Month: June 2020

What Was the First Online Dating Site?

Posted on June 16, 2020

Matchcom original logoFOX BUSINESS – June 15 – Gary Kremen founded the Match.com as one of several online classified ad businesses he planned to develop. The idea for the revolutionary platform came to Gary Kremen while he was in the shower. "I thought it would be really interesting to use the Internet for relationships, and to do it right," he said. By 1994, he owned the domain Match.com. The website went live in April of 1995. In 1997 Match was sold for $7M to Cendant, a Connecticut consumer-services company. In 1999, IAC acquired Match.

by Daniella Genovese
See full article at Fox Business

Mark Brooks: Not quite true. Webpersonals was started by Andrew Conru in 1994, and sold to the company that would become Lavalife in Canada. Webpersonals was the first. Not Match.com. Dr Conru then went on to start FriendFinder in 1996.

See the top news on Match.com

Bumble Bridges Support for LGBTQ+ and Black Lives Matter With in-app Donations

Posted on June 16, 2020

Bumble campaignADAGE – June 15 – As Americans began rallying for racial equality, several brands postponed their original Pride plans or announced that they would incorporate Black Lives Matter support into their Pride initiatives. Bumble is one of the first brands to announce its new merged Pride, Black Lives Matter initiative. Bumble's new in-app campaign asks users to donate to LGBTQ+ organizations that support BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color). Bumble is also donating $5K each to select organizations that provide services for at-risk committees.

by Ilyse Liffreing
See full article at AdAge

See the top news on Bumble

New ‘Dig’ Dating App Helps Dog Lovers Connect and Find Pup-Approved Love

Posted on June 16, 2020

Dig iconPEOPLE – June 15 – New dog-lover dating app, Dig, was created by sisters Leigh and Casey Isaacson. When joining the dating app, users can indicate whether they are a "dog owner" already or simply a "dog lover" and list a series of preferences to match them with their ideal, dog-loving partner. According to the app's spokesperson, ~100K people have already turned to Dig to find love.

by Claudia Harmata
See full article at People

See the top news on Dig

Dating Apps Exposed 845GB of Explicit Photos, Chats, and More

Posted on June 16, 2020

Data breachesWIRED – June 15 – Security researchers Noam Rotem and Ran Locar were scanning the open Internet on May 24 when they stumbled upon a collection of publicly accessible Amazon Web Services "buckets." Each contained data from a different niche dating app, including 3somes, Cougary, Gay Daddy Bear, Xpal, BBW Dating, Casualx, SugarD, Herpes Dating, and GHunt. In all, the researchers found 845 gigabytes and close to 2.5M records, likely representing data from hundreds of thousands of users. The information was particularly sensitive and included sexually explicit photos and audio recordings. WIRED reached out to 3somes and Herpes Dating and attempted to reach Cheng Du New Tech Zone, but did not receive a reply. This was not a hack; it was sloppily stored data.

by Lily Hay Newman
See full article at Wired

Young Americans Are Having Less Sex Than Ever

Posted on June 16, 2020

Frustrated coupleCNN – June 15 – Sexual inactivity increased among young American men between 2000 and 2018, according to researchers from Indiana University and Sweden's Karolinska Institutet who studied survey data from US adults. Postponement of adulthood and the growth of the Internet and digital media could be reasons for why. Men who were unemployed, had part-time employment or lower incomes were more likely to be sexually inactive, researchers found. Women aged 25 to 34 were also having less sex, with students being most likely to be affected.

by Amy Woodyatt
See full article at CNN

Ashley Madison’s Users Rise in Taiwan After Adultery Ruling

Posted on June 15, 2020

Ashleymadison logo 2020TAIPEI TIMES – June 15 – Ashley Madison's membership in Taiwan has risen 70% following last month's ruling by the Council of Grand Justices decriminalizing adultery, and the majority of new members are women. Ashley Madison chief strategist Paul Keable said Asia was unique, as women make up the majority of its membership, adding that 1.9M members are from Taiwan. Awakening Foundation general secretary Chou Yu-hsuan said that Ashley Madison's increased membership could be an indication that the grand justices' ruling had empowered women to pursue their desires. The ruling was not intended to encourage people to have affairs and she did not condone people joining the website, she said.

by Wu Cheng-feng and William Hetherington
See full article at Taipei Times

See the top news on AshleyMadison

Match and Bumble Settle All Litigation

Posted on June 15, 2020

Shaking handsSEEKING ALPHA – June 13 – Match Group and Bumble say they've settled all litigation between the two. They're not disclosing any more information, but say they're both "pleased with the amicable resolution." Match had accused Bumble of patent infringement in March 2018, and has been accusing Bumble of "exploiting" the COVID-19 crisis to delay the lawsuit for tactical advantage.

by Jason Aycock
See full article at Seeking Alpha

See the top news on Match Group
See the top news on Bumble

Joystick Is the Latest Attempt at a Dating Site for Gamers

Posted on June 15, 2020

Joystick datingTHE GAMER – June 13 – Increasingly more people play video games, with ~164M adult gamers in the U.S. alone. Joystick Dating is a new dating app for gamers. In addition to standard dating site information, users can answer some of the important questions, such as whether they prefer console or PC. They can also add some of the genres they like.

by Patrick Tierney
See full article at The Gamer

OkCupid Donates $1M, Rolls out #BlackLivesMatter Profile Badge

Posted on June 14, 2020

Okcupid partial profile screenshotPRWEEK – June 12 – OKCupid is accelerating its response to the Black Lives Matter movement by donating $1M in advertising space to civil rights organizations and rolling out a BLM profile badge for users to show their support.

by Oliver McAteer
See full article at PRWeek

See the top news on OKCupid

Meet Positives Reaches Spanish Speaking Market

Posted on June 14, 2020

Meetpositives iconDIGITAL JOURNAL – June 12 – MeetPositives.com is now available to the Spanish-speaking community. The end goal of the site is to offer a safe and encouraging place for those who are positive to learn from one another and if possible, meet someone who they can enjoy having a healthy relationship while living with an STD.

See full article at Digital Journal

See the top news on Meetpositives.com