Month: March 2022

Bill Alena – Digital Intimacy – the Future of Dating & Social

Posted on March 18, 2022

OPW – Bill Alena, the CIO of Social Discovery Ventures, a master of digital revenue and social, presents how and why Digital Intimacy is the future. The next dating evolution will focus on building intimate relationships within a strictly digital ecosystem. Current dating apps are very transactional. More social and engaging platforms will thrive as products to solve loneliness are built. Bill digs into how video, AI, and the MetaVerse will forever transform space.

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 January LTR was kindly sponsored by RealMe, vPaaS by Meet Group, FaceTec, OneRep, and Courtland Brooks

Spark Networks Announces the Appointment of Ken Chin as Chief Product Officer

Posted on March 17, 2022

Spark Networks Ken ChinCNW – Chin is an accomplished leader with over 20 years' experience in product leadership for online marketplaces (eBay and SeekAsia) and e-commerce (FarFetch). As a group product manager at eBay, he was critical in driving a merger between eBay's EU Retail Promotions Platform with the global platform, and crucial in driving corporate innovation at BCG Digital Ventures.

See full article at Newswire

See the top news on Spark Networks

Blued Pledges to Strengthen Online Safety on World Consumer Rights Day

Posted on March 17, 2022

Blued logo 2021GLOBE NEWSWIRE – Blued, a world-leading online LGBTQ+ community platform, is reiterating its commitment to ensuring the safety of its users this World Consumer Rights Day with a series of in-app features and operational efforts. Blued has formed a dedicated anti-fraud team that covers security, risk control, and technical AI identification. It developed a proprietary AI identification technology in 2021 that notifies users when there is a potential risk of fraud, while it sends in-app warnings when sensitive words are detected in private chats. Blued also carries out regular online safety campaigns to raise awareness on the issue.

See full article at Yahoo Finance

See the top news on Blued

Russia’s App Store Lost 7K Apps Since Its Invasion of Ukraine

Posted on March 17, 2022

AppstoreTECH CRUNCH – The Russian App Store has lost 6,982 mobile apps since the start of the Ukraine invasion, as numerous companies have now pulled their apps and games from Apple's iPhone and iPad App Stores in the country. Amid the widespread exits, several Big Tech companies' apps continue to rank highly on the Russian App Store. Russia is not the only country being impacted in this way. Many publishers also removed their apps and games from the App Store in Belarus. That country has now seen a loss of 5,900 apps since the invasion's start. Bumble and Badoo are gone, too.

by Sarah Perez
See full article at Tech Crunch

Dating News Headlines: Blued, Spark Networks, Yumy

Posted on March 16, 2022

Quick links to today's dating news headlines.

After ‘Tinder Swindler’ Shockwaves, Tinder Adds In-App Background Checks

Posted on March 15, 2022

Match Group GarboMEDIA POST – Tinder is adding a $2.50 background check option to its popular dating app via Garbo, the new in-app service, which allows people to access public information about violent behavior, including arrests, convictions, and sex offender registry records. "It's been a long time coming," says Mark Brooks, CEO of Courtland Brooks, which consults with online dating apps. "Background checks have been in the works for years. But records haven't always been up to date, and there are gaps in databases." He points out that back in 2011, Match.com agreed to screen users to weed out sex offenders as part of a legal settlement. And while it did so, it didn't make that information public. Brooks says that's likely for two reasons. "First, that might give people a false sense of security. The most dangerous person is the one who hasn't been caught yet." Second, he says, it's unnerving to users who simply hadn't yet wondered if the date they just set up is with a scammer, a sex offender or an ax murderer. Visible background checks can "make people think, 'Hold on! I didn't think I'd need to do something like this!'" Brooks is a consultant to RealMe, a competitor to Garbo that helps detect fake dating profiles. For now, Garbo is only available on Tinder. But Match says it will soon roll it out to additional sites.

by Sarah Mahoney
See full article at Media Post

See the top news on Match Group
See the top news on Tinder

Spark Networks Reports Q4 and Full Year 2021 Financial Results

Posted on March 15, 2022

Sparknetworks logo 2018PR NEWSWIRE –

Q4 2021 Financial Results

  • Revenue was $52M, compared to $58.1M in the 2020 Q4.
  • Net Loss was $9.9M, compared to $45.1M in the 2020 Q4.

Full Year 2021 Financial Results

  • Revenue was $216.9M, compared to $233M in 2020.
  • Net Loss was $68.2M, compared to $46.6M in 2020.

Spark properties generated ~4M daily page views and a total free and paid user base of ~40M people in 2021. Spark averaged 875K paid subscribers during 2021. The company intends to invest $110M in customer acquisition in 2022.

See full article at Spark Networks website

See the top news on Spark Networks