ASSOCIATED PRESS – Norway's data privacy watchdog fined gay dating app Grindr $7.16M for sending sensitive personal data to hundreds of potential advertising partners without users' consent. In 2020, Norway's Consumer Council filed a complaint against Grindr for disclosing information about its users, including GPS locations, IP addresses, ages, gender and their use of the app, to several third parties for marketing purposes. That allowed users to be identified and third parties to potentially share personal information further.
Month: December 2021
Bumble CEO Says the App Remains Unaffected by Omicron
CNBC – Wolfe Herd said the dating app's business has remained "largely unaffected" despite increased worry around the omicron variant. "Demand does not change with different restrictions. People need love. People need connection," she said. Wolfe Herd said Bumble users lean on the dating app's features in different ways depending on the public-health situation around them. "We have opportunities on both sides of the coin," she said. If a user lives in an area where social activities are restricted, Wolfe Herd said that's where Bumble's "Night In" trivia game comes into play.
Q&A With Marc Schachtel, co-CEO of Parship Meet Group
HORIZONT.NET – With the takeover of The Meet Group by Parship, ProSiebenSat1 (P7S1) became one of the top online dating companies. In this interview, Marc Schachtel, Co-CEO of the Parship Meet Group, gives insights into growth plans and the relationship with P7S1.
Q: Mr. Schachtel, you have been leading the Parship Meet Group since July 2021 together with The Meet Group founder Geoff Cook. How does the cooperation work?
A: We complement each other. We have a clear division of tasks that works very well: Geoff takes care of the video-focused apps – MeetMe, Skout, Tagged and Growlr. I am responsible for Parship, Elite Partner, eharmony and Lovoo.
Q: You are currently preparing for an IPO. Apart from that, what have you achieved in the past six months?
A: We managed to successfully lead the company through the pandemic.
Q: What are you doing better than the Match Group?
A: There is a space for many players. Today there are ~800M singles in the world; by 2025 there will be nearly a billion. It is crucial how we influence the market. I see it as our task to bring the quality back into the business and to keep dating safe and healthy. The pandemic has changed everything. We rolled out a video date function on our Parship, Elite Partner and eharmony platforms right at the beginning of the pandemic.
Q: Will avatars meet on your platforms at some point?
A: I was asked about the possibilities of virtual reality when I came to Parship in 2011. I assume that the topic of dating will shift to a certain extent into the virtual world, but in the end relationships are something deeply interpersonal, where chemistry and physicality play a big role. At the same time, we see ourselves as players in the Metaverse with our video products. We always describe our video brands as a bar to go to to be entertained and have fun while looking for a partner. Our B2B product Video Platform as a Service enables our partners to quickly integrate live streaming technology into their platforms and monetize it. vPaaS is now used in ~15 apps, most of them outside of our company.
Q: How does the cooperation with Pro Sieben Sat 1 work?
A: It is a success story that has grown gradually over a decade. With our video business, we are now also part of the entertainment industry. I'm a very big fan of the content work that has been done at P7S1 lately. Our new dating show "Love at First Kick" will certainly not be the last one.
How Clémentine Lalande Put Slow Dating in the Fast Lane
GRIT DAILY – Once is a slow dating app founded by Clémentine Lalande. She is also Head of Growth at Dating Group, a global dating company that acquired Once for $18M. What sets Once apart from other dating apps is that it uses matching algorithms to deliver one match per day to each user. They then get 24 hours to start chatting with the match or pass. "When we entered the market, we knew we had something extraordinary," added Clémentine. "We were coming at it from a woman's point of view, with the understanding that a lot of people now want slower, more meaningful encounters." In addition to being one of the few female CEOs within the dating industry, Clémentine has also had a rather unique career journey. "I studied hardcore math and physics, and then engineering," she said. After five years of working in the trenches as a high-stakes consultant, she soon realized she wanted to build stuff herself. "I believe that anyone can become a successful founder; you just have to tell yourself that you can do it. This is especially true for women."
Dr. Pepper Schwartz – Leveraging Sociology to Improve Online Dating and Relationships
OPW – Dr. Pepper Schwartz, Professor of Sociology at University of Washington, believes that the science of love and dating is ever evolving. Dr. Schwartz has been studying sociology, intimacy, and sexuality for nearly five decades and developed the algorithms for Married at First Sight and Perfect Match. According to her research, people should seek a partner with about 80% similarity for the best balance of compatibility and intrigue. Humans tend to seek validation of one's own behaviors. Online daters are often unaware of their true needs in a relationship and struggle to prioritize needs and wants appropriately. Some personalities are rigid, while others are flexible, leading to levels of conflict which hinder compatibility. She believes that there is a need for full-service dating sites that provide support for relationships over the long term. Dr. Pepper Schwartz discusses the application of sociology theories to improve the value and success of online dating 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 October LTR was kindly sponsored by vPaaS by The Meet Group, RealMe, FaceTec, Women in Dating & Courtland Brooks.
Match.com Brings Back the Human Touch
WALL STREET JOURNAL – From online dating to social media, algorithms are getting more assistance from humans. Since February, Match Group has been testing a human matchmaking layer to its namesake Match app and will provide two handpicked matches for users willing to pay $4.99 a week. The pilot involves a 50-member team who have been trained as dating coaches by the company. Match said ~30% of its members have already opted in for the feature. Users of the feature were eight times more likely to match – or mutually like one another – with an expert pick versus without the service, Match said.
Bumble Presents a Modern-day Manifesto for Dating in 2022
BUZZINCONTENT – Bumble, in collaboration with Agents of Ishq, a multi-media project about sex, love and desire, has created a modern-day dating manifesto that aims to spark conversations around dating. It especially urges Indian women to break the norms and not be afraid of making the first move. Samarpita Samaddar, India Communications Director, Bumble, said, "We are delighted to partner with Agents of Ishq on this dating manifesto that aims to flip outdated, antiquated dating norms, challenging gender stereotypes that we have been fed for too long."
Dating Trends Experts Are Predicting for 2022
Top UK Dating Trends
In 2022 Pre-first date video calls became the norm. The Inner Circle has said that this is one way that app users can work out if they have a connection with someone. Experts at Dating.com agreed, arguing that audio and video dating will redefine how we date in 2022, with 90% of users saying they plan on doing it in the new year. And Tinder said that video dates have been mentioned 52% more times in people's dating profiles. Being vaccinated (or not) will continue to play a big role in dating in 2022. While 2021 may have been the year of hardballing, 2022 is going to be the year where daters hold nothing back. OKCupid has identified a 17% increase in BDSM terms in users profiles and there's been a 125% increase in users saying they wanted children.
Bumble Goes From Dating App to Date Spot With Its New Brick-and-Mortar Space
Internet Dating Jobs Listing Update – December 2021
OPW – The new Internet dating jobs listing is live on the Internet Dating Jobs blog.
Below see a couple of this month's most interesting offers:
Bumble
VP Product Design
Dil Mil
VP Product
Lovoo
Vice President of Growth
Match Group
VP, Investor Relations
Paktor
TW Country Lead
The League
VP Marketing
To see more open positions go here.
Do you have an idating industry job offer which is not included? Please, send it to tips@onlinepersonalswatch.com and we will add it to the list.