NEW YORK TIMES – July 11 – The study used banner ads on Grindr to offer free test kits. Recipients received a kit in the mail, a voucher that could be redeemed for a kit at a pharmacy, or a code that would produce a kit from a vending machine in the parking lot of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center. The study was confined to Los Angeles, and fewer than 400 test kits were distributed, but the idea has broader potential.
by Donald G. McNeil Jr.
See full article at The New York Times
BUSINESS INSIDER – Jun 3 – SurveyMonkey Intelligence looked at the numbers to see which dating apps have the highest proportion of women. Christian Mingle scored the top spot, with women-friendly apps like Coffee Meets Bagel and Bumble also scoring high. Tinder and Happn ranked lower, while, unsurprisingly, gay app Grindr fell in last place.
WIRED – May 20 – Computer researchers in Kyoto, Japan discovered a stalking method which is cheap, reliable, and works not only with Grindr but other gay dating apps like Hornet and Jack'd. It's known as trilateration. If Grindr or a similar app tells you how far away someone is—even if it doesn't tell you in which direction—you can determine their exact location by combining the distance measurement from three points surrounding them. In the US that's not a problem but in Islamic countries or in Russia, it can be very serious that their information is leaked like that.
In late 2014, Grindr responded to security researchers who pointed out that risk by offering an option to turn off the app's distance-measuring feature, and disabling it by default in countries known to have "a history of violence against the gay community". The lingering issue, however, remains: All three apps still show photos of nearby users in order of proximity.
VENTURE BEAT – Apr 5 – Grindr CTO Lukas Sliwka and VB analyst Jon Cifuentes will host a free webinar to give an inside scoop on how mobile app analytics solutions help powerfully leverage critical user data. Grindr has 5 to 6M monthly active users and 2.4M daily active users. Those users are a rich and crucial source of data as Grindr continues to grow its popularity with current clients and expand its reach globally. Grindr is continuing to expand its business model by introducing value-add services, transforming itself into a broader gay lifestyle platform.
ADVOCATE – Mar 18 – Earlier this year, the Beijing Kunlun Tech Company bought a majority stake in Grindr. Recently, China banned all TV programming depicting gay and lesbian couples. Yet the Chinese business was "excited" to invest $93M in the app. The world's most popular same-sex matchmaking app is Chinese Blued. Blued alone has ~15M users. "People in China are less open about homosexuality, but the beautiful thing about the smartphone is that it's a private device," said Blued investor David Chao.
by Daniel Reynolds
See full article at Advocate
HUFFINGTON POST – Mar 14 – The belief that Grindr and other gay apps may be helping to destroy the gay bar scene is nothing new. However, in the eyes of Joel Simkhai, the opposite may actually be true. "Our users are still socializing in bars and clubs very well. And even if you're in these places and too shy to come up to someone, at the bar you can still use Grindr. The feedback we get is that Grindr is a very effective tool to drive."
OPW – Feb 23 – The press just loves Tinder. In our "Best And Worst Press Coverage" overview, Tinder was the absolute winner in 2015. The mobile dating app appeared in the news on a daily basis with mainly positive press hits (except when CEO Sean Rad was interviewed;).
Here is the list of dating sites/app with best press coverage:
The worst press coverage:
On the other site, for AshleyMadison 2015 was an exceptionally horrendous year. The site was hacked, members data was leaked online, and lawsuits followed; without a doubt AshleyMadison was the company with the worst press coverage of all.
CNBC – Feb 19 – According to Jacqueline Gold, CEO of Ann Summers, dating apps are a fantastic way for brands to engage with their audience. Businesses are beginning to see the potential of dating services. Several are being used to advertise fashion and luxury brands, such as JW Anderson, which launched a collection using Grindr in January. Gold doesn't think the presence of ads will put off users, as long as they don't harm the user experience. Dating app are becoming indispensable to users. Didier Rappaport, CEO of dating app Happn, believes these services play an important role in society.
by Luke Graham
See full article at CNBC
STAR OBSERVER – Feb 17 – The gay hook-up/dating app was listed "for promoting tolerance worldwide" through the implementation of its Grindr for Equality campaign. Also on the Innovative Social Media Company list were Tinder, Periscope, and Facebook, while BuzzFeed took out top place as Fast Company's Most Innovate Company for 2016.
