TECH CRUNCH - Facebook Dating will now serve as the testing grounds for further experimentation with new age verification technologies, including video selfies and ID uploads. The company will expand its partnership with online age verification provider Yoti to verify the ages of Facebook Dating users when it suspects they've lied about their real age. When Facebook's AI detects someone who may be under the age of 18 trying to use Facebook dating, it will send them a prompt to verify their age.
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Facebook to Test Age Verification Tech on Facebook Dating
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Facebook Dating Is Dead in the Water
THE CONVERSATION - Facebook announced its dating app, Facebook Dating, in May 2018. There was real excitement, but four years later, it hasn't taken over the market. Numerous reports claim the dating app practically doesn't function. Facebook's own data suggest not many people use the service – ~300K in New York. The rather primitive design of the app suggests that there was little attempt to compete with the existing dating apps.
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Facebook Dating Adds 3 New Features
ADWEEK - Aug 9 - Facebook said use of Facebook Dating's Virtual Dates feature, which enables people to video chat with their matches, rose by ~50% since the end of 2020, largely fueled by the pandemic and people shifting to dating from a distance. The number of messages sent daily via Facebook Dating is up ~55% since August 2020, and the most popular time to message matches is Sunday at 7 p.m. The three new features that are being added to Facebook Dating are Audio Dates, Lucky Pick and Match Anywhere. Audio Dates enables people to start audio chats with their matches. Lucky Pick allows users to consider other compatible candidates who may be outside their typical preferences. And Match Anywhere gives people the option of adding up to two additional locations within their specified country where they wish to seek suggested matches. Facebook Dating was initially introduced at F8 2019 in May 2019, and it debuted in the U.S. in September of that year.
by David Cohen
See full article at AdWeek
Mark Brooks: I think video and audio are absolutely at the heart of dating via Internet dating apps. Both work in tandem to help dating apps become more personal. Pre-dates should be done online. They're safer, more fun, and ultimately produce a fuller experience with better outcomes IMHO. Lucky Pick resolves for preference myopia by helping people open up their mindsets from their staid ticklists.
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The New "Recently Used Dating" Label on Facebook Is a Helpful Bit of Context
DISTRACTIFY - June 23 - Facebook's introduction of dating is its latest attempt to turn the app into a one-stop shop for everything. Recently some users have gotten an update in their news feed that lists profiles os people who have "recently used dating." Facebook Dating was first rolled out almost two years ago. Facebook has also introduced a streaming service (which failed), and Instagram, which the company owns, introduced a feature designed to replicate the design of TikTok.
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Facebook's Use of Ad Data Triggers Antitrust Probes in UK and EU
TECH CRUNCH - June 7 - The U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the EU's Competition Commission both announced formal investigations into Facebook's operations. The competition regulators will scrutinize how Facebook uses data from advertising customers and users of its single sign-on tool - specifically looking at whether it uses this data as an unfair lever against competitors in markets such as classified ads. In a statement on its action, CMA CEO Andrea Coscelli said: "We intend to thoroughly investigate Facebook's use of data to assess whether its business practices are giving it an unfair advantage in the online dating and classified ad sectors. Any such advantage can make it harder for competing firms to succeed, including new and smaller businesses, and may reduce customer choice."
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Facebook's Own Ads Reveal "Facebook Dating" Is Not That Hot
THE VERGE - Apr 16 - Facebook first introduced its dating product as a test in Colombia in 2018 and brought it Stateside in September 2019. Since then, the company hasn't said much. However, The Verge has found multiple screenshots that suggest the actual size of Facebook's dating product isn't all that large but that it's growing. The company runs in-house ads that advertise the number of users it has in specific regions. In the country's largest city, New York, the company advertised 278K singles "currently dating" in the city this week. In Indianapolis, it advertised 43K people, and in Ottawa, Canada, it claimed to have 24K.
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The Complete Guide to the Online Dating Industry
QUARTZ - Feb 14 - Dating online has revolutionized how we fall in love. The industry has 270m monthly users globally and grew by 13% in 2020, but online dating (swiping) has become exhausting. Experts say the apps that define the next era of online dating will offer more fun, safety, and community.
Amarnath Thombre, head of Match North America said Match's strategy is to "have each app run its own experiment," and, as the experiments play out, the company can use the successful features in its other properties. Match is also expanding into Asia with the lucrative Pairs in Japan, and Hawaya a Muslim-focused service.
Bumble had 42m MAU in Q3 2020. Facebook Dating seems to have fizzled, although some industry experts say it still has big potential [(Mark Brooks)]
"Pretty much everything that we charge for on Hinge, we couldn't really give away for free because then it wouldn't work anymore," said Hinge's CEO/founder Justin McLeod. "Think about Roses, for example. Roses are really, really special. If we gave everyone unlimited Roses, then it would completely defeat the purpose of Roses." Hinge downloads grew 63% globally between 2019 and 2020.
Mark Brooks, a leading industry consultant, says that for dating apps to be able to keep monetizing, moving into a more community-oriented gear is the way to go. "We want people to stick around, have fun. Yes, hook up, meet up, and maybe stick around even beyond that point," he said. "I think we'll see a general shift away from dating into more community-esque apps."
Since the beginning of the pandemic, The Meet Group saw livestreamed minutes increase by 40%. The Meet Group provides livestreaming for Match Group's Plenty of Fish, and the feature is proving to be popular. In Feb Match acquired Hyperconnect, a Korean "social discovery" company that owns a livestreaming app, and a video and audio chatting app that translates conversations in real time, for $1.7B.
Cook points out that the growth of the dating industry has generally been slowing. "And so what do dating companies do when you're saturating the market? ...they find other ways to engage the user. ...they can provide some entertainment value."
Every female dater interviewed for this article mentioned how they often feel unsafe on the apps, or how they are put off by unwanted sexual attention. In 2019, Bumble launched a feature that detects and blurs inappropriate photos. Tinder directs users who report violations to support organizations. Content moderation is slowly getting better.
Dating could jump to new media. For a true dating revolution to happen, the industry needs another media shift, like the one from desktop to mobile, said Brooks. He predicts that the jump will be to Augmented Reality, and that through wearable technology like AR lenses, people will get more "intel-on-the-go" about potential matches. "When passing by someone who has double matched, or is viable and an exceptional date candidate, they will be indicated to them." (Hakuna Live, one of the apps Match acquired in its Hyperconnect deal, features augmented reality avatars).
What's more, Brooks thinks we need more "coaxing along" when we're dating. AR, as well as "informed, tailored advice" from the dating service will deliver helpful nudges in real time, such as: "it's been 20 days since your last date night, might be time for a date at ,'" he said. "I think the benefits of timely advice will outweigh the creepiness of having a computer act as an informed advisor."
by Hanna Kozlowska
See full article at Quartz
Mark Brooks: Please see Courtland Brooks for more information on our niche agency/consultancy. We help Internet dating and online social communities to grow, and get their strategy, business development and marketing (more) right. ;-)
See the top news on Match Group See the top news on Facebook Dating
See the top news on Bumble See the top news on Hinge
See the top news on The Meet Group See the top news on POF
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Facebook Sued for Copying Feature of Dating Among Friends
PUNEKAR NEWS - Feb 8 - MTJF (More Than Just Friends), a mobile dating app that facilitates dating among friends, is suing Facebook for allegedly copying their unique feature of dating among friends. MTJF's unique feature helps users to secretly find out if their friends are interested in pursuing romantic relationships with them. Sangram Kakad, founder of MTJF reached out to Facebook to commercially exploit the idea. "However, Facebook did not revert and went ahead straight to copy and launch the unique feature of MTJF in Facebook calling it as 'Secret Crush', without any due credits to MTJF. Facebook, however, did not realize that Kakad has already filed an International Patent for this feature", Kakad said.
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Facebook Dating Launches in Europe After 9-month+ Delay Over Privacy Concerns
TECH CRUNCH - Oct 21 - From today, European Facebook users can opt into Facebook Dating by creating a profile at facebook.com/dating. Among the dating product's main features are the ability to share Stories on users' profile; a Secret Crush feature that let people select up to nine of their Facebook friends or Instagram followers who they'd like to date (without them knowing unless they also add them - triggering a match notification); the ability to see people with similar interests; and a video chat feature called Virtual Dates. Since the launch of Facebook's dating product in 20 countries around the world - including the U.S. and a number of markets in Asia and LatAm - the company says ~1.5B matches have been "created".
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Virtual Dating Available on Facebook Dating in Mexico
CODIGOPUEBLA - Sep 23 - Starting today, users in Mexico can now invite their potential matches for a video call.
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The Top Dating Industry News for Apr 28th
OPW - Apr 28 - Facebook Dating Video, OKCupid Covid-19 Survey, POF NextDate Video Speed Dating.
For the top weekly dating industry news in ~2 minutes subscribe to OPW's Two Minute Tuesdays (TMT) podcast on Breaker , Google Podcasts
, Spotify
, Anchor
, Overcast
, Radio Public
or Apple Podcasts
. Listen to the trailer for the channel.
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Facebook Dating to Launch Video Dating
TECH CRUNCH - Apr 24 - Facebook is planning to introduce video calling on Facebook Dating to connect and video call over Messenger. Many rival dating apps are adopting video. Bumble, for a year. Match Group recently rolled out video: Match, Hinge, PoF. Tinder has not yet embraced live video dates, but offers video in profiles. The company couldn't comment on whether or not video dating was in the works for Tinder, but in the post-COVID era, it would be almost bizarre to not offer such feature. Other dating apps have also launched video dating, including eHarmony. Facebook says the feature will roll out in the months ahead.
by Sarah Perez
See full article at Tech Crunch
Mark Brooks: The Meet Group got video right before most dating apps in the West. They were inspired by Momo in China for one-to-many video and refined it on MeetMe, then acquired and powered up a number of brands around the world with video, including Skout, Tagged, Lovoo and now more recently Growlr. Their platform also powers POF's video (ref: March, 2020 press release). Full Disclosure: TMG are a client of Courtland Brooks
See the top news on Facebook Dating See the top news on Bumble
See the top news on Match Group See the top news on eHarmony
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Facebook Releases Couples-only Messaging App
BBC - Apr 8 - Facebook has released a new app for couples, called Tuned, to private message each other, exchange music and create a digital scrapbook. Tuned was created by Facebook's New Product Experimental Team which focuses on creating new social media from scratch. The app is available only to iOS users in the US and Canada and does not require a Facebook account to use it.
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Mark Zuckerberg Matched With His Wife's Friend While Researching Dating Apps
BUSINESS INSIDER - Apr 8 - Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg matched with one of his wife's friends while researching dating apps, according to a book by BuzzFeed reporter Alex Kantrowitz - "Always Day One: How the Tech Titans Plan to Stay On Top Forever". Since first announcing Facebook Dating at its annual F8 developer conference in 2018, Facebook has launched its dating service in more than 20 countries, including Colombia, Canada, and Thailand.
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Podcast With Mark Brooks About Biggest Ongoing Online Dating Stories
GDI - Feb 19 - Mark Brooks is one of the online dating industry's leading experts with almost two decades of experience under his belt. He's worked with companies like POF and Social Discovery Ventures in the past, and created his own consultancy business in 2005. Mark joined GDI's Dom Whitlock to talk about some of the biggest ongoing stories, including Match Group's separation from IAC, Facebook Dating and romance fraud. Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and SoundCloud.
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