BLOOMBERG - Match Group was one of the worst performers on the S&P 500 last year, plunging ~70% as investors fretted that the app was losing its mojo. Downloads have declined since 2020, and paid user growth has slowed. Attracting and retaining Gen Z and women is a top priority for Match's new CEO Bernard Kim, who ousted Tinder's management team after taking over in June. Young people are increasingly turning to apps that offer a more progressive dating experience and emphasize more serious relationships. Tinder’s global monthly active users have been flat since the end of 2019, whereas Bumble and Hinge's users have respectively increased 87% and 140% in the same period, according to Sensor Tower data. Tinder still has room to grow. Tinder needs to do a better job attracting Gen Z and women. Male users are thought to significantly outnumber women on Tinder, which doesn't disclose the ratio. Making women feel safer and more comfortable is part of Kim's new strategy.
Tinder Finally Wants to Define the Relationship
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Ambassador Cruise Line Partners With OurTime Dating App
CRUISE INDUSTRY NEWS - The OurTime dating app offers singles over 50 the opportunity to meet new people, while Ambassador's no-fly cruises are ideal for single travelers. Thus, the two companies partnered to help encourage guests to make new friendships while cruising. Ambassador Cruise Line is giving away two £1K vouchers to OurTime members and 10% off solo cabins until Jan 31.
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Dating App Thursday Organizes a Ski-Trip for 1K Singles
LINKEDIN - The dating app Thursday has announced a ski trip for 1000 singles to France on April 15 - 22nd, 2023. ~4K people said they want to come in 24 hours, according to the LinkedIn post of Thursday's co-founder & CEO George Rawlings. Singles can register here. Over 4000 people said they want to come in 24 hours. All registrations will also be entered into a prize draw to win two free places on the trip.
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FITFCK - Dating Brand for Gym-Enthusiasts
BODYBUILDING - FITFCK (pronounced "fit-eff-see-kay"), is a fitness dating brand designed to connect like minded gym lovers through IRL fitness dating events and a soon-to-be released fitness dating app. The brand was founded by Jamie Wykes-Hobday, who was dumped just weeks before heading to the stage for a bodybuilding show. FITFCK will be available for IOS and android users in 2023.
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Match Group Stock Gained 1% in One Week
FORBES - Match Group stock has gained 1.2% in the last week, outperforming the S&P 500 (down 0.5%). However, the opposite trend was observed over the last ten days (-2.1% vs -0.6%) and a one-month period (-18% vs -6.5%). Notably, the stock lost 69% in 2022. The negative investor sentiment was because of several management changes, the negative impact of foreign exchange movements, and a slowdown in revenue growth.
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Dating Apps Are Changing - Swiping Is out
INEWS.CO.UK - Behavioural psychologist B.F Skinner found that pigeons in a Skinner Box will persistently press a lever that delivers an edible treat if the reward is uncertain, rather than guaranteed. This behavior is driven by a phenomenon known as intermittent reinforcement: the irregular delivery of a reward yields greater effort to obtain that reward. The dystopian reality is that swiping apps have created a human Skinner box. As we start to feel burnt out by toxic interactions, high-volume swiping, and the gamified experience of finding love, the dating industry is responding with innovation. One example is the dating site Swan. Users take a personality test and are set up with one date every four weeks. The dates are selected by a combination of AI and human matchmakers. Blindlee, another newcomer, works by hosting short calls between users who have matched to each other's criteria but not yet been allowed to see each other. The video call begins blurry and slowly unblures. Blindlee requires both users to be online at the same time to be able to message or match with each other.
by Phoebe Arslanagić-Wakefield
See full article at Inews.co.uk
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Announcing LTR Edition 18 With Geoff Cook (CEO of The Meet Group), and Steven Macecevic (CEO of Datefit)
OPW - Edition 18 of the LTR (Love, Tech, Relationships) online experience will be on Wed 11th January at 12 noon EST (New York time). In this edition, we will hear from Geoff Cook, CEO/Co-Founder of The Meet Group & co-CEO of ParshipMeet Group, on the topic of "Stepping Stones to Innovation", followed by Steven Macecevic, CEO of Datefit, who will give you some great tips about influencer marketing.
We have a half-hour of networking on virtual tables, followed by 50 mins of presentations, and then another short networking session. 1.5 hours all-in.
If you hold a full-time leadership role at an Internet dating company then you are welcome to join IDEA for free and welcome to join LTR events for free.
See the LTR Edition 18 speakers and invite page here
Email mark@courtlandbrooks.com to RSVP.
This LTR is kindly sponsored by technology providers Livebox by The Meet Group, RealGifts, Courtland Brooks and Matchmaker.com
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The Meet Group Joins the Tech Coalition Combat Online Abuse
BUSINESSWIRE - The Meet Group, a top provider of live-streaming video and creator economy solutions, joins the Tech Coalition, a global alliance working to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse online. Members include major tech companies like Google, Apple, Bumble, and Pinterest. Tech Coalition members collaborate to adopt best practices for keeping children safe online.
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New Dating App Tame Dubbed 'Online Prison'
METRO.CO.UK - On Tame, a new dating app, users can match with only one person at a time. When conversing with someone, all other profiles are hidden. There’s no swiping, inactive accounts for a week will be deleted, and there's also a balanced gender ratio, meaning users might have to go onto a waiting list if there are too many men or women. If a user decides he/she no longer wants to continue chatting with their match, they have to justify why they're ending the conversation. The brand has come under fire on Instagram, where one commenter said: 'This sounds like a hostage situation, not gonna lie.' Another wrote: 'Demanding people to explain why they want to quit talking to someone they barely know a) reinforces the disturbing ideology that "no" isn't a complete answer and needs justification and b) puts women in danger.'
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Muzz 2022 Recap
OPW - Muzz (formerly Muzmatch) is taking a look at 2022 and everything that happened last year as the company approaches ~8M members worldwide. Despite losing the legal battle with Match Group when it lost the right to use the word "match" in its name, Muzz had a record-breaking year of growth and viral marketing campaigns. In 2022, Muzz took over the Pakistani market, opened an office in the USA, launched in France, raised money for multiple charities, and opened a school in Pakistan!
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Mandy Ginsberg and Shar Dubey Were Match Group CEOs and Best Friends
FORTUNE - Ginsberg and Dubey worked as an inseparable unit across various jobs and corporations for two decades. They once tried to pitch Match Group's board, without success, on a co-CEO structure. Ginsberg and Dubey met at the software business i2 Technologies in Dallas in 2001. They became near-instant friends. In 2006, Ginsberg left i2 to join Match Group. Match was launching Chemistry, and wanted Ginsberg to run it. Two weeks in, she asked if Dubey knew anyone who could help with product. Dubey nominated herself - and got the job. In 2016, Ginsberg became CEO of Match Group, North America, and Dubey worked alongside her as president for the region. Each woman has the skills the other feels she lacks. Dubey has often grounded Ginsberg and helped her execute her vision, while Ginsberg serves as Dubey's personal hype-woman, prying her out of her shell. Dubey took over from Ginsberg in Mar 2020. She guided the company through its pivot to remote work and the changing norms of online dating. She became a vocal critic of Apple. Even though Ginsberg was no longer in the Match C-suite, Dubey still turned to her for guidance. "People complain that it's lonely at the top, but I never felt it," Dubey says. Frequent corporate restructuring makes it difficult to measure Match's growth and performance during Dubey and Ginsberg's tenures at the company. Their first team at the Match brand numbered ~200. Today, the company employs ~2,500 people. At the end of 2017, just before Ginsberg took over, Match was a $1.7B business; by the time Dubey left, it was earning $3B in annual revenue.
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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
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