Category: Outlets – Tech Crunch
Facebook: “eHarmony’s Chief Scientist Doesn’t Work On Our Dating Product”
TECH CRUNCH – May 4 – Dr Steve Carter, a data scientist who helped design and build the psychometric and relationship models that became the basis of eHarmony is working at Facebook. But Facebook has confirmed to us that Carter is not working on the new dating service, and the company declined to say what he is doing. He joined Facebook in Aug '17. Carter's profile on LinkedIn describes him as a data science manager, "helping Facebook get even better at making meaningful and beneficial connections between people and communities."
by Ingrid Lunden
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Badoo Adds Live Video Chat
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.
New Dating App CultureCrush Lets User Search By Ethnicity
TECH CRUNCH – Apr 28 – Dating app CultureCrush, created by a team led by former attorney Amanda Spann, lets users search by nationality, ethnicity and tribe. "We have 24k users, 5% of which are paid users, and the app has generated revenue every month since its existence." The app also supports friend-to-friend matchmaking and has a three-day message countdown that dumps matches after 72 hours.
East Meet East Raises $4M
TECH CRUNCH – Apr 12 – East Meet East, a New York-based matchmaking service focused on connecting Asian people in the U.S., raised a $4M Series A funding round. The money comes from existing backer 500 Startups and new investors Asahi Medialab Ventures, DG Lab Fund, Mobile Internet Capital, internet ad firm Septeni. The startup previously raised $1M in Nov 2016. The company is testing a service in the Philippines with a view to expanding across other Southeast Asian markets, which could potentially include Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia. Beyond the expansion, the company is also working to enable smarter matching.
by Jon Russell
See full article at Tech Crunch
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This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
Tinder Begins Testing Its First Video Feature, Tinder Loops
Grindr Sends HIV Status To Third Parties, And Some Personal Data Unencrypted
TECH CRUNCH – Apr 2 – Grindr is under fire again for inappropriate sharing of HIV status with advertisers and inadequate security on other personal data transmission. Norwegian research outfit SINTEF analyzed the app's traffic and found that HIV status, which users can choose to include in their profile, is included in packets sent to Apptimize and Localytics, services for testing and improving mobile apps. The company's CTO said that "the limited information shared with these platforms is done under strict contractual terms that provide for the highest level of confidentiality, data security, and user privacy." Also, the SINTEF researchers found that precise GPS position, gender, age, ethnicity, relationship status, language and others are sent over HTTP to a variety of advertising companies.
Bumble Is Suing Match For $400M For Fraudulently Obtaining Trade Secrets
TECH CRUNCH – Mar 28 – Two weeks ago Match Group sued Bumble for patent infringement and misuse of intellectual property. Bumble has now filing a separate lawsuit accusing Match of multiple improprieties in regards to interactions between the two companies over the past few months. The lawsuit acknowledges that Bumble and Match Group were in acquisition talks over the last 6 months. Bumble alleges that once Match Group found out there were other companies also interested in either investing in or acquiring Bumble, Match Group filed their aforementioned lawsuit to make Bumble less attractive to those other companies. Secondly, Bumble alleges that during the acquisition process Match Group fraudulently requested that Bumble provide "confidential and trade secret information" which Match Group said they "needed to provide a higher offer for Bumble". Bumble alleges that no subsequent offer came, and Match Group instead requested and obtained this information solely for "the financial benefit of its dating app businesses". The lawsuit requests relief in the form of monetary damages, which Bumble estimates at $400M.
by Fitz Tepper
See full article at Tech Crunch
How Raya’s $8/Month Dating App Turned Exclusivity Into Trust
TECH CRUNCH – Mar 24 – Raya is less like Tinder and more like a secret society. It costs a flat $7.99 for everyone, women and celebrities included. Launched in March 2015, Raya has purposefully flown under the radar. No interviews. Little info about the founders. In late 2016 it quietly acquired video messaging startup Chime, led by early Facebooker Jared Morgenstern, without anyone noticing. He'd become Raya's first investor a year earlier. The app has reportedly attracted celebrities like DJs Diplo and Skrillex, actors Elijah Wood and Amy Schumer and musicians Demi Lovato and John Mayer, plus scores of Instagram models and tattooed creative directors. Raya users can now see nearby people on a map when GPS says they're at hot spots like bars, dance halls and cafes.
Bumble Responded To Match Lawsuit With An Ad
TECH CRUNCH – Mar 20 – Tinder's parent company Match Group is suing its competition Bumble, accusing the app of stealing trade secrets and patents. The complaint also says that Bumble has rolled out two new features that were "learned of and developed confidentially while at Tinder". Bumble is responding with a full-page ad in the New York Times, "We swipe left on your multiple attempts to buy us, copy us, and now, to intimidate us." The ad goes onto say that Bumble isn't afraid of aggressive corporate culture. "That's what we call bullying, and we swipe left on bullies," it says, noting the thousands of users the company has blocked for "bad behavior."
by Fitz Tepper
See full article at Tech Crunch