EXCHANGE4MEDIA – Feb 23 – Bumble has partnered with Ritu Varma, Abijeet Duddala, Alekhya Harika and Shreyas Mediratta, who will share their dating tips and tricks to help women make the first move.
Month: February 2021
Snack, Where TikTok Meets Dating, Gets $3.5M
TECH CRUNCH – Feb 22 – Snack, founded by Kimberly Kaplan, looks to merge the popularity and format of TikTok with the dating world. Kaplan hails from Plenty of Fish, where she was one of the earliest employees. She led product, marketing and revenue and was on the executive team that eventually sold PoF to Match Group for $575M in 2015. Snack is a video-first dating app that asks users to create a video and post it to a feed. Other users can scroll through a feed rather than swipe right or left on individual profiles, and when someone likes a video, it opens up the ability to comment. Once two users have liked each others' videos, DMs are open. Kaplan said that Snack is also working on video editing features similar to that of TikTok to let people get super creative with their profiles. There are 10 people on the Snack team.
by Jordan Crook
See full article at Tech Crunch
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.com
Grindr to Be Hit With $12M Fine From The Norwegian Data Protection Authority
GLOBAL LEGAL CHRONICLE – Feb 22 – The Norwegian Data Protection Authority (Datatilsynet) has announced its intention to fine NOK100M ($12M) for what the regulator has described as illegal disclosure of user data to advertising firms. Should the fine be finalized, it would be the largest GDPR fine issued in the Nordics.
by Federica Tiefenthaler
See full article at Global Legal Chronicle
Scammers on Dating Apps and Social Media Made $304M in 2020
CNN – Feb 22 – A record $304M was reported lost to romance scams in 2020, up 50% from 2019. The pandemic has made things easier, creating legitimate reasons for scammers to hide their real motives, claiming they cannot meet in person or need money for medical treatment. According to the FTC, gift cards and wire transfers are the most commonly used payment methods by online scammers, both of which can be difficult to track.
Matchmakers Busier Than Ever During the Pandemic
BOSTON HERALD – Feb 22 – Dating apps have seen a significant uptick in activity over the last year – Hinge reported a 19% increase in dates globally between 2019 and 2020 – but several single people have taken it one step further, seeking out dating coaches and matchmakers. Alexis Germany, a Las Vegas-based dating coach who shares advice on her TikTok, said her business has tripled. Dating experts say their new customers are more dedicated to finding a committed relationship and more open-minded when it comes to where a match is located.
PLBY Group Names Lance Barton CFO
GLOBE NEWSWIRE – Feb 16 – PLBY Group, the owner of Playboy, appointed Lance Barton as CFO. Mr. Barton joins PLBY Group from Match Group, where he served as head of Corporate Development and Investor Relations. He joined Match Group from IAC in 2014, and helped lead a period of substantial growth at Match Group, including a 1300% increase in Match Group's share price and a $45B increase in Match Group's market capitalization.
Robert Metcalfe – Measuring Consumer Value in the Dating Industry
LTR – Feb 22 – Over the past 20 to 30 years, research has advanced several economic theories that relate well to the dating industry. These include the theory of behavior change, experimentation, and consumer value. Robert Metcalfe, Co-founder of The Behavioralist, discusses the application of behavioral economics to measure consumer value in online dating. He explains the methodology that equates willingness to pay to consumer value. More specifically, the more that a consumer is willing to pay for a product or service, the happier they will be with that purchase. Robert Metcalfe details the benefits of analyzing consumer value to maximize profits in the latest video in the LTR Conference series.
LTR stands for Love, Technology, Relationships and the online conference covers the Internet dating and Online Social Communities space. It is for members of IDEA and OSCA.
The November LTR was kindly sponsored by RealMe, vPaaS by The Meet Group & Utopia Analytics.
ParshipMeet Considers IPO in Germany
BLOOMBERG – Feb 20 – Dating platform ParshipMeet is considering listings on the country's stock exchange. ParshipMeet's owner, the broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE, is working with advisers on a potential IPO of the business. The company has been encouraged by the successful listing of Bumble in the U.S. this month.
by Aaron Kirchfeld, Myriam Balezou & Eyk Henning
See full article at Bloomberg
Lawyers: Sugarbook Should Not Be Policed for Morality
MALAY MAIL – Feb 20 – Last week, Sugarbook's founder and CEO was arrested on suspicion of wrongfully confining persons for prostitution, soliciting for prostitution, making statements with an intent to cause fear or public alarm, and for improper use of network facilities or a network service. After the police announced investigations on women who are subscribed to the service, they said the exchanges between two consenting adults was not the authorities' business. Advance Tertiary College's academic director Daniel Abishegam said that Sugarbook was simple a "glorified" dating agency whose services did not expressly include trading sex for cash. Lawyer Fahri Azzat argued that Sugarbook was not fundamentally different from other dating services despite its premise of being "where romance meets finance".
by Emmanuel Santa Maria Chin
See full article at Malay Mail
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