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

Dating App Filteroff Acquired by Spark Networks

LINKEDIN - Zach Schleien, now VP of Marketing at Spark Networks, has announced that Filteroff, the video-first dating app he co-founded, has been acquired by Spark Networks, home to platforms like JDate, Christian Mingle, and Elite Singles. Launched just before the pandemic, Filteroff offers a healthier, more genuine way for singles to connect via video, avoiding the usual swiping and texting culture. With millions of users globally embracing this approach, the acquisition marks an exciting new chapter for the app under Spark Networks' umbrella.

See full article at LinkedIn

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Filteroff App Review: Streamlining Dating With Quick Video Dates and Matchmaking

THE SUN - Filteroff is a video-based dating app that offers quick, 10-minute virtual dates, aiming to streamline the dating process with a focus on video calls rather than text. The app uses AI to provide daily matches, and its premium feature, Matchmaker Pro, allows for personalized matchmaking and dating advice. While this service helps filter out incompatible matches and sets up video dates, the experience doesn't guarantee finding a partner and can lead to mismatches, as was the case with distant or less desirable dates. The app's approach aims to save users time and avoid awkward interactions, but like all dating, it has its limitations and doesn't assure romantic success.

by Nancy Jiang
See full article at The Sun

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Podcast: How Dating App Filteroff Deals With Scammers

ITWORLD CANADA - Filteroff is a dating app that schedules users for a 90-second video chat with each other. Filteroff's Scammer Detection System kicks into full gear when a user signs up. When a scammer is detected, the app snags them from the normal dating pool and places them in a separate dark dating pool full of other scammers and bots.

by Jim Love
Listen to the podcast at ITWorld Canada

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How Filteroff Attracted a $2M Investment From Brewing Giant AB InBev

BUSINESS INSIDER - AB InBev is known for beer brands such as Bud Light, Stella Artois, and Hoegaarden. ZX Ventures, the beverage giant's venture arm, made a $2M investment in Filteroff, a dating app that connects people through digital and in-person events. The companies collaborate on in-person dating events that AB InBev supplies with beer. Filteroff, launched in 2019, hosts virtual speed-dating events through its app, where attendees talk on video chat and have the option to set up a second date later. The app has also started organizing events where singles can meet face-to-face over a beer.

by Alex Bitter
See full article at Business Insider

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This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.com

Filteroff Flooded Its Dating App With Bots to Scam Scammers

MEDIUM.COM - Brian Weinreich and his co-founder Zach recently started Filteroff, a video dating app, and as user numbers grew, so did the number of scammers harassing people for money. When a user signs up, Filteroff's Scammer Detection System kicks into full gear. When a scammer is detected, the app snags them from the Normal Dating Pool and places them in a separate Dark Dating Pool full of other scammers and bots. They built a bot army full of profiles with fake photos and GPT-3 (a tech that lets computers talk like humans) to chat with the scammers.

by Brian Weinreich
See full article at Medium

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How Filteroff Dumped Traditional Online Dating

STRATEGY ONLINE - Filteroff is a dating app that blends an online platform with more personal interaction than swiping left or right. Users create a profile and are set up on three curated dates. They just determine the time with their date, then hop on a three-minute video chat and decide afterward if they'd like to pursue the match. "Our community loves the ability to meet people before the IRL experience," says founder Zach Schleien. "It's like the first date before the first date. We're all about meeting people, not profiles."

by Chelsea Clarke
See full article at Strategy Online

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The Future of Dating in the Metaverse

MEDIA POST - In general, the metaverse is years away from being a (virtual) reality. There have been official weddings in the metaverse, apps that pay users in crypto to date in the metaverse, and Match.com is preparing to expand into virtual worlds. We asked Zach Schleien, founder of video speed-dating app, Filteroff, what he thinks about dating in the metaverse.

Q: What is your vision for the metaverse dating?
A: It is still years away. Right now we're not playing in the metaverse, not until the technology improves to the point where audio can be spatial and video can be immersive.

Q: Where would your app start and end in the metaverse? Why leave the metaverse to go on a "real date" if it's a fully immersive experience?
A: We want users to meet and find their person. The metaverse, we believe, is just another medium - a more authentic medium when the technology advances - to see if you have chemistry.

Q: How soon do you see your company approaching a mixed-reality model?
A: Video is the one that makes the most sense now. In the future when the technology is there, we'll play there.

Q: Do you know if any brands are approaching dating apps in virtual worlds right now?
A: I've never heard of any video-dating company that's been successful in the metaverse. It's quite premature and doesn't lead to an authentic experience.

Q: What are the brand implications for dating in the metaverse?
A: You have to be really careful in terms of security and privacy.

by Colin Kirkland
See full article at Media Post

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Filteroff to Host Speed Dating Event for Boston Marathon Runners and Fans

BOSTON GLOBE - Filteroff, a video speed dating app, is hosting an April 11 event for people attending the Boston Marathon as runners, friends, family, or fans. Users will be matched with up to "eight people, based on their preferences. The dates will last ~3 minutes," explained Zach Schleien, co-founder of the Filteroff. Filteroff launched in February of 2020 - a complicated time to start a dating business. But Schleien said the pandemic changed people's perceptions of video dates. "We've hosted ~13K virtual speed dating events."

by Meredith Goldstein
See full article at Boston Globe

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Filteroff's Zach Schleien on How Pandemic Has Changed Online Dating

FINACIAL EXPRESS - From a safety as well as efficiency perspective, the acceptance of video dating has accelerated. Today, research suggests that most singles prefer to video chat before meeting up in person. Filteroff is a video-based speed dating app launched during the pandemic. "Prior to the pandemic, it was primarily a swipe-based market. During the pandemic, the value of quality dating increased. Therefore, a lot of swipe-based apps incorporated video into their functioning. However, the whole process of swipe, match, message is still considered long. With Filteroff, we make videos the forefront of user experience," said Zach Schleien, founder of Filteroff.

by Smriti Mishra
See full article at Financial Expres

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Video Dating App, Filteroff, to Host Virtual Date Nights

RHODEISLANDINNO - Filteroff is a dating app that schedules users for a 90-second video chat after with each other. Users can give each other a "thumbs up”" or "thumbs down" afterward. If they both like each other, they can chat, schedule calls or meet in person. Since its launch in 2020, Filteroff has spread to New York City, London and Los Angeles. The app has hosted ~7K virtual events in under two years and is starting to spread into other markets. Next month, the company is hosting the first virtual date night with residents in Rhode Island.

by Dana Forsythe
See full article at RhodeIslandInno

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Zach Schleien - Making Strong Human Connections With Video-first Dating

LTR - May 10 - Video chatting offers a more natural way of making human connections compared to text chatting. Zach Schleien, CEO & Co-Founder of Filter Off, believes video-first dating will revolutionize the market. The pandemic lockdowns created significant physical and social barriers. Video technology was adopted rapidly in the business world, as well as dating apps, to counter these obstacles. Schleien believes that dating apps which have integrated video secondary to profile introductions are missing a massive opportunity to improve the user experience. Zach Schleien shares the lessons he learned developing Filter Off's video speed dating in the latest video in the LTR Conference series.

LTR stands for Love, Technology, Relationships and the online conference covers the Internet dating and Online Social Communities space. It is for members of IDEA and OSCA.

The February LTR was kindly sponsored by RealMe, vPaaS by The Meet Group, Utopia Analytics, Tawkify, Real Gifts & Courtland Brooks.

What's Trending: Filter Off, a New Video Speed Dating App

KENS5 - Jan 25 - Digital Journalist Megan Ball chats with Zach Schleien, the cofounder of Filter Off, a new video speed dating app that focuses on people rather than profile photos.

See full article at Kens5

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Filter Off to Host Video Speed Dating Sessions

THE DC POST - Sep 8 - Filter Off, a video speed dating app, is organizing a series of events for single individuals living in the DC area to meet each other every Friday. The DC-specific sessions will provide users with three video-chatting dates, each of them 90 seconds long.

by Jane Smith
See full article at The DC Post

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Filter Off, a New Dating app That Revolves Around Video Speed Dates

MOBILE MARKETING MAGAZINE - May 8 - Filter Off's co-founder and CEO Zach Schleien discusses what the COVID-19 pandemic has done to the online dating scene, and why people are more inclined to use video dating. "I've used all the dating apps, and it's a very long process from start to finish. We wanted to cut out all that swiping, messaging back and forth, followed by bad first dates, and just allow users to see each other face to face at a really authentic human level and see if the two people vibe right off the bat." Filter Off schedules 90-second "blind" video dates for users. At the end of the 90 seconds, they can either do a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down. If both give each other a thumbs-up, they're entered into a match like every other dating app. At that point they can either send a video message or send a text message. Schleien believes that the social isolation and loneliness that has been a side effect of the COVID-19 crisis has encouraged more and more singles to try out video dating.

by Alyssa Clementi
See full article at Mobile Marketing Magazine

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Offline-only Dating Apps in India See Surge in Users

ECONOMIC TIMES - May 7 - Startups like Floh, SirfCoffee, Aisle, MyScoot and FilterOff are offering virtual poetry and cookery sessions and speed dates online among other activities. These apps have seen a 20% increase in new users, mostly busy professionals. SirfCoffee has set up over 200 personalised virtual dates in the comfort of our members' homes,” said Naina Hiranandani, co-founder of SirfCoffee. "We now host weekly Zoom events on various relationship topics," says Siddharth Mangharam, founder and CEO of Floh. "We are looking at hosting only interactive activities online like brewing coffee without equipment. So, users with an interest in coffee will join the session," says Suyash Sinha, founder of MyScoot. Bengaluru-based Aisle, on the other hand, is hosting online group activities through Zoom. These activities include games like Pictionary. After the activity, users connect with other members. US-headquartered FilterOff permits users to have a 90-second video chat session with the selected dating partners, before proceeding with the virtual date.

by Sanghamitra Kar
See full article at Economic Times

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