Month: April 2020

Coronavirus Is Changing Online Dating – Permanently

Posted on April 6, 2020

Mobile dating21FORBES – Apr 5 – The coronavirus lockdown is changing how we date, likely shifting our habits permanently. Dating apps are pushing users to meet for virtual dates, rolling out new video-based features. "While we are socially distant, we definitely aren't disconnected," says Tinder CEO Elie Seidman, who reports daily messaging activity among the app's American users has risen by 10% to 15% across the country. Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd hopes people will use Bumble's in-app video chat feature. With more people at home, Bumble saw use of this function spike 93% between March 13 and March 27. The average call was ~30 minutes long. "We're hearing more and more about virtual coffee dates, dinner dates and movie dates," says OkCupid CEO Ariel Charytan. "We recently heard from a new OkCupid couple in Brooklyn who set up a candlelit dinner over video chat for their first date earlier this week." "For now, dating apps have little opportunity to turn this new user behavior into additional revenue streams. Estimates on revenue and profit are going to come down. No one really knows by how much," says Evercore analyst Benjamin Black. Spending on dating is "something you can pull back on. You're not gonna die without it. It's not a consumer staple." So far the apps' goal of maintaining their audiences seems to be working. The number of weekly active users across Tinder, Bumble and five more of the largest dating apps was largely unchanged from February into mid-March, according to App Annie.

by Adam Brown
See full article at Forbes

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Tinder Accuses Bumble of ‘Exploiting’ COVID-19 in IP Fight

Posted on April 6, 2020

Tinder vs bumbleLAW360 – Apr 3 – Tinder's lawyers are accusing Bumble of "exploiting the country's COVID-19 crisis" to delay an already-contentious intellectual property lawsuit. They claimed Bumble's lawyers were using the logistical problems posed by the coronavirus pandemic – namely, remote depositions – as a back door to postpone a July trial. A federal has agreed to postpone the July trial by two weeks but ordering discovery to continue on an updated schedule. Following that order, an attorney for Bumble strongly disputed Match's accusations. Match sued in March 2018, accusing Bumble of infringing both patents and trademarks by launching a "copycat" dating app with similar layout and "swiping" features to Tinder.

by Bill Donahue
See full article at Law360

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Hily to Adopt Snapchat Stories

Posted on April 6, 2020

Hily snapchat screenshotDIGITAL JOURNAL – Apr 3 – Dating app Hily is partnering with Snapchat to allow users to share their snaps in Hily profiles. Hily is the first dating app to adopt this new Snapchat feature called App Stories. To post their Snapchat stories to Hily, the users will have to connect the two apps. Everyone on Hily will see a pop-up banner with a set of clear instructions on how to use the new feature. The users will be able to repost Snapchat stories directly or share snaps without publishing them to Snapchat first. Hily (an acronym for "Hey, I like you") is a Las Vegas-based dating app with ~15M users around the globe.

See full article at Digital Journal

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Relationship AI Interview With CEO Karinna Karsten

Posted on April 3, 2020

Rai karinna karsten linkedinOPW INTERVIEW – Apr 3 – I met Karinna several years ago in California. She's entirely devoted to the relationships and dating industry and has created an app that help daters keep track of the people they're dating, and their dates, and most importantly to help them make sense of it all. Think of Relationship AI as helping them with their dating decision making and life. I really think this is an essential tool for daters, and highly complementary with the dating industry. Here's my interview with the Karinna, the CEO. [Full disclosure: RAI is a client of Courtland Brooks] – Mark Brooks

Why did you start Relationship AI?
I spent years working as a relationship advisor and the CEO of LOVE TV, where I addressed the challenges facing millennials in dating, wellness, and building relationships. During this time I came to realize that dating has become increasingly complicated. Keeping track of your dating life in today's app-jungle, including real-life encounters, is becoming almost a full-time job.

Daters really need help in managing their dating activity and making the best choices around matches.

Relationship A.I. was born from the accumulation of all my data, research and work in the dating industry over the past 10 years.

What does Relationship AI do?
Relationship A.I. is a personal CRM to increase the ROI on the time spent dating. We are giving daters the ability to track their dating activity and create metrics to improve effectiveness and efficiency while dating. This has positive implications for the dating industry. It’s never been done before.

What is the pricing model?
We run a Freemium model, with paid features and upgrades coming in 2020.

How does it serve the interests of dating app owners?
Relationship A.I. provides a compelling incentive for daters that can reactivate a dating app's dormant database. We keep your brand top of mind with daters who are juggling anything between 2 and 7 apps at a time. Lastly, we add to your bottom line. There's rev share opportunities for dating app partners from our (upcoming) paid upgrades.

How far along is the app development?
We have just launched v1 on IOS. We are developing early traction and partnerships.

What are your plans for 2020?
Complete seed round funding and launch version 2 with out first paid upgrades on IOS and Android. We want to secure strategic partnerships with a few dating industry leaders.

How can the dating industry help, and work with you?
Relationship A.I. is designed as a complement, a unifier, a revenue enhancer and an evolutionary next stage for the dating industry. We welcome dating app owners and executives to reach out and discuss partnership opportunities with Relationship A.I. for your audience at info@relationship-ai.com. You can also find out more at www.relationship-ai.com and www.Karinnakarsten.com.

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Consumers Spent $23.4B on Apps in Q1 2020

Posted on April 3, 2020

Appannie logo 2017TECH CRUNCH – Apr 3 – According to new data from App Annie, Q1 2020 was the largest-ever quarter in terms of consumer spend on apps. In addition, the average weekly time spent in apps and games worldwide was up 20% YOY in the quarter. In Q1 2020, consumers worldwide spent $23.4B through the app stores – the largest-ever quarter. iOS accounted for $15B of that figure and Google Play was $8.3B. There were also 31B new app downloads in Q1 2020, up 15% from Q4 2019.

by Sarah Perez
See full article at Tech Crunch

There’s No Better Time to Match on Tinder

Posted on April 3, 2020

Tinder fireVICE – Apr 3 – Tinder received ~3B swipes last Sunday worldwide – the most it has ever recorded in its eight-year history. British Tinder users are also having 12% more daily conversations on the app, and these conversations are lasting longer than average.

by Ruby Lott-Lavigna
See full article at Vice

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Tinder “Passport” Feature Is Now Free

Posted on April 3, 2020

Tinder passport featureDAILYMAIL.CO.UK – Apr 2 – Tinder's Passport is normally available as one feature within the Tinder Plus and Gold paid subscriptions. The feature allows members to search by city or drop a pin anywhere on the map for free from now until April 30. Tinder's daily conversations have been up ~20% around the world – and the average length of the conversations is 25% longer.

by Cindy Tran
See full article at DailyMail.co.uk

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Studies About Cheating

Posted on April 3, 2020

YOUR TANGO – Apr 1 – A report from the Institute for Family Studies estimates that ~13% of married women and 20% of married men admit to having cheated on their spouse at least once in their married lives. According to a study conducted by the people at Superdrug Online Doctor, a web-based pharmaceutical treatment and service provider in the UK, 41% of women and 33% of men said they cheated with a friend.

How-cheaters-meet
by Anka Radakovich
See full article at Your Tango

New Video From POF Explores the Pressures of Dating With Real Texas Singles

Posted on April 3, 2020

PR NEWSWIRE – Apr 2 – Bachelor Nation stars and newlyweds Ashley Iaconetti Haibon and Jared Haibon are exploring the realities of dating in the new "Dine & Dish" video from dating app Plenty of Fish. The couple is having a dinner with real Plenty of Fish members. According to a recent POF study of Austinites, 85% of local singles say dating in the city is tough, with over 2/3 of women believing that the majority of singles in the area are only interested in hooking up. Filmed on a ranch outside of Austin, in Dine & Dish: Texas Style, the group explores exactly what makes dating in Austin so challenging.

See full article at PR Newswire

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