THE GUARDIAN - Feeld, a dating app for non-monogamous and alternative relationships, nearly doubled its turnover in 2023, reaching £39.5M, up from £20.7M the previous year. Profits rose to £5.5M. Founded by Dimo Trifonov and Ana Kirova in 2014, the app has expanded globally, with £33M of its revenue now coming from outside the UK. Kirova became CEO in December 2023 and led a rebranding and technology upgrade. Ownership changes saw Kirova's stake increase to nearly 24% while Trifonov's share fell below 50%. Feeld now employs ~50 people.
99 posts categorized "Outlets - The Guardian"
'Throuples' Dating App Feeld Almost Doubles Turnover to £39.5M
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'Bumble Fumble': Online Dating Apps Struggle as People Swear off Swiping
THE GUARDIAN - The online dating industry is in crisis as shares fall and nearly half of all users report negative experiences with the apps. In May, Bumble ran an 'anti-celibacy' ad. The backlash to the "Bumble fumble" was swift, and the company apologized. Shares in Bumble crashed, and Match Group reported a decline in total paying users for seven quarters. According to Pew Research, nearly half of all online daters and more than half of female daters say their experiences have been negative. Also, 52% of online daters said they had come across someone they thought was trying to scam them; 57% of women said online dating is not too or not at all safe.
The online dating industry is relatively small, at several billion in annual revenues, compared with multitrillion-dollar social media tech giants, says Mark Brooks, an industry consultant and co-editor of Online Personals Watch. "People are getting wise to swiping," Brooks says. "It was deadly to old-school dating apps, like eHarmony, that took a high-integrity approach by saying, 'If you're really serious, you can answer 200 questions, and then we can do a semi-decent job of matching you with someone.'" "Mobile completely disrupted online, and it created this addictive behavior."
Nor did the development of swipe-based dating apps replace the missed connections classified ads section of a local newspaper. "It's not 'missed connections' because these are connections that were never even missed," Brooks says. The French app Happn is the closest you'll get to serendipity. At heart, Brooks says, online dating needs to get back to basics and overcome the paradox of choice.
But the pure utility of online dating is not in terminal decline, he thinks, because it allows people to get the tough questions out of the way right up front. "For people looking for long-term relationships, there will always be certain show-stopping questions, among them: Do you want to get married? Are you married? Do you have kids? Do you smoke?" he says. The goal is, as ever, what Brooks calls a BLR: a "beautiful, loving relationship."
"Chemistry is key - but looking for a long - or short-term partner, it's wise to know their sexual preferences, lifestyle, location, and religion right up front."
by Edward Helmore
See full article at The Guardian
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Exploring the Effectiveness of Dating Apps Between Profit Motives and Genuine Matchmaking
THE GUARDIAN - The effectiveness of dating apps like Tinder and Hinge in truly helping people find compatible partners is still uncertain due to limited access to their data and unclear scientific validation of their matching algorithms. Researchers Elizabeth Bruch and Amie Gordon from the University of Michigan are addressing this gap by creating a new dating app to serve as both a matchmaking tool and a research platform. Their aim is to explore and better understand the dynamics of romantic relationships. They hope to offer a transparent approach to dating apps, challenging existing models that have been criticized for potentially addictive designs. According to anthropologist Natasha Schüll, these commercial apps are designed in ways that are more about keeping users engaged - similar to slot machines - rather than effectively facilitating meaningful connections. This perspective raises concerns about the business models of these apps, suggesting they prioritize profit over successful matchmaking.
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How 15 Years of Grindr Has Affected Gay Communities and Dating Culture
THE GUARDIAN - "We [gay men] kind of created the concept of online dating," claims Grindr's CEO, George Arison. Prior to Grindr, gay men had found connection through a variety of means, including classified ads, phone chat lines and, during the late 1990s and 2000s, dating sites such as Gaydar and Manhunt, with the former having 5M subscribers in 2009. While Match.com was launched in 1995, before Gaydar and Manhunt, Arison claims many straight people were still "weirded out" by the concept of online dating at that time. Then, in 2009, along came Grindr. Founded and launched by Joel Simkhai just nine months after Apple added GPS functionality to the iPhone, it was one of, if not the first popular location-based dating apps in the world, a full three years before Tinder was launched. Fifteen years on, its core functionality remains largely unchanged. It allows users to chat with other gay and bisexual men in their immediate area (with location details down to the number of feet away another user is) and arrange to meet up - often for sex.
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Romance Scam Victims Launch Support Website, Seek Greater Police Action
THE GUARDIAN - Cecilie Fjellhøy and Anna Rowe, victims of romance fraud, have established LoveSaid, a platform to support others similarly affected. Fjellhøy, conned out of $250K by a man posing as a high-level diamond trader, and featured in Netflix's "The Tinder Swindler," is taking action after experiencing a lack of serious response from law enforcement. Rowe, deceived and sexually exploited by a man she believed loved her, faced initial police dismissiveness and became a self-made investigator, uncovering multiple similar cases. Data from Lloyds Bank shows a 30% increase in romance scams last year, affecting more men and particularly targeting individuals aged 65 to 74. The City of London police reported ~8K fraud cases resulting in losses exceeding £92M in the last financial year.
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Swiping Left on Online Dating: the Return to Real-Life Connections
THE GUARDIAN - For the past ten years, dating apps have been a central part of the dating scene. However, a growing number of individuals are becoming disillusioned with the swiping culture and are exploring alternatives. Some reasons for the disillusionment include fake profiles, the superficial nature of app-based interactions, and the negative impacts on mental well-being. Tinder, one of the world's most popular dating apps, saw its user base drop by 5% in 2021. Furthermore, over 90% of Gen Z expresses frustration with dating apps. People are now searching for alternative methods to meet potential partners. Some are revisiting old practices like being set up by friends or family, while others are trying out new methods like wearing a "Pear ring," indicating they're open to being approached. Other alternatives include "slow dating" events, workshops focused on flirting, and single mixers.
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TikTok Has Matchmaking Service for Staff to Play Cupid for Co-workers
THE GUARDIAN - TikTok has a channel called Meet Cute on its internal platform, ByteMoments, allowing employees to play matchmaker for their colleagues, introducing them to friends and family as potential romantic partners. Initially designed for employees in mainland China, it displays information similar to typical dating apps and lets colleagues comment on and evaluate the posts. However, some employees feel this feature is an "encroachment on personal boundaries." The service has guidelines to prevent the posting of employees' personal information and is part of a broader trend, with companies like Alibaba and Huawei offering similar services.
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Housing Crisis Influencing Modern Dating Dynamics
THE GUARDIAN - The ongoing housing crisis is significantly impacting the dynamics of modern dating, according to numerous reports. Some have suggested this could lead to a return of a "Jane Austen-style marriage market," where relationships are formed primarily based on financial and housing security. Data from a 2022 SpareRoom survey found that a quarter of respondents would consider moving in with a partner earlier than planned to save money, while the lack of affordable housing is keeping some couples together even after their relationship has ended.
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Dating Apps Must Share Information About Threatening Behaviour, Says Australia's eSafety Watchdog
THE GUARDIAN - Dating apps must cooperate to share information about "bad actors" using their services to abuse and harass other users, Australia's eSafety Commissioner said, as new data shows three-quarters of Australian adults reported at least one negative online experience in the last year. Julie Inman Grant said her agency may soon issue legal notices to online dating services, compelling them to report on how they are responding to violence and threats.
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The Rise of Blind Dating Apps
THE GUARDIAN - More and more online daters are choosing to start conversations without vetting each other's profile pictures. Blindlee is a blind dating app that hosts three-minute blurred video calls between users who match each other's criteria. In-app popups offer ice-breaker prompts and, as time goes on, the option to gradually unblur the video image. After three minutes, the app asks participants if they want to continue the conversation - if they both say yes, only then will it create a match and conversation can continue. The app launched in 2019 but experienced a boom during the pandemic. S'More is another relative newcomer to the online dating market, where users' photos are obscured until 15 messages have been sent back and forth. "70% of the conversations continue after photos have been revealed," says S'More's CEO, Adam Cohen-Aslatei. The app launched in June 2020 in the US, where it has 400K users and is the country's fastest growing dating product. A UK launch is imminent. Tinder also added a "Fast Chat: Blind Date" feature this year.
by Leah Harper
See full article at The Guardian
See the top news on Blindlee
See the top news on S'More
See the top news on Tinder
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Tinder Turns 10: What Have We Learned From a Decade of Dating Apps?
THE GUARDIAN - A decade ago, online dating existed through sites such as match and OKCupid tended to attract older users, and had a stigma. Apps like Grindr (launched 2009), and Tinder (2012) radically changed online dating. Emily Witt, the author of Future Sex, a book that examines sex in the internet age, tells Nosheen Iqbal about the origin story of Tinder, meeting the founders, and why it was such an instant success. Dating apps have grown in response to a culture where people are single longer and a changing sexual morality that's open to different kinds of relationships.
by Nosheen Iqbal
See full article at The Guardian
See the top news on Tinder
See the top news on OkCupid
See the top news on Grindr
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UK Dating App Fluttr Aims to Beat the 'Tinder Swindlers' With Biometric ID
THE GUARDIAN - Dating app Fluttr is promising to eradicate Tinder Swindler-style romance fraud, which cost duped daters ~£100M last year, by ensuring that all members complete biometric ID verification before they digitally mingle. Fluttr has partnered with digital verification firm Yoti, which has clients including the NHS, Post Office and National Union of Students, to ensure all would-be daters are providing the correct personal details matched to government-issued documents.
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Romance Scams Robbed Britons of £100M Last Year
THE GUARDIAN - According to Action Fraud, the UK's reporting center for fraud and cybercrime, 8,863 cases were reported to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) between November 2020 and October 2021, up from 6,968 the previous year, with total losses for the past year amounting to £92M. These figures are likely to be the tip of the iceberg - Action Fraud says the shame and stigma around romance fraud mean many people don't report it. The love-bombing tactic used by such scammers can be hard to resist.
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The Start of the Post-Tinder Era
THE GUARDIAN - June 29 - Women are at the forefront of developing new dating tech. Following on the heels of Whitney Wolfe Herd there are others trying to build more female-friendly platforms. Clementine Lalande, 37, launched Pickable in 2018 for women who wanted more discretion. Women don't need to upload a photo or give their name, so they can browse men's profiles anonymously. In 2015, along with a friend, Lalande also helped create the "slow dating" app Once, which delivers one match a day. The app has 10M users. "Online dating is a market designed by men for men and is governed in a non-transparent way," says Paris-based Lalande, CEO of the Once Dating Group. Jessica and Louella Alderson set up So Syncd in January 2021 after raising ~$1M (£700,000) through a combination of venture capital, an investment club, angel investors and family. The app matches couples based on the Myers-Briggs personality test. One of the first employees at Plenty Of Fish, Kim Kaplan shifted to angel investing before setting up video dating app Snack in Sep 2020. The app, whose engineering team comprises 43% women, aims to combine the matching algorithms of dating platforms like Tinder with streaming platforms such as TikTok.
by Tina Walsh
See full article at The Guardian
See the top news on Once See the top news on So Syncd
See the top news on Pickable See the top news on Snack
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Apple's New Policy Doesn't Mean It's Banning Grindr
THE GUARDIAN - June 15 - Apple's announcement last week that it was cracking down on some "hookup apps" sparked widespread confusion and concern that the company planned to remove dating apps - particularly Grindr and Scruff - from its app store. A spokesman from Apple said dating apps such as Grindr and Scruff would not be rejected based on the new guidelines. The guidelines ban "overtly sexual or pornographic material" including "'hookup' apps that may include pornography or be used to facilitate prostitution". The company defines this as "explicit descriptions or displays of sexual organs or activities intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings". Apple did not name any apps that would be affected.
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