FORBES – Oct 21 – Happn offers up people that you cross paths with on a daily basis. This is not a new feature of the app, it's the entire selling point of the app. The newly released CrushTime feature takes crossing paths with potential exes to a new level of user engagement, to lead matches to a real date. CrushTime randomly notifies users that one of four other Happn members they crossed paths with that day liked their profile. Users will then have a chance to guess which of the four members liked their profile. If they pick the right one, it's an instant crush. If not, they still sent a "like" to that user and hopefully, the user will "like" them back. Similar to Tinder, conversation will still require mutual likes.
Month: October 2017
How Tinder Scaled Up
PCMAG – Oct 20 – Tinder held a networking event at its West Hollywood headquarters recently, where CTO Maria Zhang and her team tackled the complexities of running a popular dating app. China-born Zhang studied computer science at Tsinghua University in Beijing before completing her education in the US. She joined Tinder in April 2016. Within six months of joining Tinder, she tripled her engineering team and opened a satellite tech office in Silicon Valley. Tinder currently handles 1.6B swipes and makes 26M matches per day and has delivered 20B total matches to date. It has ~200 employees.
Bumble Set Up A Vacation For 6 Girls Who Had A Date With A Same Guy On The Same Night
ELITEDAILY – Oct 18 – Lisette Pylant thought she was going on a date with a guy she met on her birthday. She stuck it out for 45 minutes, until finding out that the guy had double booked himself. The women later found out he booked six dates that night. But instead of competing against each other, the women became BFFs. And recently, dating app Bumble set up a vacation for the six girls to attend a music festival in Austin, Texas.
The Psychology Of Online Marketplace Trust And Scams
BESEDO – Sep 12 – Scammers are one of the biggest threats to maintaining trust. "Trust is a feeling and a feeling can never cause a behavior. Instead, previous experiences can influence future behaviors," said behavioral psychologist and business consultant, Sara Ingvarsson from Waldine Consulting. If you are shopping online without worrying, it is because your previous experiences hasn't included encounters with scammers. We can spot trustworthy people in real life, but online a lot of the signs such as facial expression or body language aren't there. Reviews and recommendations are a powerful tool. "It is the power of many" says Sara "You might not trust the word of one stranger online, but when we see a pattern of many strangers agreeing in their reviews of something, then we are likely to trust it." If a user has been scammed they are as such much more likely to spot scams or see low quality content and assume that it is fraudulent. "It's a tough stigma to overcome and there's really no other way to tackle it than to do better next time. One bad experience needs 10 good ones to balance it out." says Sara. In short, if you want people to fearlessly transact with each other on your site, then make sure that they always have positive experiences when doing so.
The Meet Group Has Completed Lovoo Acquisition
BUSINESSWIRE – Oct 20 – The Lovoo app is the most downloaded dating app in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria combined. The acquisition is expected to expand The Meet Group's global footprint, increase the company's scale and profitability. The Meet Group's financial results will be out on November 1.
See full article at BusinessWire
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Tinder Is Reinforcing Ancient Mating Habits, Study Finds
INDEPENDENT.CO.UK – Oct 19 – Men favour beauty whilst women look for brains. Tinder is making us behave like cave people. A team of psychologists at the University of Aberdeen have found that Tinder is bringing out basic mating urges. However, their research highlighted key disparities in how people use the app, with men making their selections based on appearances whilst women favoured intelligence, career prospects and stability. These discrepancies mimic ancient survival tactics, explains Dr Mirjam Brady-Van den Bos, Psychology lecturer at the University of Aberdeen.
In-flight Dating Apps Make Joining The Mile High Club Easier
NEWS.COM.AU – Oct 18 – Hooking up 30k feet in the air has been made easier for Australians with an in-flight dating app. This week, Qantas unveiled the Boeing Dreamliner that's being added to its fleet. There's a feature called "Seatchat." This allows passengers to message anyone around the plane as long as they know their seat number.
The Most Elite Dating Clubs In London And New York
4. Raya: £5.99 a month.
Allegedly popular among celebrities, and first came to public attention in 2015 when Kelly Osbourne's profile was leaked.
3. The League: The Ivy League one – £12.50 a month.
The League opened for business in London this summer after expanding to several U.S. cities. Founder Amanda Bradford's goal is to keep the club "well-balanced, diverse, and classy."
2. The Inner Circle: from £20 per month.
The Inner Circle launched in Europe in 2013, and is now present in 20 cities worldwide. In the US it has a presence in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Houston.
1. Social Concierge: £40 per month.
Nana Wereko-Brobby, also a professional matchmaker, launched Social Concierge in London in 2011 and Manhattan in February 2017. Users don't have profiles and don't swipe, instead the app puts on a series of events.
by Rosie Fitzmaurice
See full article at Business Insider UK
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Matrimony.com Expands Its Marriage Service Into More Cities
by Aparna Desikan
See full article at Times of India
Dating Chatbot NearGroup Raises $1.6M Seed Funding
VCCIRCLE – Oct 16 – NearGroup, a chatbot that connects like-minded people based on their location and personality, has reportedly raised $1.6M (Rs 10 crore) in seed funding led by Finland-based early-stage venture capital firm OpenOcean. Silicon Valley-based VC firm NeoTribe Ventures and San Francisco-based accelerator Boost VC also put in money. The startup will use the capital to bolster its India operations and strengthen its marketing team. The NearGroup chatbot works through messaging platforms such as Facebook Messenger, Viber, Kik, and Line. NearGroup was founded in 2016 by Pitti, an IIT Madras alumnus and founder of travel portal EaseMyTrip.
by Binu Paul
See full article at VCCircle
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