by Leigh Gallagher
The full article was originally published at Fortune Magazine, but is no longer available.
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TECH CRUNCH – June 6 – Badoo, a UK-based dating app with ~388M users globally – whose majority-owned app Bumble is currently being sued by Tinder in part for its use of swiping – says that it will be removing the swiping from its own app. Badoo is rolling out a new feature called Badoo Live which are live video broadcasts to let people show off their personalities. Users will be able to send messages during a live session, which works on a principle similar to Facebook Live. Once a match is made, users can start a live video chat with each other.
by Stephanie Forshee
See full article at Law.com
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STANDARD.CO.UK – May 4 – The social app Huggle was recently acquired by Badoo. Launched in 2016, the app connects people based on mutual places and interests. Huggle was founded by Stina Sanders and Valerie Stark. Stark had moved to London from Russia and was finding it hard to make friends in a new city. She turned to social media, using Instagram's geo-location feature to find people who frequented the same places as her. The two eventually met at the same yoga studio and struck up the friendship that would lead to the app's beginning. Neither Sanders nor Stark had a background in tech but they were able to use Stark's connection to Andrey Andreev, the founder of Badoo, through a previous business partner to get the app started. Huggle was built using Badoo's back-end. This took care of the tech side of things and allowed Sanders and Stark to set about building the business, focusing on marketing and design.
by Amelia Heathman
See full article at Standard.co.uk
TECH CRUNCH – May 2 – Live video in a dating app context raises some immediate risk flags, including around inappropriate behavior which could put off users. "I pressed 'play' last night and after about 45 clicks on 'Next' encountered 5 straight up penis shots," said TechCrunch's former co-editor Alexia Tsotsis when she tested video chat app Chatroulette back in 2010. Clearly Badoo will be hoping to achieve a much better ratio of quality conversation. The video chat will only be switched on once both parties have matched and exchanged at least one message each. The company also says live video can help enhance dating app safety – saying the feature can be a way for users to suss out a stranger to see whether seem trustworthy before risking meeting in person, and also help to weed out fake profiles and catfishing.
ASKMEN – Apr 25 – Badoo surveyed 10k of its users and found that 32% of 18 to 24-year-olds would date someone over the age of 35. 27% of women have dated someone a decade older than themselves and 15% of Badoo users are interested in the 50-plus category. As many as 13% of men reported they would date someone 20 years older than them.
REFINERY 29 – Apr 5 – The new 'Friends of Friends' tool allows users to easily discover and scroll through their Facebook friends' Badoo profiles, as well as (crucially) their friends' Badoo profiles. If they match with a friend of a friend, they can then chat to or video call them directly. For some people, the idea of being easily discoverable to their Facebook connections on a dating app may be a step too far. The tool does, however, have the potential to make others feel more secure.
OPW – Apr 5 – According to Linkedin Match.com is showing no growth over the last two years, with 598 employees. Tinder is the big growth story with 320 employees and 116% growth over the last 2 years. PlentyofFish is also broken out from Match, and is up 15% over the last 2 years with 94 employees. Meanwhile, OKCupid are have been quite stable at 64 employees.
Zoosk is stable at 170 employees. They dipped to 158 employees but actually show 1% employee growth over the past 2 years.
eHarmony has leveled off to 239 employees in the last 6 months but is down 27% over the last 2 years.
See full article at Courtland Brooks blog.
Post by Mark Brooks, CEO IDEA
INDEPENDENT.CO.UK – Mar 22 – Dating app Badoo recently conducted a survey of 5k of its users to find out what compels those looking for love to swipe right. 54% of women would swipe left for a guy who's included a photo of himself with an attractive woman. 30% would swipe right for picture of a man posing in the countryside. Dogs are a big draw for all, with 29% of women and 21% of men swiping right for a profile picture that features a dog. 37% of women would give a photo of a man in the gym a hard no, while 25% of men are all for it.