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

Tinder vs Bumble in India

ECONOMIC TIMES - Feb 19 - Bumble's aggressive entry into India has made existing players raise their game. Tinder CEO Elie Seidman denies any impact on the market leader. However, Bumble's overall idea of a "social network by women for everyone" has created tremors in the Indian dating app space, where apps, including Tinder, are struggling to get and retain women users. Tinder has a clear advantage, though, being the first mover. In India since 2014, it is the second-best grossing app on Android in India. Bumble has made it to the list of the top 50 highest-grossing apps on Android in India. "Our biggest competitors are actually the moms and friends who help you find a suitable match," insists Elie Seidman.

by Shephali Bhatt
See full article at Economic Times

See all posts on Tinder 
See all posts on Bumble

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Hire Courtland Brooks Agency-Consultancy

Bumble's VP of International Marketing on Valentine’s Day

STANDARD.CO.UK - Feb 14 - It's Valentine's Day and Bumble's VP of international marketing, Louise Troen, is discussing her plans. "We're holding the first global party we've ever done, called The Domino Effect," Troen said. The Domino Effect means two things to Bumble - the second-biggest dating app in the world in terms of global consumer spend, and it literally explains how the global party will work. Set to begin in Auckland, New Zealand at 8pm on February 14, it will then hit all Bumble's major markets, Australia, India, Europe and then finishing in the US. Campaigns like Bumble's Domino Effect for Valentine' Day are Troen's bread and butter. She joined the company two and a half years ago as director of international marketing, and was promoted to VP last year, essentially as founder Whitney Wolfe-Herd's second in command. Bumble Bizz is one of Troen's other big tasks for the year: getting people to see Bumble less as a dating app and more as its own social network. Another instance of how Bumble is moving away from dating to become all things to women, is through its new podcast. Set to launch in March, and named Bumble presents: Unsubscribe, Troen is co-presenting alongside Jada Sezer, a plus-sized model and activist.

by Amelia Heathman
See full article at Standard.co.uk

See all posts on Bumble

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Hire Courtland Brooks Agency-Consultancy

Does Bumble Need to IPO to Keep Up With Match Group?

CHEDDAR - Feb 13 - Ray Wang, Principal Analyst & Founder, Constellation Research, shared his outlook for the digital dating space and discussed whether Bumble is headed for an IPO. "Online dating is going to be $15B market by 2022, and completely AI driven" says Ray. Watch the video here.

See full article at Cheddar

See all posts on Bumble

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Hire Courtland Brooks Agency-Consultancy

Bumble Launches Spotlight, Its Own Version of Tinder's Boost

TECH CRUNCH - Feb 11 - Bumble is launching its own version of Tinder's "Boost" feature - "Spotlight". It allows users to pay to bump their profile up to the front of the queue, in order to be seen by more people than they would otherwise. To use Spotlight, Bumble users must pay 2 Coins (bought through a separate in-app purchase). 1 coin is $0.99 in the U.S., or £1.99 in the U.K. Spotlight will then show their profile to more users for the next 30 minutes.

by Sarah Perez
See full article at Tech Crunch

See all posts on Bumble

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Hire Courtland Brooks Agency-Consultancy

The Top iDate Awards Results

OPW - Feb 11 - The following awards were made at the iDate Awards:

• Best Dating Site - Badoo
• Best Mobile Dating App - Tinder
• Best Product Design - Ukraine Brides Agency
• Best Dating Software/SAAS - Dating Pro
• Best Marketing Campaign - Bumble

For the full listing of awards, go here.

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Hire Courtland Brooks Agency-Consultancy

How Bumble Events Went From Dates to Deal Making

BIZBASH - Jan 29 - Bumble launched as a dating app, but is now one app with three modes (Bumble Date, Bumble BFF, and Bumble Bizz), which are united by a mission to empower women, end misogyny, and hold people accountable for their actions online. Currently, the app boasts 40M users worldwide. Bumble owner Rimberg International Corp., a holding company that also controls the dating apps Chappy and Badoo, is considering an IPO on the Nasdaq based on the growth potential of the app. Bumble events, which are typically free to users on a first-come, first-serve basis, are tailored to a specific segment. For its business-focused users, Bumble organizes Bumble Bizz panels that feature female leaders across various industries who share their success stories, learnings, and entrepreneurial journeys. Recently, Bumble organized a "Work Party" for freelancers and a "Make the First Move" cocktail party. Bumble also holds a monthly dinner series called Bumble Gives Back, which is designed for single users to come together in real life in support of a cause. In 2018 in LA, Bumble debuted its Hive concept, a pop-up space that works as an extension of Bumble headquarters. Inside, visitors enjoyed complimentary entertainment, drinks and snacks, and interactive sessions with entrepreneurs and influencers.

by Michele Laufik
See full article at Bizbash

See all posts on Bumble

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Engage CB

Bumble Partners With Rita Ora for Super Bowl Commercial

SINGERSROOM - Jan 25 - Award-winning singer/model/actress Rita Ora is teaming up with Bumble as they use her single, "Soul Survivor," for their official NFL Super Bowl LIII commercial. Bumble is making their debut with first-ever Super Bowl commercial. Ora's new single will be featured in the new commercial, starring Bumble's Global Advisor and Tennis Grand Slam-winner Serena Williams.

See full article at SingersRoom

See all posts on Bumble

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Engage CB

2M Aussies Are Using Bumble Now

HIT - Jan 21 - Bumble has hit the 2M user mark this week in Australia, just over two years after it launched here in December 2016. Bumble now claims ~48M users globally.

See full article at Hit

See all posts on Bumble

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Engage CB

Serena Williams & Bumble's Super Bowl Commercial Teaser

ADAGE - Jan 15 - Dating app Bumble finally confirmed it will air it's first Big Game commercial during Super Bowl LIII. The campaign, titled "The Ball is in Her Court," is focused on women making the first move in dating, friendship and business. It was developed, produced and led by a team comprised entirely of women, according to the company.

by Jeanine Poggi
See full article at AdAge

See all posts on Bumble

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Engage CB

Who Got the Most News Coverage in 2018?

OPW - Jan 13 - Every day we review the news and bubble up what we think are summaries of the most important intell in the most important news items. All year, every day. Then in January we like to do an annual review of the news and let you know who got the most coverage on OPW.news for the prior year. Subscribe here for daily updates.

Here's the rankings for who got the most press coverage on OPW.news in 2018.

1. Tinder, 182 posts on OPW.news
2. Bumble, 116 posts
3. Match Group, 105 posts
4. Facebook Dating, 58 posts
5. Grindr, 40 posts
6. Badoo, 33 posts
7. eharmony, 33 posts
8. Match, 29 posts
9. OKCupid, 28 posts
10. Hinge, 24 posts

Here's our analysis for 2018

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Engage CB

Bumble Has Launched 80 BumbleSpots Already

HOUSTONIA MAGAZINE - Jan 10 - Dating app Bumble has launched ~80 verified locations called BumbleSpots across the U.S. and Canada. Bumble Spots serve as designated places to take the matches—be it of the date, BFF, or networking variety. Depending on the city and the spot, there may also be perks and promos (like food and drink specials or workspace access) or built-in ice-breakers on coasters or napkins.

by Abby Ledoux
See full article at Houstonia Magazine

See all posts on Bumble

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Engage CB

Bumble Now Lets Users Filter Matches by Their Star Sign

TENDAILY.COM - Jan 9 - Astro-obsessed daters are thrilled with the new feature but is swiping right based on someone's star sign the ideal way to find love? According to renowned Australian psychic and founder of Absolute Soul Secrets Rose Smith, the whole idea of a list of prerequisites - the ideal age, salary, height, eye colour - is "problematic." Adding the ideal star sign into the mix makes the already small pool of 'perfect matches' even smaller. "But," Smith said, "it does have some validity." "All 12 star signs have positive and negative attributes that you should keep in mind," she explained. If arrogant people really rub you up the wrong way, maybe steer clear of outspoken, bolshy signs like Leo, Taurus and Sagittarius.

by Gillian Wolski
See full article at TenDaily.com

See all posts on Bumble

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Engage CB

Lonely? Tech Firms Hope You'll Use an App for That

FLTIMES - Jan 9 - Meeting new friends - and then maintaining those friendships as a busy adult - is not a problem unique to younger generations, says Miriam Kirmayer, a therapist and friendship researcher at McGill University. It's something most adults experience after college. Social media allows users to keep in touch with friends and family without ever picking up the phone. A new study conducted by UC San Diego researchers, found that 3 out of 4 Americans experience "moderate to high levels of loneliness." Harvard psychology professor Matthew Lieberman says our need to connect with other humans is even more fundamental than our need for food or shelter. New York City-based Cuddlist sends out "professional cuddlers" to hold lonely people in a nonsexual way for $80 an hour. Then there's HearMe.app, which allows users to share their thoughts with an attentive stranger for $10 a week. These apps treat symptoms of loneliness, but there's a wave of tech companies attempting to treat loneliness at its core - by helping people make real in-person connections. But the graveyard for meetup and friendship apps is depressingly expansive. Tinder launched a friendship feature in 2016 called Tinder Social, which allowed users to organize group meetups with strangers. A year later, that feature was disabled. Bumble, also launched its friendship feature Bumble BFF in 2016. However, the company was not willing to share numbers on how many of its users signed up. Despite the challenges, new players keep diving in. When it comes to friend-making apps, there's Hey! VINA for women, Atleto for sports lovers, Meet My Dog for animal lovers, and Cliq, We3, and Squad for those looking to meet up in groups. Frendli, DoWhop, and Beekn are all trying to get people out in the real world to make new friends.

by Brittany Meiling
See full article at FLTimes

See all posts on Tinder 
See all posts on Bumble

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Engage CB

Is Bumble Trying to Characterize Tinder Users As "Loose"?

EDTIMES - Jan 5 - Bumble has started an aggressive marketing campaign in India to establish themselves in this highly lucrative market. In their video ad, PeeCee (Priyanka Chopra) is shown to be first a corporate hotshot, with the title "Ambitious, not loose" followed by her being involved with her family with the title "Busy, not loose" and finally her taking off a jacket in the gym with the title "Equal, not loose". It's pretty clear that this is a shot at Tinder and it's user base which is widely perceived preferring the hookup culture instead of serious dating culture. Tinder has stepped up its marketing campaign as well. It is telling the market that all of this serious dating stuff is for adult, and adulting can wait.

by Tanmay Mehra
See full article at ED Times

See all posts on Bumble

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Engage CB

Tinder Usage Via Facebook Login Is Sinking

THINKNUM - Jan 4 - As people learn more about the sketchy ways that Facebook has handled personal data - especially when it comes to third-part apps - it's possible that they've moved away from using Facebook login. At this time last year and the year before it, Tinder saw a noticeable lift in December. So is it just Tinder, or the dating app world in general? Bumble doesn't have a noticeable drop in usage. Instead, there is a healthy jump in rank in November as we enter the holidays followed by a consistent user rank since.

by Joshua Fruhlinger
See full article at Thinknum

See all posts on Tinder
See all posts on Bumble

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Engage CB

Serena Williams to Take Bumble's Woman-first Message to Super Bowl

REUTERS - Jan 3 - Tennis champion Serena Williams will star in a year-long marketing campaign for Bumble that will kick off with a message of women's empowerment during the Feb. 3 Super Bowl. In the campaign called "The Ball is in Her Court," Williams will urge women to make the first move in all aspects of their lives. The campaign will appear across multiple platforms, Bumble said, and its debut will coincide with the Super Bowl. Bumble declined to say if the campaign will include a TV commercial during the game.

by Lisa Richwine
See full article at One America News Network

See all posts on Bumble

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Engage CB

US Dating Apps Woo Indian Market

FINANCIAL TIMES - Dec 30 - Bumble launched in India earlier this month, with the high-profile backing of Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra. At the same time, Tinder has rolled out new features designed to cement its foothold in the country, where it has been operating since 2015. Happn, which matches app users who have crossed paths in real life, has become one of the most downloaded dating apps since coming to India last year. Yet the companies may find Indians difficult to woo. Homegrown matchmaking services with names such as Shaadi.com and Mumbai-listed Matrimony.com, which went public last year in a $78M listing, flourished in India since long before smartphones. According to Matrimony.com almost nine in 10 marriages in India are arranged. But Matrimony.com's share price has fallen 45% over the past year, and profits in the most-recent quarter fell 30% YOY to $1.9M. The foreign apps have yet to prove that the Indian market can be lucrative. Whitney Wolfe, Bumble's CEO and founder, said: "We're entering with purpose, with mission, with a really nuanced, customised product." Far more men in India use dating apps than women, who often stay away due to safety concerns and stigma. ~85% of Happn's users in India are men. But Bumble argues its women-first brand and safety features mean it is best placed to attract female users. In September, Tinder introduced a tool that also gave Indian women the prerogative to initiate a conversation with a match.

by Benjamin Parkin
See full article at Financial Times

See all posts on Bumble           See all posts on Matrimony.com
See all posts on Tinder             See all posts on Shaadi
See all posts on Happn

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Engage CB

The Rise of Right-wing Dating Apps

VOX.COM - Dec 26 - In recent years, a crop of conservative dating startups have launched. Some, like Righter and Conservatives Only, are only for conservatives. Others, like Donald Daters claim they're open to people of all political stripes who are interested in dating Republicans. Bumble has recently introduced a "filtering" feature that lets people weed out matches who don't meet their political, astrological, or lifestyle preferences. Emily Moreno, the founder of Donald Daters, said she once had a date walk out on her after she said she had worked on a Republican Senate campaign. Earlier this year, Politico magazine documented the dating trials of millennial Trump staffers, many of whom claimed that supporting the president makes them outcasts - even in Washington, DC. A 2017 survey by OkCupid found that 74% of its users considered voting for Trump a deal breaker. Donald Daters launched in October and claimed 20K downloads in the first few weeks after launch. Righter takes a different approach than Donald Daters. Righter is "for us, by us," founder Christy Edwards Lawton said. "Us," of course, means conservatives. Lawton said she got the idea for Righter after meeting a "beautiful" woman at a Republican fundraiser in Manhattan whose politics interfered with her dating life.

by Gaby Del Valle
See full article at Vox.com

Mark Brooks: The CEO of eHarmony talked to this point at Web Summit. See video.

See all posts on Righter                  See all posts on OkCupid
See all posts on Donald Daters       See all posts on Bumble

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Engage CB

Bumble Ad Debut in India

OPW - Dec 20 - Bumble is launching its first campaign in India, featuring Priyanka Chopra Jonas, the brand ambassador and investor in the female-centric network. The ad, with the hashtag #EqualNotLoose, aim to fight gender stereotypes in India.

See all posts on Bumble

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Engage CB

Judge Swipes Right on Tinder App Patents

LAW.COM - Dec 20 - U.S. District Judge Alan Albright ruled Tinder's interface is eligible for patenting, moving Match Group's suit against rival Bumble one step forward. The judge turned away Bumble's claim that two patents owned by Match Group are ineligible for patenting under Section 101 of the Patent Act. Bumble had argued the patents are directed to the abstract concepts of matchmaking and picking cards out of a stack. He also turned away Bumble's motion to dismiss Match's trade secret claims, saying it was too early in the case to rule on them.

by Scott Graham
See full article at Law.com

See all posts on Match Group
See all posts on Bumble
See all posts on Tinder  

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Engage CB