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

Dating App Coffee Meets Bagel Rolls out Identity Verification

THE STRAITS TIMES - Coffee Meets Bagel (CMB) has introduced identity verification in Singapore using government records accessed through Singpass, allowing users to confirm details like age, gender, and marital status via their national ID. ~70% of users are now verified. From July 15, users can filter out unverified profiles. A survey showed 75% of users had encountered fake profiles, with 81% supporting stricter identity checks. Scam complaints dropped from 0.56% to 0.21% since the rollout. While many welcomed the change, some raised privacy concerns. CMB says all data is encrypted, securely stored, and managed in line with Singapore's data protection laws.

by Lee Li Lin & Sarah Koh
See full article at The Straits Times

See the top news on Coffee Meets Bagel

Coffee Meets Bagel CMO Delbert Ty Stepping Down

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE - Delbert Ty has exited as Chief Marketing Officer at Coffee Meets Bagel. No successor has been named. During his time, he led over 50% growth, shifted to user-generated content for ads, introduced a four-day work week, and rebuilt the company's marketing tools without engineering support. He now works as a fractional CMO.

by A'bidah Zaid Shirbeeni
See full article at Marketing-Interactive

See the top news on Coffee Meets Bagel

Shn Juay, Former Paktor CEO, Appointed CEO Worldwide of Coffee Meets Bagel

OPW - Shn Juay, who spent six years at Paktor, including serving as its CEO, is now the CEO worldwide at Coffee Meets Bagel. With a wealth of experience in the dating industry, she takes on this role to further strengthen the brand's mission of connecting serious daters. During her time at Paktor, she oversaw both online and offline matchmaking platforms. Coffee Meets Bagel, a San Francisco-based dating app launched in 2012, focuses on fostering serious relationships through features like detailed profiles and limited matches. The app gained attention after appearing on Shark Tank in 2015.

See the top news on Coffee Meets Bagel
See the top news on Paktor

The Coffee Meets Bagel's Journey

THE NEXT HINT - Coffee Meets Bagel is a San Francisco-based dating app that emphasizes serious relationships with features like detailed profiles and limited matches to encourage thoughtful engagement. Launched in 2012 by sisters Arum, Dawoon, and Soo Kang, the app gained popularity after appearing on Shark Tank in 2015. Initially funded by Lightbank and a co-founder of Match.com with $600K, it later rejected a $30M offer from Mark Cuban on the show, and has since raised $23.2M in funding. However, it faced challenges such as a data leak in 2019 and a system outage in 2023. As of 2024, it struggles to gain users amidst competition from Hinge and Tinder. Coffee Meets Bagel claims to generate $16M in annual revenue.

by Aditi Raj
See full article at The Next Hint

See the top news on Coffee Meets Bagel

Tinder Tops the Charts, Coffee Meets Bagel Dominates Singapore's Serious Dating Scene

CAMPAIGN ASIA - The latest research from YouGov Surveys shows that Tinder is the most popular dating app in Singapore, with 59% of users having used it. Coffee Meets Bagel follows closely behind, with 46% of users. Different apps attract different kinds of users: Coffee Meets Bagel is popular among those seeking serious relationships, while Tinder is favored by those looking for casual connections. Overall, 76% of Singapore residents have never used a dating app, with reasons ranging from not currently seeking a relationship to concerns about fake profiles and privacy. Despite this, 11% of singles are open to trying dating apps in the future.

by Samuel Tan
See full article at Campaign Asia

See the top news on Tinder
See the top news on Coffee Meets Bagel

Coffee Meets Bagel App Hit With Lawsuit Over Biometric Selfies

LAW360 - Dating app Coffee Meets Bagel was hit with a proposed class action in California federal court this week by a user claiming the company illegally stores face pictures in violation of biometric privacy laws because the app requires users to take a selfie upon creating their account.

by Craig Clough
See full article at Law360

See the top news on Coffee Meets Bagel

The Era of Free Dating Apps May Be Over

CNBC - The trend of free dating apps is declining as companies like Bumble, The League, Hinge, Match, and Tinder aim to increase revenue, prompting users to opt for paid versions. A Pew Research Center report reveals 35% of American dating app users have paid for these services. The League's VIP membership costs $999 a week or $2,499 a month. In Sep, Tinder rolled out a $499 monthly subscription to some of its most active users, and Hinge recently introduced a $600-a-month membership. Coffee Meets Bagel says its paid users get 60% more dates than its nonsubscribers. Pew Research has found that people who met their partner on an app are more likely to have paid for the service.

by Annie Nova & Ana Teresa Solá
See full article at CNBC

Online Dating Is Very Good for Society

WASHINGTON POST - Online dating encourages diverse relationships, with couples who meet online more likely to be interracial. This has led to greater societal acceptance of interracial marriage, reaching 94% in 2021. While people may still prefer similar backgrounds, online dating opens doors to more diverse connections. A review of data provided to me by Coffee Meets Bagel shows that across all races and ethnicities, people are more likely to "like" profiles of potential partners of their own ethnic and racial backgrounds. Online dating only opens the door. People need to walk through it.

by Youyou Zhou
See full article at Washington Post

See the top news on Coffee Meets Bagel

Cyber Attack Causes Coffee Meets Bagel Outage; Users Offered Compensation

THE REGISTER - In late Aug, Coffee Meets Bagel (CMB) suffered a week-long outage due to cybercriminals deleting company data. CMB restored services on Sep 3 and is investigating the breach's details while enhancing cybersecurity. To make amends, they offer users a package with extended chats, free subscriptions, and 1,000 free interaction beans. No sensitive data was exposed. CMB, founded by three sisters, has received $23M in funding across five investment rounds and has 10M users worldwide.

by Paul Kunert
See full article at The Register

See the top news on Coffee Meets Bagel

Coffee Meets Bagel App Faces Extended Outage

BBC - Coffee Meets Bagel (CMB), a dating app boasting ~10M sign-ups globally, experienced a multi-day system outage starting on 27 August, frustrating many users. Some users missed planned dates, with one individual resorting to LinkedIn to reconnect. There's online speculation about the cause, ranging from a ransomware attack to potential data breaches. Amidst the company's assurances of working on the issue, users have criticized the lack of detailed information regarding the outage.

See full article at BBC

See the top news on Coffee Meets Bagel

Dating App Patent Held by Trinity Info Media Invalidated by U.S. Appeals Court

OBWBIP - The U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the invalidation of an online dating app patent owned by Trinity Info Media (TIM), marking a blow to its enforcement campaign against owners and operators of dating apps such as Coffee Meets Bagel, Raya App, The League App, and Covalent, Inc. The court's decision relied on the Alice two-step framework, ruling that TIM's patent was too abstract and not eligible for protection under Section 101 of the Patent Statute. Despite this setback, patent litigation in the dating app space is expected to continue.

See full article at OBWBIP website

Embracing "Bad Ideas" for Out-of-the-Box Marketing Strategies

LINKEDIN - In a recent LinkedIn post, Delbert Ty, CMO at CoffeeMeetsBagel, shared his unconventional approach to coming up with out-of-the-box marketing ideas/Ty suggests exploring "bad ideas" that go against self-interest, such as driving traffic to the competition. He cites CoffeeMeetsBagel's marketing strategy as an example, where they bought a billboard in New York directing casual daters to a rival app. This bold move emphasizes their focus on serious relationships. Ty offers a simple formula for adopting this strategy: 1) Think of "bad ideas" or the opposite of what you should do, 2) Spin it into a narrative that fits your brand, and 3) Allocate 80% of your resources to proven strategies, leaving room for experimentation with "bad ideas." This approach encourages creative thinking and risk-taking in marketing.

See full post at LinkedIn

See the top news on Coffee Meets Bagel

Dating Apps' Patent Victories Challenged at Federal Circuit

BLOOMBERG - Grindr, eHarmony, Coffee Meets Bagel, and other dating apps are facing appeals of dismissed lawsuits that accused them of patent infringement. Wireless Discovery asked the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to reconsider a pair of Delaware federal district court orders that invalidated four of its asserted patents. Wireless Discovery had accused the dating apps of infringing patents covering social media technology that helps people meet online and exchange contact information.

by Kelcee Griffis
See full article at Bloomberg

See the top news on Grindr
See the top news on eharmony
See the top news on Coffee Meets Bagel

Hong Kong Watchdog Takes Swipe at Tinder's Age Based Fees

THE STANDARD - The Consumer Council claims Tinder has an "unfair" pricing mechanism that charges users an annual subscription according to age. The council registered accounts for users aged 18 to 68 with intervals of 10 years.  The highest fees are for 38-year-olds, followed by for 18-year-olds and 58-year-olds. The cheapest are for those whose ages are 28, 48 and 68. The app charges 38-year-old platinum account holders HK$1,318 annually, which is 42% higher than users from the lowest-priced group. The watchdog urged Tinder to make rectifications. The council also found dating apps reveal users' personal information for marketing and advertising after a trial of nine popular ones in Hong Kong between October and December. The nine tested were Bumble, Coffee Meets Bagel, Goodnight, Heymandi, OkCupid, Omi, Paktor, SweetRing and Tinder. All were found to have preset permission to use account owners' data, including name, gender, sexual orientation, date of birth, location, e-mail address and phone number for marketing or advertising. Only three apps allowed users to opt-out.  Age is not covered under Hong Kong's anti-discrimination laws, an Equal Opportunities Commission spokesman said.

by Eunice Lam
See full article at Teh Standard

Mark Brooks: Do you think Tinder, and nay, the industry at large, make rectifications? Is age-based pricing logical and justifiable, or just wholly unfair? Your comments, please.

Dating Sunday Is the Best Day for Those Returning to Dating Apps

STYLIST.CO.UK - Some experts predict that 'Dating Sunday' will be the best day to be on a dating app in 2023. 'Dating Sunday' (which this year falls on Sunday 8 January 2023) refers to singles joining new dating apps or returning to old favorites on the first Sunday of the year. Typically, dating apps experience a massive surge in users and activity on Dating Sunday. In 2018, Coffee Meets Bagel saw a 75% increase on the first Sunday of the year compared to the previous 30 days, while Tinder experienced a 41% jump in downloads. Inner Circle, meanwhile, is expecting a 40% increase in new members on Dating Sunday 2023. 

by Leah Sinclair
See full article at Stylist.co.uk

See the top news on Coffee Meets Bagel
See the top news on Inner Circle