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

Dating Sites Depend On Algorithm

WASHINGTON POST - Oct 21 - When Aaron Schild­krout co-founded HowAboutWe.com, he wanted it to be something different than the other dating sites, which relied on mathematical calculations to match singles. But now HowAboutWe depends on formulas. “We need to get smarter about who we show you", Schildkrout said. HAW team created an algorithm that combines a users’ profile info with their behavior on the site. Match.com President Amarnath Thombre says what users often say they are looking for is not always the kinds of profiles they view. Match.com implemented a user-action-driven algorithm in 2009. AshleyMadison.com's algorithm is frequently adjusted to reflect aggregate user behavior and individual preferences. In 2002 married women searched for married men, but today, ~12% are interested in single partners.

by Mohana Ravindranath
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Dating Startup Hinge Expanding To New York

WASHINGTON POST - May 6 - Hinge, a free dating app that connects users to the friends of their Facebook friends, plans to launch in New York this summer. The app has attracted ~10K users since its launch in the Washington area in February. Every day at noon, Hinge users receive a batch of their Facebook friends’ single friends, and can indicate if they’re interested. If two users mutually indicate interest, Hinge sends an e-mail introduction. In the future, the team plans to incorporate third-degree connections — friends of friends of friends.

by Mohana Ravindranath
See full article at Washington Post

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Hinge Helps Users Date Friends Of Facebook Friends

WASHINGTON POST - Feb 14 - Justin McLeod recently started a D.C.-based mobile dating app called Hinge, which lets users rank and connect with their friends’ Facebook friends. Every day at noon, Hinge users who sign up using their Facebook accounts receive a batch of 25 profiles of potential matches collected from a pool of their friends’ friends. Users rank the profiles on a scale from 1 to 5. If two people rank each other at 4 or 5, Hinge sends a “match” introduction to both. Hinge’s algorithm weeds out users who are listed on Facebook as married or in a relationship, who aren’t local, and who are out of users’ desired age range. Since its launch last week, Hinge’s app has been installed a couple thousand times. The app has already produced ~600 matches.

by Mohana Ravindranath
See full article at Washington Post

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