BUSINESS INSIDER – Nov 26 - Grindr claims to be the largest all-male mobile social network in the world, with ~10M users in 192 countries. Those users are described in Grindr's pitch document to advertisers as "affluent, tech savvy men". However, it's also a potentially risky place for brands to advertise: it's predominantly used to organize no-strings sex. Grindr has a team of moderators that review for profanity and monitor behaviors prohibited on the app. Plenty of brands advertise on Grindr, including Uber, Airbnb, Audi, Groupon, Fiat, Live Nation and Dollar Shave Club. Ad revenue in the 12 months to October was up 118% on last year, and ads now make up 25% of total revenue.
Month: November 2014
Bill Dobbie Launches New ‘Crowdlender’ Business
DAILYRECORD.CO.UK – Nov 26 – Bill Dobbie, co-founder of Cupid plc, has launched LendingCrowd, a new crowdlender business aimed at providing loans to small to mid-sized enterprises (SMEs). He co-founded it with former Cenkos Securities analyst Stuart Lunn. The company says it has already helped businesses raise ~£250K since it entered the crowdlending market last month.
Match.com Launched Android Wear App
TELEGRAPH.CO.UK – Nov 26 - Match.com has launched its first Android Wear app, bringing the popular dating app to smartwatches and other wearables. Users can browse profiles featuring just their name, picture, age and city. Match.com is among the first dating apps to make the transition to wearables, which will play a "big role in the future of dating services" according to the company's country manager Karl Gregory.
by Rhiannon Williams
See full article at Telegraph.co.uk
This post also appears on Wearable.ai.
Tinder’s Success Has Boosted eHarmony
BUSINESS INSIDER – Nov 26 – Grant Langston, VP, brand marketing at eHarmony says competition from apps like Tinder has helped his business. “Since Tinder launched in Australia we’ve seen a surge in subscriptions. The press they are receiving is bringing lots of people to the online dating world” he said. Tinder’s spike in popularity in Australia this year has saw user numbers on eHarmony’s website increase by 20%. In the US, the largest area of growth has been in the 23-33 age group; Australia has experienced a similar trend,” he said.
Ashley Madison CEO Thinks He Is The Most Important Feminist In The World
OBSERVER – Nov 25 – “It’s sad that there are places where a woman could be put to death for being unfaithful,” said Noel Biderman. For him, facilitating discreet affairs in the Muslim world is uniquely important. “I’m one of the most important feminists that the world has seen,” he went on. Ashley Madison soft-launched in Turkey two weeks ago. The site has already signed up 15K members, 63% are female, which is a record in any country. 97% are Muslim. “Men in Turkey have no problem having affairs, although women will face shunning or complaints by neighbors,” said Jenny B. White, a Boston University Anthropology professor.
by Jordyn Taylor
See full article at The Observer
Former Tinder Employees To Launch Direct Competitor Called Bumble
TECH CRUNCH – Nov 24 – Whitney Wolfe, an early employee at Tinder who sued the company for sexual harassment and workplace discrimination, has joined up with two other early Tinder employees, Chris Gulczynski and his partner Sarah Mick (cofounders of YayNext), to launch a direct competitor to Tinder called Bumble. A preview video of the app shows a user making a match and chatting. The app is slated to launch on December 1.
58% Of IAC’s Value Is Locked In The Match Group
SEEKING ALPHA – Nov 24 – Match Group’s growth slowed to 9.5% in Q2, and many fear growth will continue to fall. Berkeley Investment Group sees a strong long-term prospects for Match Group over time due to subscriber growth and operating leverage.
Tinder CEO’s Ouster Well Earned: Ex-insider
NY POST – Nov 5 – Sean Rad, Tinder's CEO, deserved to be booted as CEO, said Chris Gulczynski, Tinder's co-founder who is credited with Tinder’s design. Rad will stay on as CEO until Yagan finds a replacement. Rad was a poor CEO, Gulczynski said. For example:
- His “haphazard” management style left workers frustrated and confused about where to focus their efforts.
- Rad sought to hide Tinder’s affiliation with IAC and clashed with Yagan.
- Rad also used Diller’s initials to draw a picture of a penis at a Match Group company meeting.
Online Dating: A Less Stupid Cupid
NEWSWEEK – Nov 22 – Dating sites today are just marketplaces. Over the years, many have used algorithms to predict matches, but none have improved the odds much. OkCupid co-founder Christian Rudder, is skeptical about algorithmic attraction. “One person doesn’t kick out enough data,” he said. “Someone will look great on paper and then have an annoying laugh.” Researchers are inventing a new generation of computers based on the way human brains work. Instead of processing data through algorithms, these machines can watch data streaming past and see patterns. Numenta watches activity for Amazon Web Services and looks for patterns that can give early warning about a hacker attack. “Our systems are like brains at birth,” says Numenta founder Jeff Hawkins. “They just learn from the stream. You don’t have to tell them anything.” Another step will be to apply machine vision to analyze Tinder-style swipes. Tinder doesn’t learn anything from users' swipes—it doesn’t come to understand what physical features they like. But with advances in machine vision, it could.
by Kevin Maney
See full article at Newsweek
Hot Or Not Founder Returns With Cakey, A YouTube App For Kids
TECH CRUNCH – Nov 22 - Hot Or Not founder James Hong is a father of three. He wanted to keep his kids safe from the unsuitable, adult-oriented content on YouTube so he launched Cakey, a YouTube app for children. Cakey offers a basic interface to YouTube where kids can browse through pre-screened kid-safe video “collections” presented in a film reel-like interface.
by Sarah Perez
See full article at Tech Crunch
This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.