BUMBLE – Bumble, the parent company of Bumble, Badoo, and Fruitz, reported its Q4 and the full year 2022 results. In Q4, the total revenue increased 16.7% to $241.6M, while its Bumble App revenue grew 27.7% to $190.8M. Bumble App paying users grew 133K sequentially in Q4; added 502K paying users in FY22 compared to FY21. Badoo and other revenue declined 11.9% to $50.8M, compared to $57.6M. For the full year, Bumble's revenue increased 18.7% to $903.5M. However, the company's net loss for the year was $(114.1)M, compared to net earnings of $281.7M in 2021. The company's CFO expressed confidence in their ability to scale the business and deliver profitable growth in 2023.
Category: Badoo
Which Dating Apps Collect and Share the Most Data From Their Users
Bumble’s Q2 2022 Results, Bumble Revenue up 33%, Badoo Down 14%
GLOBE NEWSWIRE – Total Revenue increased 18.4% to $220.5M, compared to $186.2M. This includes an unfavorable impact of $9.4M from foreign currency movements YOY. Bumble app revenue grew 33.2% to $169.6M. Badoo app and other revenue declined 13.7% to $50.8M. Total paying users increased to 3M, compared to 2.9M. Net loss was $6.4M, compared to net loss of $11.1M.
Can Online Dating Burnout Be Stopped?
BBC – "Decision fatigue", also called "dating app burnout" is a prevalent phenomenon in the app-based dating world. People grow tired of the endless scroll of potential dates. A recent Badoo survey showed more than three-quarters of singles felt burnt out by unrewarding interactions and inappropriate matches from platforms and apps. Hinge also found that 61% of users were overwhelmed by the dating process, which sometimes feels like "a second job". The design of dating apps can also create frustrations for burnt-out users. Many useful features are behind a paywall. It's also tricky to navigate multiple dating apps at once. Hopping between different interfaces can cause problems. Bumble's relationship expert Caroline West suggests approaching dating apps with more intention and to focus on quality over quantity. Bumble has a feature allowing fatigued users to "snooze" their activity so they can take a break and alert matches that they're doing so. For some people, a dating pause is exactly what they need.
by Jessica Klein
See full article at BBC
Mark Brooks: This is a fascinating problem! I keep hearing this come up. Let's talk about this on Swell. Please join me and share your spoken opinion at https://www.swellcast.com/t/
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Why Some People Are Turning to Face-to-Face Apps First
by Martin Graff
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Background Checks on Dating Apps
EYEWITNESS NEWS – One study found 81% of online daters misrepresented some aspect about themselves, be it height, weight, or age. The Federal Trade Commission says phishing and dating scams on apps cost victims $304M in 2020, double the amount of the previous year. Top10.com researched the background check and user verification processes for the most popular dating apps and websites.
Match Group
The company announced in March 2021 a partnership with nonprofit background check technology Garbo. The app provides historical information about domestic violence and abuse.
Badoo
The app makes sure the person is legitimate by having users take an image in a unique pose to verify. Badoo also allows users to further verify using a phone number or social network account and marks verification on their profile.
Bumble
Bumble uses a combination of AI and human-led monitoring systems to review accounts and messages for violations of their terms of service. These include imagery or language that discriminates against someone's race, ethnicity, disability, gender expression, and a range of other criteria.
AdultFriendFinder
AdultFriendFinder doesn't do background checks. While users are to accept sole responsibility for their own interactions with other users, users have recourse to report account abuse, and moderators are also looking out for abnormal behavior on the site.
Ashley Madison
User verification and background checks are counterintuitive to the goal of Ashley Madison.
Happn
Similar to Badoo, Happn users have the opportunity to certify their profiles by taking a video posing with unique head gestures, as instructed by the app. While Happn claims noncertified profiles are not fake, they do not provide any additional background on whether a vetting process exists for noncertified profiles.
Zoosk
Zoosk provides online dating safety tips for people new to dating online. Although, in those tips, it's suggested that users do their own research on potential suitors because Zoosk asserts it does not "routinely screen our members, inquire into the background of our members, attempt to verify information provided by our members, or conduct criminal screenings of our members."
Eharmony
While the dating service does not conduct an official background check, it does provide users with an 80-question survey to narrow in on the specificity of the website's services.
Grindr
Grindr notes in its terms of service that it does not conduct criminal or other background screenings of its users and doesn't verify the information users provide.
by Vivian Muniz
See full article at PA Homepage
Russia’s App Store Lost 7K Apps Since Its Invasion of Ukraine
TECH 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.
Badoo: Younger Users Date Differently
Badoo Parodies Dating App Behavior That Would Never Fly in Real Life
Bumble’s First Acquisition Raises 3 Red Flags
THE MOTLEY FOOL – Bumble recently agreed to buy Fruitz, a French dating app that lets its users express their intentions with four fruit-based metaphors: cherries, grapes, watermelons, and peaches. On the surface, Bumble's acquisition makes sense. It only operates two main apps, Bumble and Badoo. However, the deal also raises three red flags about Bumble that can't be ignored.
- Bumble needed to buy more growth
Bumble ended Q3 of 2021 with 2.89M paying users across its two main apps, which represented 5% YOY growth. By comparison, Match's paying users rose 16% YOY to 16.3M. - Fruitz probably won't add many paid users
Fruitz has been downloaded ~5.6M times globally for iOS and Android devices, according to Sensor Tower. And we don't know how many paid users it actually has. - Selling Badoo makes more sense
Bumble generated more than twice as much average revenue per paying user than Badoo. Instead of acquiring another European-oriented app to offset Badoo's slowdown, it would have arguably made more sense to sell Badoo and reinvest that cash into Bumble's overseas expansion.
by Leo Sun
See full article at The Motley Fool
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