BBC – May 21 – Coronavirus has had a "dramatic" effect on the way people use Tinder, said CEO Elie Seidman. Tinder has been downloaded ~340M times since its launch in 2012. But the vast majority of its revenues come from just 6M subscribers who pay for the "gold" service. The rate at which it picked up those paying-users declined as lockdown struck. Mr Siedman says we might have to wait two or three financial quarters to see the full economic impact on Tinder, as the scale of the global crisis becomes clear.
Month: May 2020
Canadian Tennis Player Eugenie Bouchard Is Promoting Bumble
Why OPW Has a New Tagline
OPW – May 21 – For a few years, OPW has the tagline, "No fluff, just news and CEO interviews." This describes our no-nonsense summary style. We focus and point to the news you can use, in a format that crunches it down to a morsel sized summary of the key-learnings. A few bites a day.
However, we thought we'd pay homage to our audience, and recrystallize our position with a new tagline. The new one, which you can see here at http://www.OPW.news is "Daily Executive News Summaries For Decision Makers."
Why? Because we're focused on bubbling up the 'intell' from the news, while giving reporters full credit for the amazing work they do! Specifically for the decision makers, and designers and innovators in the dating industry. We want to make sure you're informed of the changes, and realise, time is super-precious for you.
Jared F. Sine, Chief Legal Officer & Secretary for Match Group, Sells The Company’s Stock
MARKETBEAT – May 20 – Match Group insider Jared F. Sine sold 6,230 shares of the firm's stock last week. The stock was sold at an average price of $78 for a total value of $486,438. Following the completion of the sale, he now directly owns 13,132 shares in MTCH, valued at $1,025,346. A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MTCH shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Match Group from $90 to $100 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Nomura Securities also gave the stock a "buy" rating. BidaskClub upgraded Match Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold". SunTrust Banks and Deutsche Bank both gave the stock a "buy" rating.
Hinge Rolls out in-app Video Calls, Launches Hinge Labs
Queer People See More Harassment in Dating Apps Than Straights
ADVOCATE – May 19 – A recent Pew Research poll found out that lesbian, gay, and bisexual users are more frequently subjected to harassment than straight users. The data showed that 48% of LGB dating app users have experienced someone contacting them long after they expressed they weren't interested, compared to 35% of straight users. 17% of LGB users said that they've had people threaten to physically abuse them, compared to 7% of straight users.
India Gay Matchmaking Service, Arranged Gay Marriage Bureau, Under Fire
NBC NEWS – May 19 – The Arranged Gay Marriage Bureau, which promises to help Indian gay men and lesbians find love, is accused by some of being a "malicious" scam. The matchmaking service was the subject of a Vice Media report last month titled "The Arranged Gay Marriage Scam." The 20-minute documentary follows two U.K.-based clients of the service – the documentary's host, Reeta Loi, and a man referred to only as Keith – who, after 11 months, each received just a handful of dating profiles. At the end of the film, Loi calls the bureau a "malicious" scam.
Bumble CEO: Dating in the Age of Covid
CNN – May 19 – How people date during a global pandemic? Whitney Wolfe Herd, the founder and CEO of the dating app Bumble, says her company is helping their users answer that question and find connection from a distance. She talks about how this pandemic may permanently change the way people date, and how Bumble is positioning itself in a competitive market for dating services. "We have actually come out of our two best revenue weeks in the history of the group. People are enjoying digital dating," says Whitney Wolfe Herd.
Single Americans Are Boasting About COVID-19 Results in Their Dating Profiles
DAILYMAIL.CO.UK – May 19 – People have been disclosing the status of their COVID-19 antibody tests in their dating app profiles. The coronavirus antibody test determines if a person's body has had an immune response to a previous infection with the virus.
Fairytrail Dating App Lets Singles Go on Virtual Tours
TRAVEL DAILY NEWS – May 18 – Fairytrail is a new dating app that lets users go on virtual adventures powered by Airbnb and Viator, a Tripadvisor company. Singles create a free profile on Fairytrail and match with each other (just like on Tinder or Bumble). Once users match, Fairytrail recommends different virtual tours to them from Viator and Airbnb based on their profiles. Users aren't able to talk at this stage. They simply choose the tours they like. If there's overlap in the tours picked, Fairytrail connects the users to talk and book the matched tour.