MIRROR.CO.UK – Jan 17 – Badoo surveyed its users on which alcohol-free dates they'd be willing to go on. The top suggestion (92%) was a coffee date, followed by a winter walk (77%) or an expedition to the cinema (66%). 36% said they go on a first date to a gym class, while 9% would go to the spa.
Month: January 2019
Tinder Promotes Lennart Schirmer to Regional Director of Europe
PR NEWSWIRE – Jan 17 – Lennart Schirmer, previously Tinder's Country Manager for Germany, has been promoted to Regional Director of Europe. In this role, Schirmer will oversee operations in Germany, the UK and France. Schirmer joined Tinder in 2017. Prior to Tinder, Schirmer was the CMO of Berlin-based travel startup Wimdu.
Barry Diller Talks Tinder and Future of Online Dating
YAHOO FINANCE – Jan 17 – Yahoo Finance’s Editor-in-Chief, Andy Serwer, interviewed Barry Diller of IAC about the future of online dating.
Q: What is the online business going to look like in 5 years?
A: It keeps innovating. If you don’t believe that there’s something to do every day to make your product better or differentiated, somebody else will. It is going to continue to evolve as the technology evolves.
How The Meet Group Gets Live-Streaming to Pay Off
AD EXCHANGER – Jan 17 – In less than two years, The Meet Group managed to diversify its revenue from a near total dependence on programmatic advertising to a mix of ads, in-app purchases and subscriptions. "90% of our revenue was ad-driven before we started to shift," said Geoff Cook, CEO of The Meet Group. "Now it's ~40% advertising, 60% users pay." In late 2016, The Meet Group built a live-streaming video business modeled after Momo, a Chinese dating app which was able to make ~$200M per quarter within a year of introducing live video into its platform. In the 15 months since The Meet Group launched live-streaming video, annualized video revenue alone is ~$70M. "~20% of our daily users and as many as half of our monthly active users spend 20 minutes a day watching live streams," Geoff Cook says.
by Allison Schiff
See full article at Ad Exchanger
IAC, Match Sue Tinder co-Founder Sean Rad
SEEKING ALPHA – Jan 16 – IAC and Match Group sue Tinder co-founder Sean Rad for theft of company files and other proprietary information. Six months ago, Rad and other Tinder co-founders sued IAC for allegedly undervaluing Tinder to limit the earnings from exercising stock options. The suit claims at least $250M in damages. IAC/Match say Rad created backups of internal emails, forwarded company emails to his personal account, and directly copied files with sensitive material. Rad's lawyer says his employee contract allowed him to back up his email and calls the suit a "desperate act of retaliation."
by Brandy Betz
See full article at Seeking Alpha
The 1st IDEA SUMMIT is in India
OPW – Jan 16 – IDEA exists to help the dating industry grow and achieve its true potential. I feel this industry is still entirely fledgling, and we can do more by learning and sharing on important issues and opportunities. OPW.news helps, but we can do more.
IDEA WOW in Malta in November was an experiment. It went very well, but attendees wanted more. We listened carefully and the result is the first IDEA WOW + IDEA SUMMIT which will take place in Chennai in April. The event will be hosted by Muru Janakiraman, CEO/Founder of Matrimony, and I, Mark Brooks.
Last week I invited C level friends in the dating industry and I'm enormously humbled that just 72 hours later it was full. 18 dating executives are speaking. 13 of them are CEOs, 11 are founders and 11 have 15+ years in dating, The event is now full, but I'm sure we'll be doing more. Please let me know your thoughts on what you'd like to see from IDEA, and how we can improve this event concept further at mark@courtlandbrooks.com. Thanks. – Mark Brooks
Grindr Lays Off Its Entire “Into” Editorial Stuff
App Annie Releases Annual State of Mobile 2019 Report
Tinder’s Spotify Integration Now Lets Users Share Music
Serena Williams & Bumble’s Super Bowl Commercial Teaser
ADAGE – Jan 15 – Dating app Bumble finally confirmed it will air it’s first Big Game commercial during Super Bowl LIII. The campaign, titled “The Ball is in Her Court,” is focused on women making the first move in dating, friendship and business. It was developed, produced and led by a team comprised entirely of women, according to the company.