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

Could Tencent Topple Momo as the "Tinder of China"?

THE MOTLEY FOOL - Dec 25 - Tencent, the Chinese tech giant, has unveiled three new dating apps over the past few months. Tencent rules China's mobile messaging market with WeChat, which serves 1.15B monthly active users. Meanwhile, Momo is the top online dating platform in China. Momo's smaller app, Tantan, is a Chinese clone of Tinder. Momo's core app had 114.1M MAUs last quarter, and 13.4M of them bought virtual gifts or signed up for premium dating services on Momo and Tantan. Tencent recently launched an anonymous video dating app called Maohu, a Tinder-like app called Qingliao ("Light Chat"), and a reboot of its Pengyou ("Friends") app as a social network with an opt-in dating feature. What's Tencent up to? WeChat's MAUs grew 6% annually last quarter, but it's only a matter of time before this ubiquitous "super app" runs out of room to grow in China. Meanwhile, Gen Z-oriented rivals like ByteDance's TikTok and Bilibili are attracting younger users, while WeChat seems shackled to its reputation as an app for older users. Simply put, Tencent needs new ways to reach younger users, and Momo's streak of double-digit revenue growth suggests that online dating is still a fertile market. Investors shouldn't assume that Tencent will crush Momo yet, since Momo still enjoys a first mover's advantage in the market. However, investors should keep a close eye on Tencent's three new apps - and see if they pull users away from Momo and Tantan.

by Leo Sun
See full article at The Motley Fool

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Tencent Has a New Tinder-like Dating App

ABACUS NEWS - Nov 21 - Tencent, operator of China's social network app WeChat, is ramping up its push into dating with a new Tinder-like app. Qingliao, meaning light chat in Chinese, is now allowing users to sign up when they request an invitation code on WeChat by submitting a photo and listing their occupation or school. The new app works similarly to Tinder and Tantan, but without the swiping. Users have to tap a heart or an X to anonymously like or pass on other users. When two users like each other, they're matched up and can start chatting. And unlike Tinder and Tantan, Qingliao limits the total number of profiles users can see within a certain time period. Men are shown 15 profiles every 18 hours and women can see 22.

by Xinmei Shen
See full article at Abacus News