HUFFINGTON POST – Jan 24 – OkCupid says its users are increasingly ruling out anyone with opposing political views. The overall number of women prioritizing politics over sex doubled from 2016 to 2018, and the percentage increased from 27% to 42% across the country. Over the same period, the app has seen a 1,000% increase in political terms on people's profiles.
Month: January 2019
Scruff Now Bans Jockstraps, Kissing, and Hugging in Profile Photos
OUT – Jan 24 – The update is specific to profile photos (excluding private albums and photos exchanged in messages). Pictures that violate these guidelines will be automatically converted into private album images and users will be prompted to select another profile photo. "Our policy is not related to FOSTA/SESTA," said Scruff CEO Eric Silverberg. "Our change is meant to align our content standards with the evolving content standards of our app store distributors." Being banned from app stores can be catastrophic for companies like Scruff, Grindr and Jack'd, all gay dating services that solely function as apps.
SC Holdings Acquires 5% of UK Dating Company NowDating
GLOBE NEWSWIRE – Jan 23 – SC Holdings Corp., based in Hong Kong, has acquired 5% of NowDating Ltd., a UK company which developed a dating app "Now" Dating. Tan Yuen, SC Holding's CEO, received confidence votes internally to make acquisitions of companies with high growth potential irrespective of industry.
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.com
Q&A With Raffael Krause, Head of PR at Luxy
THRIVE GLOBAL – Jan 23 – Luxy is an exclusive millionaire dating app that requires new users to be vouched in.
Q: You are under 30 and the Head of PR. Tell us about your career trajectory?
A: My career started five years ago in finance. I eventually moved to Hong Kong, where I got in contact with the dating and Blockchain industry. I established LoveBlock, a decentralized database for dating, a system that helps make dating more safe by eliminating scams and fake profiles. We got in contact with Luxy and started to work closer with them. I got the chance to contribute with my skills in marketing, so here I am being responsible for the brand and PR.
Q: What projects can we expect to see next?
A: We want to increase dating safety and matchmaking efficiency. Blockchain opens the doors wide for A.I. and machine learning. We are using both to optimize the matching algorithm and to eliminate every little security risk.
Q: What in your opinion is the future of dating?
A: Virtual Dates, AI that be able to analyze your behavior to display your perfect matches.
Q: What are your thoughts on VR?
A: To me, those changes are fascinating but scary at the same time. What I believe is that dating services will play a more important role in people's lives than before.
Q: What advice would you offer to those interested in getting in the industry?
A: Keep up with the latest trends and prepare to be busy.The dating industry is one of the most competitive.
Q: What would you tell your younger self?
A: Learn Chinese.
Match Group and Betches Partner for a New Dating App “Ship”
THE VERGE – Jan 22 – Match Group and the media brand Betches are partnering to launch an iOS dating app that allows users to help their friends pick out potential dates. The app is called Ship, and it lets users swipe for their friends and chat about profiles in a group chat within the app. Match supplies the tech expertise for Ship while Betches provides the branding, marketing, and bigger idea. Betches started as a website and is now a viral social media and digital humor company with ~6M Instagram followers and ~3M monthly unique visitors. Match is likely leveraging that built-in group to see if they can serve as a pool of daters from the onset. For now, there isn't a revenue model for Ship, although that'll probably change, assuming it attracts enough people to be successful.
by Ashley Carman
See full article at The Verge
Tinder Settles Age Bias Case for $17.3M Worth of “Super Likes” and Cash
LAW360 – Jan 22 – Last April, Lisa Kim brought a class action against Tinder, alleging that the app violated California civil rights and consumer protection laws by discriminating against people 29+, charging them more than younger users for Tinder Plus and Tinder Gold. ~230K Tinder users covered by the settlement will receive 50 free "Super Likes," a feature that costs $1 each ($11.5M worth of Super Likes). Tinder will also pay ~$5.75M (payable in the form of a $25 check), 25 additional Super Likes, or a one-month free subscription to Tinder Plus or Tinder Gold, depending on which one the customer had previously purchased, according to the agreement.
Spark Networks Hires New Chief Marketing Officer
BUSINESS WIRE - Jan 23 – Spark Networks has appointed international marketing expert Luciana Telles to the role of Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Telles will lead global marketing across all the company’s premium dating brands; a portfolio including brands such as Jdate, Christian Mingle, EliteSingles, SilverSingles, eDarling, and JSwipe. Luciana, born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has over 15 years of experience in marketing.
See full article at Business Wire
Chinese Companies Offer ‘Dating Leave’ to Single Female Employees Aged 30+
INDEPENDENT.CO.UK – Jan 23 – Two companies in China are giving single female employees over the age of 30 an extra eight days of annual "dating leave" over the Chinese New Year to "go home and date". Single women in China in their late 20s and early 30s are deemed to be "leftover women," or shengnu, due to engrained traditional beliefs that women who are not married by then are undesirable. But more women are now choosing to focus on their careers and are marrying later or simply not marrying at all.
Austrian Dating App Candidate Celebrates 1M Users Milestone
OTS.AT – Jan 21 – The app launched in 2015 as a dating app where singles get to know each other through Q&A games.
Grindr Banned in Lebanon
IBTIMES – Jan 21 – Lebanon has reportedly banned people from accessing Grindr, a gay dating mobile app, on the country's public network. The reason behind the ban was unknown. Other countries have partially and completely banned the app. Here is a list of such countries:
- Turkey
- Iran
- Saudi Arabia
- Indonesia
- Egypt
- China
- United Arab Emirates
- Ukraine
- Russia