Month: June 2018
Match Launches Lara Chatbot That Lives Inside Google Assistant
CITYAM – June 7 – Match has teamed up with Google to launch its dating chatbot Lara across the Google Assistant network, after a successful run in Facebook Messenger. Match users can speak to Lara through their Google Assistant on their phone, smartwatch, laptop or Google Home smart speaker to ask for dating tips and find new matches. Every day Lara will send through a unique Daily Match via a text message, based on a search conducted on the user's Match preferences like age, location and common interests. Using the phrase "OK Google, talk to Lara from Match", users can then have a conversation with Lara to get suggestions for potential date locations, hooked up to a pin on Google Maps.
by Emily Nicolle
The full article was originally published at CityAM, but is no longer available.
Steve Dean From IDEA To Provide A Special Session At iDate Mobile Dating Conference
WEBWIRE – June 7 – A special pre-session has been added for the 3rd iDate Mobile Dating Conference. The event takes place on June 11-13, 2018 at the Sportsmen's Lodge Events Center in Los Angeles, CA. Steve Dean, strategic advisor at the Internet Dating Excellence Association (IDEA), will provide a special 3-hour session "Mobile Dating Innovation" on June 11. The session will provide an in-depth analysis of the current mobile dating landscape, the psychographics of user behavior, how machine learning, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and blockchain are being implemented in today's dating apps, and cryptocurrency options for raising capital.
Match Group CEO Isn’t Worried About Facebook Dating
BLOOMBERG – June 6 – Match Group, which owns Tinder, Match, OkCupid, PlentyOfFish and OurTime, says it's not worried about Facebook putting the moves on its business. Bloomberg's Emily Chang caught up with Match Group CEO Mandy Ginsberg on the news. "Dating app industry is not a one size fit all landscape", said Mandy.
Some ‘Sugar Daddies’ Provide Business Advice, Mentorship, And Investments
BUSINESS INSIDER – June 7 – The term "sugar dating" typically refers to a relationship in which a younger woman pairs up with an older man who can help support her financially, while she provides romantic companionship. But sugar dating can mean mentorship – without romance or sex. Some sugar daddies are open to business relationships from the beginning, and it's not uncommon for sugar babies to have entrepreneurial ambitions that they seek sugar daddies' help with.
The League To Speak At The iDate Mobile Dating Conference In Los Angeles
WEBWIRE – June 7 – Meredith Davis, Head of Communications at The League, will present on the future of dating at the next iDate mobile dating conference that is taking place in June 12-13, 2018 at the Sportsmen's Lodge Events Center in Los Angeles, CA. Registration for the event can be made here.
Badoo To Drop Swiping
TECH CRUNCH – June 6 – Badoo, a UK-based dating app with ~388M users globally – whose majority-owned app Bumble is currently being sued by Tinder in part for its use of swiping – says that it will be removing the swiping from its own app. Badoo is rolling out a new feature called Badoo Live which are live video broadcasts to let people show off their personalities. Users will be able to send messages during a live session, which works on a principle similar to Facebook Live. Once a match is made, users can start a live video chat with each other.
OkCupid Is Teaming Up With ACLU
What’s Next For Momo After Touching 52-Week High?
WEEKLY HUB – June 4 – The stock of Momo hit a new 52-week high and has $52.11 target. The 6 months bullish chart indicates low risk for the $10B company. If the $52.11 price target is reached, the company will be worth $505M more. Momo has risen 1.41% since June 4, 2017 and is uptrending. It has underperformed by 11.16% the S&P500. Analysts await Momo to report earnings on August, 28. They expect $0.55 earnings per share, up 89.66 % or $0.26 from last year's $0.29 per share. Momo's profit will be $112M for 22.56 P/E if the $0.55 EPS becomes a reality.
by Maria Brooks
The full article was originally published at Weekly Hub, but is no longer available.
Here’s Mary Meeker’s Essential 2018 Internet Trends Report
TECH CRUNCH – June 5 – Legendary venture capitalist Mary Meeker has just released the 2018 version of her famous Internet Trends report. As of 2018, half the world population, or ~3.6B people, will be on the Internet.
- Mobile usage: U.S. adults are spending more time online thanks to mobile, clocking 5.9h per day in 2017 vs 5.6h in 2016.
- Mobile ads: $7B mobile ad opportunity.
- Crypto: Coinbase's user count has nearly quadrupled since January 2017.
- Voice: Voice technology is at an inflection point due to speech recognition hitting 95% accuracy and the sales explosion for Amazon Echo which went from ~10M to 30M sold in total by the end of 2017.
- Tech investment: We're at an all-time high for public and private investment in technology.
- Ecommerce vs Brick & Mortar: Ecommerce growth quickens as now 13% of all retail purchases happen online.
- Amazon: More people start product searches on Amazon than search engines now.
- Subscription services: They're seeing massive adoption, with Netflix up 25%, The New York Times up 43%, and Spotify up 48% YOY in 2017.
- Education: Employees seek retraining and education from YouTube and online courses to keep up with new job requirements and pay off skyrocketing student loan debt.
- Freelancing: The on-demand workforce grew 23% in 2017 driven by Uber, Airbnb, Etsy, Upwork, and Doordash.
- Transportation: People are buying fewer cars, shifting transportation spend to rideshare, which saw rides double in 2017.
- Enterprise: Consumerization of the enterprise through better interfaces is spurring growth for companies like Dropbox and Slack.
- China: Alibaba is expanding beyond China with strong gross merchandise volume, though Amazon still rules in revenue.
- Privacy: China has a big opportunity as users there are much more willing to trade their personal data for product benefits than U.S. users.
- Immigration: 56% of top U.S. companies were founded by a first- or second-generation immigrant.