App to Meet Someone's Dog

PEOPLE - Mar 6 - In a new survey of 2K Americans who have used a dating app in the past, over a third (39%) admitted to swiping right on a profile that featured someone's dog because they wanted to meet the pup "more than they wanted to meet the person." The survey was conducted by OnePoll and commissioned by pet food brand "I and love and you". Additionally, 39% of participants revealed that they even borrowed a friend's dog to use in their profile because they felt it would help them get more attention.

by Claudia Harmata
See full article at People

New Study Links Swipe-Based Dating Apps to Poor Mental Health

MIRAGE NEWS - Mar 5 - Research by Western Sydney University and the University of Sydney has found people using swipe-based dating apps experience especially higher rates of psychological distress and probable depression than non-users. Whilst 40% of current or past users felt that swipe-based dating apps had a positive impact on their self-esteem, current dating app users were two and half times more likely to report psychological distress and twice as likely to report probable depression. The online survey of 437 Australians compared the impact of dating habits on the mental health of both swipe-based dating app and non-app users.

See full article at Mirage News

What to Do if You Experience Harassment on Dating Apps

USA TODAY - Feb 27 - According to Pew Research Center, harassment is an issue when online dating. ~37% of online dating users say someone on a dating site or app continued to contact them even after he or she said they weren't interested in communicating, the study found. 35% of users say someone on a dating site or app sent them a sexually explicit message or image they did not ask for. ~30% say they have been called an offensive name and ~10% say someone threatened to physically harm them. Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) and dating/relationship coach Rachel Dack says regarding "anything that makes you uncomfortable, it's essential to speak up and set boundaries." Dr. Kelly Campbell, Professor of Psychology at California State University, San Bernardino says police can also be a resource. Sometimes harassers will lash out if you try to correct their behavior. "And I think, at that point, it's probably best to disengage," says Rachel Dack. "As much as we want to control or teach or change people, it's a myth or an illusion that we can." Dack also recommends not letting the disappointing interactions halt your online dating efforts.

by Erin Jensen
See full article at USA Today

Here's How Much Americans Spend on Dating

CNBC - Feb 19 - In 2019, Americans spent an average of $697 to go on dates, according to a 2020 survey by LendingTree, which polled 1,281 U.S. adults.

Here's the breakdown by age:

• Gen Z (ages 18 to 23): $366
• Millennials (24 to 39): $696
• Gen X (40 to 54): $903
• Baby boomers (55 to 74): $632

by Anna Hecht
See full article at CNBC

Top Grossing Dating Apps Worldwide for January 2020

SENSORTOWER - Feb 18 - The top grossing dating app worldwide for January 2020 was Tinder with $86M in user spending. 40% percent of Tinder's revenue was from the United States, followed by 7% from UK and 5% from Brazil. Bumble was #2 with $20M in gross revenue, which represented 27% YOY growth.

See full article at SensorTower

See the top news on Tinder
See the top news on Bumble

BBB: Complains About Cancellation Process on the Rise

CTV NEWS - Feb 16 - The Better Business Bureau is warning consumers of thousands of complaints about dating app cancellation processes. "We received over 1,100 complaints from consumers about online dating services," she says. "The top complaint was problems cancelling their services or cancelling their memberships after signing up," said Karla Laird with the Mainland B.C. BBB.

by Espe Currie
See full article at CTV News

Study: Half of American Singles Tried to Score a Last-minute Valentine's Date

MENAFN - Feb 11 - Hily dating app asked 3K of its single users from the U.S. if they feel pressure with Valentine's Day coming. 42% of women and 47% of men struggled to find a date before Valentine's Day just because they didn't want to be alone. Only 6% of female users and 8% of male users have actually succeeded in it. 38% of men and 36% of women feel like they need to find a date. Hily is an acronym for "Hey, I like you". Hily's CEO Alex Pasykov also founded Taimi, the first LGBTQ+ dating app and social network.

See full article at MENAFN

See the top news on Hily

Report: Dating Site & Ad Tracking

MASHABLE - Feb 11 - A new report from Ghostery, which creates products to detect and block data trackers, reveals which dating sites are using ad trackers. A data tracker is a snippet of code that companies such as Facebook and Amazon can implement onto other sites. Ad trackers on dating sites, for example, retarget the user on other websites. If a user goes to Match.com, the next time they go on Facebook they may be served an ad for Match.

by Anna Iovine
See full article at Mashable

Aussies Lost $29M to Romance Scams in 2019

BUSINESS INSIDER - Feb 11 - Aussies lost ~$28.6M to dating and romance scams in 2019, according to figures from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). Traditional online dating websites accounted for $7.8M in losses, via Facebook ~$2M and Instagram ~$975K. Those aged between 45-64 were mostly affected. Women made up 55% of reports.

by Sharon Masige
See full article at Yahoo Finance

New Pew Report: 30% of U.S. Adults Have Used Online Dating

TECH CRUNCH - Feb 7 - According to a new Pew Research Center report on online dating, 30% of U.S. adults have at some point used a dating app. That's up from ~11% in 2013. 12% of U.S. adults said they found a long-term relationship via online dating. Younger adults were more likely to be using online dating apps than older adults. LGB adults were twice as likely as straight adults to have used a dating app. In addition, a majority of users reported an overall positive experience with online dating. However a significant portion of U.S. adults (46%) said they don't think it's safe. Pew's research was conducted from Oct 16 to 28, 2019 across a panel of 4,860 respondents. The full report is here.

by Sarah Perez
See full article at Tech Crunch

Singles Dropped $2.2B on Dating Apps Last Year

CNET - Feb 5 - Consumers dropped $2.2B on dating apps last year, according to App Annie's State of Mobile Report. The amount is double what was spent two years ago. Tinder and Bumble came in first and second in terms of consumer spending.

by Erin Carson
See full article at CNet

Survey: 72% of Online Daters Block Other Users for Inappropriate Behavior

PR NEWSWIRE - Feb 4 - 72% of online dating app users have blocked another user at least once in the past six months, according to new survey data from The Manifest. 60% have taken it a step further by reporting a user directly to the platform, suggesting inappropriate or explicit behavior. Most dating apps users (93%) have deleted a dating app in the past six months, citing a variety of reasons behind their decision. 18% deleted a dating app due to stress from using the platform, 11% report deleting a dating app after feeling unsafe. Read the full survey report.

See full article at PR Newswire

Romance Scams Are Leaving More Online Daters Broke

WAMU88.5 - Feb 4 - Being scammed by a romantic interest met online is now the most common type of consumer fraud in the United States, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In 2018, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center investigated claims from ~18,500 romance fraud victims across the country, who said they'd lost a total of $363M. People ages 40 to 69 report losing money to romance scams at the highest rates - more than twice the rate of people in their 20s. At the same time, people 70+ report the highest individual median losses - ~$10K.

by Sasha-Ann Simons
See full article at WAMU88.5

2020 K-1 Visa Report on "International Dating Trends"

PRWEB - Jan 21 - Report by RapidVisa delivers key findings, engaging charts and graphics on highest ranking dating sites, social media trends, and the rise of online gaming for making international love connections. Some of the other key findings in the report, include:

• ~55% of K-1 applicants first met online, mostly using a dating site which tend to emphasize the Asian region, in particular the Philippines.
• Couples who met through online gaming are a quickly growing group. These couples trend younger, with many more fiancés from Europe or Canada. The UK, a fast-growing K-1 visa population, represents one fourth of fiancés in this space. The report is based on a proprietary random sample of 5K RapidVisa customers collected between 2010 and 2019. RapidVisa is an online-based service that streamlines the U.S. immigration process with technology and full-support

See full article at PRWeb

Social and Communication Apps Continue to Hold Their Ground

MEDIAPOST - Jan 15 - That's according to App Annie's latest State of Mobile report, which found that social and communication apps maintained a dominant 50% share of time spent among the world's mobile users in 2019. Relative to time spent with other app categories, that was only down by 6% since 2016. Social and communication apps also remain a hot commodity. In 2019, consumers downloaded 9.5B such apps, and spent 25% more time using them than they did in 2017. Worldwide app downloads totaled 204B in 2019, which was up by 45% since 2016, the app analytics firm found.

by Gavin O'Malley
See full article at Media Post