FAST COMPANY – Jan 12 – Anyone who's used Tinder is assigned an internal rating: a score calculated by the company that ranks the most (and least) desirable people swiping on the service. The scores referred as "Elo Scores" are not available to the public. According to Tinder CEO Sean Rad, the rating is not a measure of attractiveness, but a measure of "desirability," in part because it's not determined simply by the profile photo. "It's not just how many people swipe right on you," Rad explains. "It's very complicated. It took us two and a half months just to build the algorithm because a lot of factors go into it."
Category: Outlets – Fast Company
Is Controversial Tinder CEO Sean Rad Ready To Grow Up?
FAST COMPANY – Jan 11 – The addictive Tinder is as much cultural phenomenon as dating app which is now responsible for 1.3M dates per week. It has ballooned to 9.6M DAU, accounting for ~1.4B swipes per day. Despite Tinder’s fast success, CEO Sean Rad has endured an unusually bumpy few years, including reams of skeptical press, a sexual harassment lawsuit, and his temporary ouster as CEO. Ultimately the board decided that Tinder’s unique culture needed Rad. He is back and plans to build it into a robust ad vehicle and subscription service, and also believes it could go beyond dating. In some ways, it's what makes him a perfect ambassador for Tinder: his youth, his energy, his intuitive grasp of the app's core audience. Right now he is focusing not only on improving Tinder's core functionality, but on how to broaden the app's appeal and generate revenues. Launching new features such as Super Like is a big part of that strategy.
Tinder Notifies Users When There’s A Bigger Chance To Score A Match
FASTCOMPANY – Jan 7 – Tinder users are getting a new kind of push notification that read "Wow! Tinder is on fire in your area! Chances of a match are 3x higher right now." The new notification alerts users when the organic match rate (the number of swipes it takes to get a match) in their specific geographic area increases.
Matchmakers Thrive In The Age Of Tinder
FASTCOMPANY – Oct 1 – When Match.com launched in 1995, it seemed like the matchmaking business was about to have its Amazon moment. "I wondered if we’re going to go out of business," says Amber Kelleher, a matchmaker who had been working with the enormous database of singles her mother had started building, by hand, in 1986. But the Kellehers' business grew. "People were able to take a baby step. They got to us faster," Kelleher says. Maria Avgitidis, the founder of Agape Match, says her clientele has also changed. "As online dating is becoming normalized," she says, "it’s driving up these niche apps and, at the same time, matchmaking." Agape typically charges $15K for six months.
by Sarah Kessler
See full article at FastCompany
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Her, A Lesbian Dating App, Launches In US
FAST COMPANY – July 16 – Her, a lesbian UK based dating app, is launching in US. The app was founded two years ago under the brand name Dattch. Her was designed to encourage conversation between users until they know enough about each other to meet in person. While Dattch was a pure dating app, Her expanded to become a digital place for queer women to converse. While Her raised $1M in March, they’ve yet to nail down a monetization strategy.
Happn Is Launching In San Francisco
FAST COMPANY – Mar 26 – Happn, a fast-growing French mobile dating startup, is launching in its second US market today – San Francisco. The app is like a combination of Tinder and Craigslist's missed connections. Happn, which is already live in New York City, Paris, London, Berlin, Barcelona, Sydney, was founded by former Daily Motion COO Didier Rappaport. It boasts 2.5M users worldwide. It offers users a form of digital flirtation called "charms" which they can purchase – 10 charms for $1.99.
You Can Now Buy The OKCupid Algorithm
eHarmony’s New EH+
FAST COMPANY – Oct 16 – Dr. Neil Clark Warren announced EH+, its first product that uses human intervention for the more "complex cases", costing $5K/yr. The company quietly launched a soft rollout of the service in January, but did not make a nationwide press announcement. Exact figures were not released but they revealed that several hundred customers have signed up for the new service. The founder also acknowledged that while approximately 600k couples have found wedded bliss on eHarmony, some 70% of its users say they are not satisfied with the online matchmaking site.
by Kathy Chin Leong
See full article at Fast Company
Online Dating Stigmas In Japan
FAST COMPANY – Sep 17 – Japanese birthrate is among the lowest on earth, and the number of marriages is in decline. Many Japanese people don’t seem like dating sites. Some of the biggest ones position themselves as more social than romantic. Nikukai, meaning "Meat Meeting,” is an app designed to get groups of men and women together for Korean barbecue. Another app, Furendo Tossu is a site for meeting new people with common interests. Pairs, a dating app linked to Facebook that, along with MatchAlarm, NikuKai, and Yahoo Omiai, is one of the country’s most popular. Online dating in Japan has a shady history. People preferred anonymity, opting for cartoon avatars instead of photographs. On Pairs, photos regularly crop out distinguishing features, or instead show a favorite pet, stuffed animal, or an original drawing, expressing the user's taste. Another reason online dating has a seedy rep is baishun, meaning "to sell spring," with “spring” referring to youth or virginity. Baishun is the practice of Japanese teenage girls selling sex to older men online.
by Taylor Beck
See full article at Fast Company
Mark Brooks: Marc Lesnick will run an Internet Dating Conference in China next year that will focus on mobile dating, along with advances and innovations in the Far East markets.
Jess, Meet Ken: A Female-Friendly Online Dating Site
FAST COMPANY – Sep 10 – What women want, is to meet men who are pre-vetted by other women, according to Jess and Ken Deckinger. On their new site, called Jess, Meet Ken, women can recommend eligible bachelors they know; single woman browsing the site can then either reach out to the man himself or to the woman who vouches for him. Jess, Meet Ken is designed to redistribute power in online dating by requiring women to initiate contact: Men are not allowed to send unsolicited messages to women. In 2001, Ken founded the first speed-dating website, HurryDate, which was later acquired by Spark Networks. Jess is a marketer with a Harvard MBA.