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

Tinder to Launch Its First Scripted Video Series

REUTERS - Sep 17 - Tinder has wrapped filming on its first television series. Making new shows is part of a larger strategy that will be revealed in the near future. The multi-episode series centers on an "apocalyptic" storyline and includes a relationship sub plot. It was filmed in Mexico City in late August. Offering original content is an increasingly popular strategy for the technology and retail industries. The strategy seeks to engage users on a deeper level even when they are not using the service.

by David Alire Garcia & Angela Moon
See full article at Reuters

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Top Dating News - Facebook Dating U.S. Launch, Comscore UK Report, and Tinder's Match Time

OPW - Sep 10 - Here's the top dating news in ~2 minutes. Subscribe to Two Minute Tuesdays (TMT) on Youtube (and turn on notifications) or to the podcast on Breaker, Google podcasts, Spotify, Anchor or Stitcher. 

Facebook Dating vs. Match.com vs. Tinder

BENZINGA - Sep 8 - Here's a comparison of Facebook Dating with Match.com and Tinder.

Cost
Facebook - Free. At first, it will also be without ads
Match.com - A basic profile is free. The premium annual subscription is ~$20 a month.
Tinder: Basic Tinder is free. Tinder Plus costs $9.99/month.

Safety
Facebook: Lets users on a date share real-time location with friends on Facebook Messenger.
Match.com: Report abuse or assault in the app or online.

User Numbers
Facebook: Unknown; Facebook hasn't disclosed.
Match.com: Average subscribers on all of Match Group's apps grew 18% to 9.1M in the Q2 of 2019.
Tinder: 5.2M as of Q2 2019

How Old Are These People?
Facebook: undisclosed, but users on the overall platform are between 25 and 34
Match.com: 28% are 54- 74, 36% are 39 - 53 and 31% are 24 - 38

by Dave Royse
See full article at Yahoo Finance

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Tinder Launches New Feature in Brazil, Called Match Time

CANALTECH - Sep 4 - This week, Tinder rolled out a new feature Tinder Time feature in Brazil. Tinder Time notifies users when there is a high activity on the app. According to Tinder, during a peak period the activity within the app goes up 15x, so the chance of scoring a match goes up 250%.

by Nathan Vieira
See full article at Canaltech

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Tinder Seeks Arbitration for Ex-Exec's Sexual Assault Claims

LAW360 - Aug 30 - Rosette Pambakian, a former Tinder marketing executive claiming the dating app and its parent company unlawfully fired her after conducting an investigation into her alleged sexual assault by Tinder's former CEO Gregory Blatt, must pursue her claims in arbitration. Rosette Pambakian, who was Tinder's head of marketing and communications, signed an agreement that requires her to resolve all employment-related issues outside of court, the dating app, parent company Match Group and Gregory Blatt told the judge Wednesday in a motion to compel arbitration.

See full article at Law360

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Russian Web Activists Joust With Kremlin to Keep Internet Free

WALL STREET JOURNAL - Aug 22 - As Vladimir Putin's Russia increasingly cracks down on Internet freedoms, a band of self-styled pirates is fighting back. The group of fewer than a dozen lawyers and techies calling themselves Roskomsvoboda (Russian Communications Freedom) has unblocked banned websites, mounted legal cases and recently revealed that Moscow had ordered dating app Tinder to share user information with security services, setting off fresh debate over Moscow's tightening grip on the Internet. Roskomsvoboda's main objective now is to prevent Mr. Putin's government from advancing plans to install a "kill switch" that would allow Russia to firewall itself from the rest of the Internet, much as China does. Russia has banned ~200K sites, and bloggers are now required to register as media, which subjects them to greater government pressure. The new kill switch is scheduled to go live in November.

by Georgi Kantchev
See full article at Wall Street Journal

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Top Dating News - New Laws, Herrick vs Grindr, Tinder/Bumble on-campus

OPW - Aug 20 - Here's the top dating news in ~2 minutes. Subscribe to Two Minute Tuesdays (TMT) on Youtube (and turn on notifications) or to the podcast on Breaker, Google podcasts, Spotify, Anchor or Stitcher. 

Dating Apps and Brand Collaborations Should Be Fun for Users

THE DRUM - Aug 20 - Over the past five years, the objective of dating apps has changed. It's no longer about finding the one, it's about having some fun. When Domino's Pizza showed up as the first brand to advertise on Tinder, it was a hugely successful partnership. Tinder users 'swiped right' for Domino's, which led to the brand matching with over 700 people, reaching 230K and providing the opportunity to talk directly to consumers in an engaging fun and social way. Companies such as Uber, and Spotify have embraced dating apps as a key channel to target a younger, digitally-driven demographic. Last year, TV network HBO and dating app Bumble collaborated to host a two-night event, 'stay home at the movies'. Winners were invited to spend the evening watching a movie at a $30M flat in New York City and they could choose to bring either a Bumble BFF or Bumble date as their plus-one. The most memorable campaigns are those that give the people what they want right now: fun.

by Lily Aey
See full article at The Drum

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Tinder Is Now the Top Dating App in Thailand

BANGKOKPOST - Aug 19 - In Thailand, Badoo was once the most downloaded dating app, but has been overtaken by Tinder. To Tinder, this is a surprising achievement because Asia was not their target market when the app was introduced in 2012. Seeing the high demand in Asia, Tinder is now working on building a new version of the app called "Tinder Lite". Tinder Lite will be 25% faster while consuming 20% less battery on devices and it will take up 25-times less storage space on Android device. Match Group believes Asia will comprise 25% of Tinder's total revenue by 2023.

by Sopheavuthtey Borin
See full article at Bangkok Post

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Match Group Is IAC's Best Asset

BARRON'S - Aug 16 - Match is among IAC's greatest hits. The stock has nearly doubled this year alone, thanks largely to Tinder. IAC sold a portion of Match in a 2015 IPO at $12. The stock is now $85, and IAC's Match stake is worth close to $19B. It accounts for ~90% of IAC's current $21B market value. But Match is obscuring IAC's overall value. "Match has gotten so big and successful and is such a significant part of IAC, that one became a proxy for the other," IAC CEO Joey Levin says. So IAC is considering distributing Match shares to its shareholders in a tax-free transaction. And IAC is thinking about a similar handoff of its 84% stake in ANGI Homeservices. IAC's stakes in Match and ANGI are now worth more than IAC itself, so distributing those shares should unlock value. Without Match and ANGI, IAC would effectively be an incubator again, with a handful of promising businesses already generating considerable revenue. The best known is Vimeo which generated Q2 revenue of $45.7M, up 16% YOY.

by Eric J. Savitz
See full article at Barron's

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Dating Apps Can Serve as Professional Networking Platforms

FAST COMPANY - Aug 15 - Platforms that are meant for social connection could also help your professional advancement, says Jeff Steen, special projects editor for FitSmallBusiness.com. FitSmallBusiness.com made a list of the most surprising apps users can use for business networking, which included Reddit, Goodreads, AncestryDNA and dating apps like Hinge, Bumble and Tinder. With a dating apps, there can be a natural progression in a conversation to users' career. "''What do you do?' is usually one of the first questions people ask when getting to know someone," says Steen. "This can overlap into professional conversations, even if no romantic interest is established."

by Stephanie Vozza
See full article at Fast Company

Tinder, Bumble Profiles Required for Entry at Some Texas Frat Parties

HOUSTON CHRONICLE - Aug 14 - When the doors open at some University of Texas fraternity parties, young men and women need to hand over two items: a state-issued ID and their phone, with their Tinder University profile pulled up. If the students do not have a Tinder U profile, they are asked to create one even if they are in a steady relationship. No app, no entry. Fraternities are deciding whether they're a Bumble house or a Tinder house, and signing exclusive contracts. The dating apps provide money to cover production costs for parties, branded signage and swag. The frats provide access to thousands of potential new users Tinder and Bumble declined to specify the scope of their campus involvement, though both said their apps have college marketing events across the country. But there's a difference between promoting your app and forcing someone to become a user, said Millie Lopez Stuessy, whose daughter attends UT. "I have a problem with that, because I don't think that should be necessary to enjoy the event," Lopez Stuessy said.

by Sami Sparber
See full article at Houston Chronicle

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More Tech Companies Are Launching 'Lite' Apps

CNBC - Aug 12 - With 6.47B people living in developing economies, there's a lot of potential for technology firms to tap on. Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter and even LinkedIn have pushed out "lite" versions - smaller and simpler iterations of their platforms. Last month, Spotify Lite officially launched in 36 markets, while Tinder has announced plans to launch its own "lite" app. A Pew Research Center survey reported that 27% of adults in 11 emerging market countries say they have a smartphone, but not a tablet or computer at home. In the U.S., ~75% of adults own desktops or laptops, while 50% own tablet computers. The prevalence of fixed-broadband internet access is also lower in developing countries, while mobile data continues to be expensive for users in those markets, according to a 2017 GSM Association report. Tinder Lite will take up 25 times less space on smartphones and consume less mobile data. Match Group expects Asia will make up 25% of its portfolio's total revenue by 2023.

by Abigail Ng
See full article at CNBC

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Tinder Sponsored Video About Finding Dates on Vacation Is Raising Safety Concerns

BUZZFEED NEWS - Aug 12 - YouTuber Summer Mckeen is facing ethical concerns over a recent sponsored video with Tinder in which she films herself on two idealistic double dates with total strangers while traveling - and then saying she "recommends" doing this. Many are worried that the sponcon - published to her ~2.4M followers mostly comprising young women - is promoting a habit that could be potentially dangerous. Some also suspect that the video was scripted and doesn't represent an authentic experience with using the app.

by Tanya Chen
See full article at Buzzfeed News

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Has Tinder Lost Its Spark?

THE GUARDIAN - Aug 11 - A new study, published last month in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, found that compulsive use made online dating swipers feel even more lonely. Swipe fatigue has prompted some daters to try an analogue approach. In 2019, the matchmaking industry has thrived. Caroline Brealey, founder of Mutual Attraction, a London-based matchmaking service, says the company has seen a dramatic increase in younger clients. "Tinder doesn't present anything radically new," explains Michael Gratzke, chair of the Love Research Network, based at the University of Hull. "Dating apps mimic the way we make snap decisions about people in real life. When we enter a room, it takes seconds to sort who we see." But there is one thing about it that differs from traditional love: swipe. Tinder is addictive. Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist, argues that we simply don't know what we're doing. "We shouldn't be thinking of these tools as "dating apps", she says. "They're introducing sites. Fisher's solution? Log off when you've spoken to nine people. More than this and we're cognitively overloaded, she argues, leading to romantic fatigue.

by Emily Reynolds
See full article at The Guardian

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Match Group Ex-CEO Accused of "Forcibly Groping' Subordinate

AGENDA - Aug 9 - Match Group's former chairman and CEO Gregory Blatt has been accused of sexual assault by Rosette Pambakian, a former marketing executive at Tinder. Pambakian's allegations first surfaced one year ago in a separate lawsuit filed by former Tinder employees. Pambakian also makes claims against Match and IAC, alleging retaliation and wrongful termination. "Match and IAC apologized to me for the assault. They offered me compensation if I never speak about the incident again," said Pambakian. In her suit, she describes Blatt as "a notorious bully" and "a powerful man", which made her uncomfortable reporting the incident. She spoke about it with Match's then-SVP of human resources Lisa Nelson, then-general counsel and corporate secretary Jared Sine and IAC associate general counsel Ed Ferguson. In April 2017, Tinder co-founder Sean Rad asked for a proper investigation. He was reportedly told by one board member not to worry about it because "everyone was going to make a lot of money". At the end of 2017, Blatt stepped down as chairman and CEO at Match Group but retained a seat on the board. He resigned from his director role on Aug. 10, 2018, days before the early Tinder employees filed a lawsuit over the equity valuation process. Upon his resignation from the board, Blatt entered into an advisory agreement with Match. The agreement is effective until Feb. 29, 2020, and limits his work to 20 hours per quarter. It is unclear how much Blatt has been paid for any advisory services, but over the span of his career at IAC and Match, he was awarded ~$125M in total compensation between 2006 and 2017, according to data provided by Equilar. This figure includes Blatt's vested stock and exercised options. The lawsuit suggests that Blatt's exercising his options worth $44.7M in April 2017 would be "questionable timing," as it was shortly after Blatt's actions were allegedly reported to HR. Blatt rarely sold stock in Match Group, but his largest transaction appears to be a sale with a value of $11.8M in March 2018.

by Stephanie Forshee
See full article at Agenda

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Mandy Ginsberg's Letter to Rosette Pambakian

BUSINESS INSIDER - Aug 7 - Former Tinder VP Rosette Pambakian is suing former Tinder CEO Greg Blatt, who she alleges sexually assaulted her. She is also suing Tinder's parent companies, Match Group and IAC/Interactive Corp., alleging that they covered up the assault and wrongfully terminated her employment. Match Group CEO Mandy Ginsberg said in a December 2018 email that Pambakian never reported Blatt for sexual harassment, and she was not terminated over a sexual harassment complaint. The email was written after an earlier lawsuit was filed in August 2018 when 10 employees and former employees, including Pambakian, sued Tinder's parent company IAC alleging it purposefully undervalued Tinder in an attempt to devalue early employee options. The current lawsuit says that Pambakian was placed on leave one day after the 2018 lawsuit was filed, and her employment was officially terminated in December 2018. "You were not terminated because you reported Greg for sexual harassment. You couldn't have been, as you never reported Greg for sexual harassment," Ginsberg wrote in her email to Pambakian. "You were terminated because it was not possible for you to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of your role as Tinder's spokesperson."

by Rebecca Aydin
See full article at Business Insider

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People Pay for Tinder

NEW YORK TIMES - Aug 6 - Like a mobile game, the dating app offers paid features that increase the odds of success. Lots of people are buying. "Tinder's definitely not a game," said Elie Seidman, the company's CEO. "At the core, it's about human connection." Tinder Gold grants users access to a feature called "Likes You". "The structure of those in-app purchases are highly similar to the structure of in-app purchases for games, in that you have those special abilities," said Randy Nelson, the head of mobile insights at Sensor Tower, an analytics firm. ~70 % of Tinder's revenue comes from subscriptions; the other 30% comes from à la carte features, along with a small amount from ads.

by Jonah Engel Bromwich
See full article at New York Times

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Match Group Reports Q2 2019 Results, Invests in Egyptian Dating App Harmonica

MATCH GROUP - Aug 6 - Match Group Q2 total Revenue grew 18% YOY to $498M. Average subscribers increased 18% to 9.1M, up from 7.7M from Q2 2018. Tinder average subscribers were 5.2M in Q2 2019, increasing 503K sequentially and 1.5M YOY. Operating income was $173M, up 15% YOY. Match Group has also invested in and brought on the team behind Harmonica, a dating app based in Egypt. Match Group will further develop this app and invest in product and marketing to expand into Asia and MENA (Middle East and North Africa) that are predominantly Muslim. 

See full article at Match Group website

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Former Tinder Exec Sues Company, Alleging Sexual Assault

LOS ANGELES TIMES - Aug 5 - IAC's former CEO Greg Blatt is named as a defendant in a new lawsuit by former Tinder executive Rosette Pambakian. She is suing him for sexual battery - and suing the company itself for firing her after she went public with her accusations in an earlier lawsuit. In the suit, Rosette Pambakian alleges that Gregory Blatt harassed and assaulted her at a company Christmas party held at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills in December 2016.

by Sam Dean
See full article at Los Angeles Times

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