Category: Outlets – Tech Crunch

Tinder Doubles Down On Its Casual Nature

Posted on November 8, 2018

Tinder on mobileTECH CRUNCH – Nov 8 – Tinder has never really shaken its reputation as a "hook up" app, instead of one designed for more serious dating. Now, it seems Tinder is planning to embrace its hook up status. According to Match Group CEO Mandy Ginsberg, Tinder is launching its first-ever brand marketing campaign that will promote the "single lifestyle" with billboards and other digital initiatives. "The market defined the brand, versus the business defining the brand," said Ginsberg, referring to its "hook up app" reputation. The company will also invest more in Hinge going forward. Ginsberg said Hinge will help the company to address the "previously underserved" audience of 20-somethings looking for a serious relationship. The plan is to make Hinge the anti-Tinder, then pull in users as they exit Tinder in search of something real.

by Sarah Perez
See full article at Tech Crunch

See all posts on Match Group
See all posts on Tinder
See all posts on Hinge

Summarized by the IDEA team

Tinder Now Has 4.1M Paying Users, Expects $800M In Revenue This Year

Posted on November 7, 2018

Tinder logo classicTECH CRUNCH – Nov 7 – Match Group surpassed analyst's forecasted revenue of $437M, reporting Q3 revenue of $444M, a 29% increase YOY. Match says it expects to bring in a total of $1.72B in annual revenue. Despite positive earnings, the company's 4Q outlook failed to satisfy Wall Street. Match said it expects $440 – $450M in revenue in Q4, falling short of the $454.5M analyst estimate. Shares of Match sank 10% in after-hours trading as a result. Year-to-date, Match's stock is up ~60%. Tinder continues to be Match's growth engine, responsible for half its paid users and half its projected annual revenue. Tinder is expected to bring in $800M in revenue in 2018. Hinge, another app-based dating service acquired by Match in June, is on its way up. Match says it's seen a 5x increase in downloads since it first invested. Match also announced that it would, for the first time, issue a special cash dividend of $2 per share on Match Group common stock and Class B common stock, to be paid out on Dec. 19.

by Kate Clark
See full article at Tech Crunch

See all posts on Match Group
See all posts on Tinder
See all posts on Hinge

Summarized by the IDEA team

Dating App Vibes Aims To Create A Safe, Authentic Space For People To Meet

Posted on October 23, 2018

Vibes partial screenshotTECH CRUNCH – Oct 23 – Vibes, founded by an all-female team, aims to be different than other dating apps. The swipe mechanics are still there, but that's about the only similarity you'll find between Vibes and the likes of Tinder, Hinge, Bumble and others. Text messaging is not part of the experience. When users sign up, they first must agree to the app's code of conduct. Vibes' code of conduct centers around respecting others. Then they chose whether they're down to vibe with people whose preferred pronouns are him, her or them. Next, they select photos and a conversation starter. If they match with someone, they'll record a short, pixelated video answering their question. For every first message they receive, Vibes requires them to actively acknowledge if the message was or was not okay with them. Vibes soft-launched back in July and currently has a few hundred people using the app. Vibes, which has $1.5M in funding, is free to use but envisions developing a freemium model down the road.

by Megan Rose Dickey
See full article at Tech Crunch

Summarized by the IDEA team

Hinge To Measure Real World Success

Posted on October 16, 2018

Hinge wemetTECH CRUNCH – Oct 16 – Hinge is launching a new feature to improve its recommendations, based on whether or not matches had successful real-world dates. With a new feature called "We Met," Hinge will ask users a few days after they shared their phone numbers if they went on a date, and, if so, if they'd want to see that person again. This data will be used as a signal to inform Hinge's algorithms and improve matches, if the user later returns to the app. During beta trials, Hinge says that 90% of members said their first dates were great, and 72% said they wanted to go on a second. Hinge says We Met will launch today, October 16, on iOS first. Android will soon follow.

by Sarah Perez
See full article at Tech Crunch

See all posts on Hinge

Summarized by the IDEA team

Donald Daters, A Dating App For Trump Supporters, Leaked Its Users’ Data

Posted on October 16, 2018

Donalddaters iconTECH CRUNCH – Oct 16 – A new dating app for Trump supporters has leaked its entire database of users – on the day of its launch. The app, called "Donald Daters," is connecting Trump supporters. On its launch day alone, the app had 1,600 users. Elliot Alderson, a French security researcher, could download the entire user database which included user's names, profile pictures, device type, their private messages – and access tokens, which can be used to take over accounts. The data was accessible from a public and exposed Firebase data repository, which was hardcoded in the app.

by Zack Whittaker
See full article at Tech Crunch

Summarized by the IDEA team

Bumble Responds To Match Group’s Patent Infringement Lawsuit

Posted on September 27, 2018

Bumble logo whiteTECH CRUNCH – Sep 27 – Bumble is continuing to go on the offensive against Match Group by serving Match Group with papers. Bumble is taking Match Group to court for fraudulently obtaining trade secrets during acquisition talks. Today, Bumble is also officially responding to Match Group's suit against it, which claims patent infringement and misuse of intellectual property. "Bumble has today formally responded to Match's lawsuit from March 2018 alleging patent infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets. We believe all of the claims are baseless, and are seeking to have several claims dismissed immediately, given their lack of merit." Bumble says Match Group filed its original lawsuit against it to make it less attractive to other potential acquirers. The claims Match Group makes around patent infringement involve Bumble's use of a stack of profile cards, mutual opt-in, and its swiped-based gestures.

by Sarah Perez
See full article at Tech Crunch

See all posts on Bumble
See all posts on Match Group

Summarized by the IDEA team

Tinder’s ‘Swipe The Vote’ Campaign Aims To Educate Young Voters And Get Them To Polls

Posted on September 26, 2018

Tinder swipe the voteTECH CRUNCH – Sep 25 – Tinder has partnered with nonprofit Rock the Vote for a second time, in the hopes of driving young people to the polls through in-app messaging. Only 46% of the 18 to 29-year olds turned out to vote during the 2016 election, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Tinder says it will begin to share "fun facts" with its users during election season in the app. The facts will pop up in the app as often as two to three times a week in the U.S. as a "Swipe the Vote" native display card.

by Sarah Perez
See full article at Tech Crunch

See all posts on Tinder

Summarized by the IDEA team

Tinder In India Launches ‘My Move’, A Bumble-like Feature Where Women Chat First

Posted on September 26, 2018

Tinder mymoveTECH CRUNCH – Sep 25 – "My Move," is similar to the core feature in rival dating app Bumble, which is currently enmeshed in multiple lawsuits with Tinder parent Match Group. Tinder has been quietly testing "My Move" in India for several months, and intends to roll out it out worldwide if all goes well. To use the feature, women go into the app's settings to enable it with a toggle switch. Once turned on, only they can start a conversation with their matches. Previously, anyone could start the chat after a match.

by Sarah Perez
See full article at Tech Crunch

See all posts on Tinder

Summarized by the IDEA team

Bumble Serves Countersuit To Match Group, Says It’s Pursuing An IPO

Posted on September 24, 2018

Bumble app iconTECH CRUNCH – Sep 24 – Bumble is officially serving the papers in the suit against Match Group. Bumble had said in March it was filing a suit of $400M against Match Group for fraudulently obtaining trade secrets, following Match’s suit filed only weeks before, which had claimed patent infringement and misuse of intellectual property. Bumble and Match Group had tried to come to some sort of settlement over the months since the lawsuits were filed. But with court papers now being served, it appears that’s not going to be the case. In terms of how this suit will impact Bumble, Wolfe said, “we’re focused on our growth. We’re focused on ending misogyny, and we’re actively pursuing an IPO.”

by Sarah Perez
See full article at Tech Crunch

See all posts on Bumble
See all posts on Match Group

Summarized by the IDEA team

Reasons Not To Trust Facebook To Play Cupid

Posted on September 24, 2018

Zuckerberg-Facebook-DatingTECH CRUNCH – Sep 21 – Facebook getting into dating looks very much like a mid-life crisis – as a veteran social network desperately seeks a new strategy to stay relevant. Facebook is starting its dating experiment in Colombia, as its beta market. Its take on dating looks a lot more ‘marriage material’ than ‘casual encounters’. Though products don’t always pan out how their makers intend. The question is whether any sensible person should be letting Mark Zuckerberg fire cupid’s arrows on their behalf? Here are just a few reasons why we think you should stay as far away from Facebook’s dalliance with dating as you possibly can…

  • It’s yet another cynical data grab. Facebook’s ad-targeting business model relies on users data to exist.
  • Facebook’s history of privacy hostility shows it simply can’t be trusted.
  • Singles already have amazingly diverse app choice.
  • Facebook claims it has the algorithmic expertise but there’s no algorithmic formula to determine what makes one person click with another.
  • Dating takes resource and focus away from problems Facebook should actually be fixing.
  • By getting involved with dating, Facebook is mixing separate social streams.

by Natasha Lomas
See full article at Tech Crunch

See all posts on Facebook Dating

Summarized by the IDEA team