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

Gay Dating App Growlr is Now Owned by Straight People

OUT.COM - Mar 12 - After being founded in 2010 by Coley Cummiskey and becoming a "by bears, for bears" social media app, Growlr is now part of The Meet Group. Its new owners already have big plans for the platform, namely introducing livestreaming by the end of the year. The Meet Group plans to invest in marketing and grow the team (it had before just been Cummiskey and his husband Frank Rollins). Growlr is The Meet Group's fourth purchase in three years. Cummiskey and his husband will stay on with Growlr for at least a year, as per their contracts.

by Mikelle Street
See full article at Out.com

See all posts on The Meet Group
See all posts on Growlr

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Hire Us

Aussie Sexual Health Firm Ads Blocked on Tinder

STUFF.CO.NZ - Mar 12 - James Sneddon wants to boost awareness of his Australian startup Stigma Health, but a sales representative of Tinder told him that there was little chance the startup would be able to advertise on the app because "we won't run anything that involves sexual behaviour". Stigma Health lets patients book referrals for pathology centres online so they can undergo sexual health tests and have their results messaged directly to them without the need for face-to-face interactions or phone calls. The business has just started generating revenue in the tens of thousands of dollars, but Sneddon says there's an opportunity to scale significantly in the next two years. The trouble has been developing a digital advertising strategy. Nine of the company's ads have been removed from Facebook for failing to meet advertising standards.

by Emma Koehn
See full article at Stuff.co.nz

See all posts on Tinder 

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Hire Us

Refrigerdating: When the Fridge Plays Matchmaker

NEW YORK TIMES - Mar 12 - The first time John Stonehill was invited back to his girlfriend's house, he headed straight for the refrigerator. "I came away knowing a great deal about her," Mr. Stonehill said. "Refrigerators are filled with clues about the people who own them." That idea gave rise to what he calls "refrigerdating." He helped Samsung come up with a Refrigerdating app to prove we are what we eat. The app works with Samsung's Family Hub refrigerator, which sells for ~$3K and has a screen in the door that can show you the contents of your fridge. The idea is that you can look at your phone while you're at the store to find out if you're out of milk. But the dating app lets you see the inside of someone else's fridge. Gleaning information from what we eat may be an unusual way to meet a mate, but does it reveal who we really are? A study in the journal Appetite found, for example, that risk takers tend to like spicy food. And researchers from North Dakota State University reported that people with a sweet tooth tend to have sweet personalities.

by Michele C. Hollow
See full article at New York Times

See all posts on Refridgerdating

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Hire Us

SeekingArrangement's Report: Universities With the Most Sugar Babies

FOX11 - Mar 12 - SeekingArrangement, the world's largest "sugar daddy" dating site, lists the "Fastest Growing Sugar Baby Schools." The company states that ~2.5M of the 20M members on the site are American college students. The report states that student loan debt in the US has quadrupled from 2004 to 2017. Additionally, the average yearly cost of tuition and fees at a public, four-year institution has more than doubled since 2001 to $9,510, according to the College Board.

Top 3 fastest growing sugar baby schools:

• Georgia State University (306 new sugar baby sign-ups in 2018, 1304 student members in 2018)
• University of Central Florida (296 new sugar baby sign-ups in 2018, 1068 student members in 2018)
• University of Alabama (270 new sugar baby sign-ups in 2018, 968 student members in 2018)

by Mary Stringini
See full article at Fox11

See all posts on SeekingArrangement

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Hire Us

Indian Dating App Woo Launches Woo Phone Feature to Empower Women

OPW - Mar 11 - Woo Phone allows women to call their matched profiles from within the dating app without revealing their phone numbers. This feature is exclusively available to women.

See all posts on Woo

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Hire Us

Dating App McCoy Launches at SXSW in Austin

PR NEWSWIRE - Mar 11 - McCoy is a new dating app that allows singles to match then instantly meet up, offering a wide range of curated dates as in-app purchases. Founders Jake Banks & Muneeb Bokhari want to move singles away from the screens into real-life dates. McCoy offers deals on everything from concert tickets to dinner dates. "Launching at SXSW's Startup Spotlight, the feedback has been phenomenal," says Banks. The app is now live in LA, Austin and New York.

See full article at PR Newswire

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Hire Us

Dating App Hily Officially Launches in the UK

PRESS RELEASE - Mar 11 - Hily, the US dating app that stands for "Hey, I Like You", is launching in the UK this week. Hily provides a high level of safety and security through profile verification. The unique feature of the app is the usage of AI. Hily analyses users' likes, matches, and dialogues to create a personalized set of potential partners.

See all posts on Hily

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Hire Us

Deep Learning-Powered 'Fake Faces' Will Transform Catfishing

FORBES - Mar 11 - Catfishing and the use of false profiles to scam and extort people online has become an unfortunate fact of our modern digital life. Deep learning now allows the creation of entirely artificial faces and voices. It is possible to create fake faces reflecting any demographic background and age. While the photos still contains tell-tale imperfections that give it away to the trained eye, the average person is unlikely to see if the image is fake, especially when viewed on the small screen of a mobile device while on the go.

by Kalev Leetaru
See full article at Forbes

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Hire Us

Dating App "Bare" Lets Users Share Nude Pics but Asks for ID First

DAILYSTAR.CO.UK - Mar 11 - A new dating app on which users can choose to share naked pictures of themselves is set to launch in the UK. The dating app's owners said giving people the choice to bare all could give it an edge over Tinder and Bumble. But users will not be able to immediately share nude snaps with each other – which BARE's founders say will ease users' fears of receiving unsolicited photos. Members would need to provide ID before using the app. Bare is set to launch this summer.

by Anders Anglesey
See full article at DailyStar.co.uk

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Hire Us

Vivek Jain Co-creates a Video Dating App With Comedian Norm MacDonald

CBC.CA - Mar 11 - Vivek Jain has had a career that's seen him bounce from Bermuda, New York and London. He's bought a football team with Motley Crue's Vince Neal, and his latest venture has seen him come up with a video dating app that he launched with comedian Norm MacDonald. MacDonald and Jain ended up meeting at a technology conference and hitting it off, followed by meeting again on a plane. The two stayed in touch, so when Jain told MacDonald about how his kids were telling him he should go out and date more, they began brainstorming ideas for dating apps. They came up with an idea for a video dating app called LOKO, that would allow people to see each other and talk before meeting.

by Janani Whitfield
See full article at CBC.ca

See all posts on Loko

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Hire Us

Psychiatrist Warns 'Gamification' of Dating Apps Is Harmful

DAILYMAIL - Mar 9 - The 'gamification' of dating apps is damaging singleton's chances of spotting the right match for them, a psychiatrist has warned. The practice has become so addictive that more than one in 10 users swipe for over 14 hours a week, a survey has revealed. Men were found to be more promiscuous with dating apps than women, with 40% using three or more apps at a time. One in ten men admitted to using more than five dating apps at the same time. A quarter of women revealed they hadn't been on a single date in the past six months. The survey was commissioned by Alex Durrant, CEO of JigTalk, a dating app that aims to put 'personality' rather than 'looks' at the forefront of online dating.

by Yuan Ren
See full article at DailyMail

See all posts on JigTalk

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Hire Us

Christians Demand Walmart Take Down Gay Dating Ad

CHRISTIAN POST - Mar 9 - 137K people have signed a petition urging Walmart to take down its gay dating ad. Last month, Walmart launched a Valentine's Day themed ad campaign called "Love Is in the Aisle: A Dating Show at Walmart," which had three episodes, one of which included a same-sex couple. In a petition started last week, the socially conservative American Family Association denounced the ad and called on Walmart to "remain neutral in culture war" and "remove pro-homosexual promotional video."

by Michael Grybovski
See full article at Christian Post

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Hire Us

Matchmakers Emerge as an Antidote to the Agony of Online Dating

WALL STREET JOURNAL - Mar 8 - In a 2018 Match.com survey, 55% of respondents said technology makes personal connections harder to make, and 54% felt overwhelmed by the work involved. Melissa Brown, CEO of It's Just Lunch, a matchmaking service founded in 1991, says the company has seen its fastest growth in the past couple of years among daters in their 20s and 30s. "They're sick of the swiping and the countless hours of talking to people that goes nowhere," she said. Three Day Rule, another matchmaking service, grew out of Talia Goldstein's LA apartment, where in 2013 she would host large parties in hopes of fixing up friends. Now CEO of the company, she secured funding from Match Group, and her company boasts ~700 users across 10 cities. Its services start at $5,500. Clients receive professional photo shoots, and matchmakers help them write texts to prospective dates and shop for appropriate clothes. After each date, the matchmaker will check in with both parties and give the client feedback.

by Michelle Hackman
See full article at Wall Street Journal

See all posts on It's Just Lunch
See all posts on Three Day Rule

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Hire Us

Tinder CEO Elie Seidman on Dating, India and Privacy

HINDUSTAN TIMES - Mar 9 - In India, Tinder competes with apps like Bumble, Truly Madly and OK Cupid. Tinder CEO Elie Seidman said markets like India, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam will be the future markets for growth, based purely on population-driven factors. Tinder launched in India 3 years ago, and is now the second grossing app on the App Store. "Indian women on Tinder super-like at a rate that is much higher than women anywhere else in the world," Seidman said.

Q: How much of the company's focus is on data privacy?
Seidman: We are compliant with the GDPR around the globe. Even though that's a European regulation. Our business model is not driven by the sale of advertising, it's driven by the sale of premium features.

Q: How do you build trust on Tinder?
A: We have a community team, which is a large team that directly monitors trust and safety. And there is a bunch of AI and machine learning that's working and helping us monitor what's happening.

Q: How critical is India for Tinder?
A: India is the biggest market for us in Asia. The vast majority of people who use Tinder currently use it for free.

Q: Do you think the freemium model of subscription is sustainable for the app economy in India, especially for Tinder?
A: We are very happy with the freemium model. I would expect that it remains the dominant way we make money.

by Vidhi Choudhary
See full article at Hindustan Times

See all posts on Tinder 

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Hire Us

Why Self-employed People Get More Response on Matrimonial Sites

INDIA TIMES - Mar 9 - In India, matrimonial profiles of self-employed people have traditionally been preferred by the business community. Rajasekar KS, general manager at Matrimony.com, which runs matchmaking website Bharat Matrimony, said there's been a marked increase in the preference for entrepreneurs over the last few years. "It is largely driven by the increasing success stories of entrepreneurs," he said. Gourav Rakshit, CEO of Shaadi.com, said: "Over 20% women have shown interest in entrepreneurs." Another change is that more women are now in control of their profiles, as opposed to their parents doing the monitoring.

by Anjali Venugopalan
See full article at India Times

See all posts on Shaadi
See all posts on Matrimony.com

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Hire Us

Houston's Alice Among Women-Led Startups Receiving Bumble Funding

XCONOMY - Mar 8 - Alice, a Houston-based digital community that connects women founders to resources tailored to their startup's needs, has received funding from the Bumble Fund. The fund, which was launched last July by Bumble, a women-oriented dating app, did not specify the amount it invested in the startups. Carolyn Rodz, Alice's founder and CEO, said in an interview that the funds will be used for software development as well as new hires. She also declined to specify Bumble's investment amount. Bumble Fund is also investing in three other startups: Gixo, a fitness app that says it turns smartphones into gyms; Translator, which makes diversity and inclusion training software for companies, schools, and nonprofits; and Promise, which makes software for criminal justice organizations to help reduce recidivism. Bumble says its venture fund makes investments ranging from $5K - to $250K in portfolio companies.

by Angela Shah
See full article at Xconomy

See all posts on Bumble

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Hire Us

Why The Meet Group Bought Gay Dating App Growlr

PHILADELPHIA BUSINESS JOURNAL - Mar 8 - The Meet Group acquired gay dating app Growlr for $11.8M this week. Growlr will join Meet's existing portfolio of MeetMe, Skout, Tagged and Lovoo. Meet announced the Growlr acquisition ahead of its Q4 and full year 2018 earnings call, when it saw $178.6M in total revenue, a 44% jump from 2017. Meet's been in talks with Growlr for more than a year, and Geoff Cook, CEO of The Meet Group, said the acquisition is part of its goal to expand into different audiences it doesn't already serve. The app, which counts ~200K global daily active users, came at a good value, he added, and once Meet integrates its live video features into Growlr, he believes it will be the first gay dating app in the country to do so and growth should follow. Growlr has just two employees who will join Meet.

by Michelle Caffrey
See full article at Philadelphia Business Journal

See all posts on The Meet Group
See all posts on Growlr

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Hire Us

MyLife Launches Online Dating ''Reputation Score'' Profile Rating Solution to Protect Women

ACCESSWIRE - Mar 8 - MyLife.com, the reputation platform; enhancing safety, credibility, and trust for marketplaces, is now offering its Reputation Score to online dating services, allowing single women and men to do surface level background checks on one-another prior to meeting in person. MyLife's Reputation Score solution provides an access to users' public background and social information.

See full article at Digital Journal

See all posts on MyLife

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Hire Us

ThisPersonDoesNotExist.com Uses AI to Generate Endless Fake Faces

THEVERGE - Mar 8 - The ability of AI to generate fake visuals is not yet mainstream knowledge, but a new website - ThisPersonDoesNotExist.com - offers a quick and persuasive education. The site is the creation of Philip Wang, a software engineer at Uber. The algorithm behind it is trained on a huge dataset of real images, then uses a type of neural network known as a generative adversarial network (or GAN) to fabricate new examples. "Each time you refresh the site, the network will generate a new facial image from scratch," wrote Wang in a Facebook post. He added in a statement to Motherboard: "Most people do not understand how good AIs will be at synthesizing images in the future." The ability to manipulate and generate realistic imagery at scale is going to have a huge effect on how modern societies think about evidence and trust. Such software could also be extremely useful for creating political propaganda and influence campaigns.

by James Vincent
See full article at The Verge

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Hire Us

Cybercrimes in Japan Edge up to Record High

JAPAN TIMES - Mar 8 - The number of cybercrimes confirmed by police nationwide in 2018, including many cases of child pornography and fraud, stood at 9,040, rising slightly to reach a record high for the third consecutive year, National Police Agency data showed Thursday. Among the 9,040 cybercrimes, the highest number, at 2,057, were related to child prostitution and child pornography, followed by 972 cases of fraud and 926 related to juveniles, such as sexual misconduct involving youth age 18 or younger through online dating.

See full article at Japan Times

Subscribe to OPW + Join IDEA + Hire Us