ADWEEK – Hinge has launched the second phase of its “No Ordinary Love” campaign to reconnect Gen Z with romance amid dating app fatigue. The initiative features real love stories from Hinge couples, written by contemporary authors and released as both a hardcover book and a five-part Substack series. The campaign, produced with Dazed Studio, includes book club events in New York and London, and targets Gen Z’s growing interest in literature.
LINKEDIN – Grindr has opened a new office in Palo Alto to tap into Bay Area AI talent. CEO George Arison says the team is focused on building AI-driven user experiences with new engineers joining onsite.
SFGATE – Ditto AI, a dating site started by two UC Berkeley dropouts, is gaining popularity at California colleges by eliminating swiping, texting, and planning. Users fill out a profile, and AI handles the matching, scheduling, and suggesting conversation starters. The site has attracted thousands of students at UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, and now San Jose State. Though praised for convenience, some users find the AI experience impersonal and question its ability to replace the emotional growth that comes with traditional dating.
OPW – This is a reminder that LTR Edition 42 will take place this Wednesday, May 14, at 1:00 PM EST. In this edition, Mark Brooks will be joined by:
If you hold a full-time leadership role at an online dating company, you are welcome to join IDEA and LTR events for free. To RSVP, please contact mark@courtlandbrooks.com.
This LTR is kindly sponsored by Dating Through Curiosity.
NEW YORK TIMES – Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder of Bumble and co-founder of Tinder, returns as CEO of Bumble after a year-long break. She initially left due to exhaustion, family priorities, and burnout. Her return was prompted by the resignation of her successor and a feeling that Bumble needed her back. She reflects on: Tinder's toxic culture and her sexual harassment lawsuit; her disappointment with media coverage, notably Bloomberg's critique of Bumble's feminist branding as mere marketing; admitting Bumble isn't perfect, acknowledging overselling its empowerment angle, and its role in dating app fatigue. On Gen Z fatigue, she says users feel judged and rejected by current app mechanics, like swiping. Her solution: overhaul Bumble using AI and human coaches to offer more intelligent matchmaking and self-reflection tools – quizzes to help users understand themselves and build better relationships. She's also pivoting toward offline connections, launching features that promote local group events, aiming to fight loneliness and build community. Wolfe Herd criticizes venture capital's bias against women and the regression of support for female founders.
OPW – Continued challenges with Gen Z usage remain the long-term cloud hanging over the dating sector. In the short term, MTCH and BMBL have seen considerable management turnover, and the market is now waiting to see if new leaders can change course. At MTCH, CEO Bernard Kim and CTO Will Wu have departed, as has long-time President/CFO Gary Swidler, while Spencer Rascoff (previously on the Board) and Steven Bailey (Swidler's longtime lieutenant) have taken over the CEO and CFO roles. At BMBL, Whitney Wolfe Herd has returned and begun a significant overhaul of senior management. The exception: consistent leadership from George Arison and Vanna Krantz has helped anchor GRND's continued outperformance.
The big question facing new management at MTCH and BMBL: can consistent, healthy revenue growth re-emerge, or are these mature businesses where cost-cutting and the return of capital to shareholders become more important themes?
In the shorter term, the market is broadly focused on the potential impact of changing US tariff policies, and online dating has typically been more resilient in economic downturns relative to other Internet sectors like eCommerce and digital advertising. With that said, a la carte revenue trends dipped at Tinder in the past few weeks, so it's not completely immune, and macro uncertainty adds to the challenge of kick-starting innovation, improving trust and safety, and figuring out the right mix of price and product merchandising facing MTCH and BMBL.
Daniel Salmon – Partner, New Street Research
Mark Brooks: This is a guest post from our investor analyst friend Dan Salmon. We occasionally work on Zoom and IRL investor events with investor analysts who cover the dating industry.
MARK BROOKS – The Global Love Conference happened last week in New York. I spoke at it and gave an overview of the Internet dating industry. 160 matchmakers and associated professionals attended it. Record attendance.
Here’s the top 5 things I learned…
Typically, matchmakers seem to be charging $20k-$60k now. Lower-end services start at $6k for short-term contracts.
Another thing I learned is that coaches are advising their clients to ask more questions and come to their dates with an open mind. This is very much in line with what our client, Dating Through Curiosity, is doing for dating apps. Email me at mark@courtlandbrooks.com if you’d like to learn more about Dating Through Curiosity facilitated training for dating app users, or about Courtland Brooks‘ services for dating apps.
BUSINESS INSIDER – Bumble reported a 7.7% drop in Q1 2025 revenue as founder Whitney Wolfe Herd, who returned as CEO in March, acknowledged the app lost its way by prioritizing growth over user experience. She cited an influx of low-quality profiles, poor matches, and a shift from word-of-mouth to performance marketing as key missteps. Bumble plans to cut ad spend, remove bad actors, and improve matching with AI. The company is trying to recover from a 90% stock decline since its 2021 IPO. Competitor Match Group also reported weak results, laying off 13% of its staff.
PR NEWSWIRE – Match Group reported $831M in Q1 2025 revenue, down 3% YOY. Paying users dropped 5% to 14.2M, though revenue per payer slightly increased. Operating income fell 7% to $173M. Tinder continued to see a decline in direct revenue, down 7% as paying users fell 6%. Hinge’s revenue rose 23% as paying users increased 19%. CEO Spencer Rascoff is driving major restructuring, cutting 13% of the workforce (325 employees) and consolidating teams to save ~$100M annually. New product features include Tinder’s AI Discovery and The Game Game, plus an improved AI match algorithm on Hinge that boosted match rates by 15%. The company also expanded globally across multiple brands. $195M in stock was repurchased.
See full article at PR Newswire
See the top news on Match Group
See the top news on Tinder
See the top news on Hinge
BUSINESSWIRE – Bumble's total revenue decreased 8% to $247M. Bumble app revenue decreased 6% to $202M, and paying users decreased 1% to 2.7M. Net earnings were $19.8M, or 8% of revenue, compared to net earnings of $33.9M, or 12.6% of revenue. Adjusted EBITDA was $64.4M, compared to $74M in Q1 24. During Q1 of 2025, Bumble repurchased $28.7M of Class A common stock shares under our previously announced $450M share repurchase program. As of March 31, 2025, $50M remained available for repurchase under the program.
