BUSINESSWIRE – Mar 17 – The Meet Group, a leading provider of interactive dating solutions, has appointed Norman Petty as General Counsel. In this role, Petty will lead the company's legal team while overseeing its Trust and Safety organization charged with maintaining the safety and security of its users. Petty joins The Meet Group from Dow Jones & Company, where he most recently served as Senior VP and Associate General Counsel.
Category: The Meet Group
Catherine Connelly – the Journey From myYearbook to The Meet Group
LTR – Mar 4 – Catherine Connelly, Co-Founder and SVP Marketing for The Meet Group, has been instrumental in the growth and development of the company over the past 16 years. During this interview with Mark Brooks, CEO of Courtland Brooks, Connelly recalls the events that inspired her to co-found myYearbook with her brothers Dave and Geoff Cook in 2005. She was just 15 at the time. Following a merger with Quepasa in 2011, the company was rebranded as MeetMe in 2012. Over the following years, they acquired Lovoo, Skout, Tagged, and Growlr to form The Meet Group. The company has embraced video in its products and has championed the use of one-to-many broadcasting in the dating space. Catherine Connelly provides her unique perspective in building an online dating company in the latest video in the LTR Conference series.
LTR stands for Love, Technology, Relationships and the online conference covers the Internet dating and Online Social Communities space. It is for members of IDEA and OSCA.
The December LTR was kindly sponsored by RealMe, vPaaS by The Meet Group, Utopia Analytics, Real Gifts & Courtland Brooks.
The Meet Group Partners With Holler Bringing GIFs and Stickers to In-App Messaging
MEDIUM.COM – Mar 4 – The Meet Group's portfolio includes MeetMe, Skout, Tagged, GROWLr, and LOVOO. First launching on MeetMe, Holler's GIFs and stickers will offer expressive content that will help fuel conversations for members seeking both love and friendship. Currently, the Holler update is only available on iOS.
What Dating Apps Get the Most Press Coverage?
OPW – Mar 2 – We published 956 posts during last year on OPWS.news, featuring 257 dating industry brands. Here is who got the most press coverage on OPW.news.
- Tinder (137 posts)
- Match Group (96 posts)
- Bumble (93 posts)
- The Meet Group (58 posts)
- Grindr (46 posts)
- Hinge (40 posts)
- OkCupid (39 posts)
- PlentyOfFish (28 posts)
- Match.com (27 posts)
- Blued (18 posts)
The Complete Guide to the Online Dating Industry
QUARTZ – Feb 14 – Dating online has revolutionized how we fall in love. The industry has 270m monthly users globally and grew by 13% in 2020, but online dating (swiping) has become exhausting. Experts say the apps that define the next era of online dating will offer more fun, safety, and community.
Amarnath Thombre, head of Match North America said Match's strategy is to "have each app run its own experiment," and, as the experiments play out, the company can use the successful features in its other properties. Match is also expanding into Asia with the lucrative Pairs in Japan, and Hawaya a Muslim-focused service.
Bumble had 42m MAU in Q3 2020. Facebook Dating seems to have fizzled, although some industry experts say it still has big potential [(Mark Brooks)]
"Pretty much everything that we charge for on Hinge, we couldn't really give away for free because then it wouldn't work anymore," said Hinge's CEO/founder Justin McLeod. "Think about Roses, for example. Roses are really, really special. If we gave everyone unlimited Roses, then it would completely defeat the purpose of Roses." Hinge downloads grew 63% globally between 2019 and 2020.
Mark Brooks, a leading industry consultant, says that for dating apps to be able to keep monetizing, moving into a more community-oriented gear is the way to go. "We want people to stick around, have fun. Yes, hook up, meet up, and maybe stick around even beyond that point," he said. "I think we'll see a general shift away from dating into more community-esque apps."
Since the beginning of the pandemic, The Meet Group saw livestreamed minutes increase by 40%. The Meet Group provides livestreaming for Match Group's Plenty of Fish, and the feature is proving to be popular. In Feb Match acquired Hyperconnect, a Korean "social discovery" company that owns a livestreaming app, and a video and audio chatting app that translates conversations in real time, for $1.7B.
Cook points out that the growth of the dating industry has generally been slowing. "And so what do dating companies do when you're saturating the market? …they find other ways to engage the user. …they can provide some entertainment value."
Every female dater interviewed for this article mentioned how they often feel unsafe on the apps, or how they are put off by unwanted sexual attention. In 2019, Bumble launched a feature that detects and blurs inappropriate photos. Tinder directs users who report violations to support organizations. Content moderation is slowly getting better.
Dating could jump to new media. For a true dating revolution to happen, the industry needs another media shift, like the one from desktop to mobile, said Brooks. He predicts that the jump will be to Augmented Reality, and that through wearable technology like AR lenses, people will get more "intel-on-the-go" about potential matches. "When passing by someone who has double matched, or is viable and an exceptional date candidate, they will be indicated to them." (Hakuna Live, one of the apps Match acquired in its Hyperconnect deal, features augmented reality avatars).
What's more, Brooks thinks we need more "coaxing along" when we're dating. AR, as well as "informed, tailored advice" from the dating service will deliver helpful nudges in real time, such as: "it's been 20 days since your last date night, might be time for a date at ,'" he said. "I think the benefits of timely advice will outweigh the creepiness of having a computer act as an informed advisor."
by Hanna Kozlowska
See full article at Quartz
Mark Brooks: Please see Courtland Brooks for more information on our niche agency/consultancy. We help Internet dating and online social communities to grow, and get their strategy, business development and marketing (more) right. 😉
See the top news on Match Group See the top news on Facebook Dating
See the top news on Bumble See the top news on Hinge
See the top news on The Meet Group See the top news on POF
Sensor Tower’s State of Dating Apps Report
SENSOR TOWER – Feb 18 – Sensor Tower's recent report – 2021 State of Dating Apps report – offers analysis on the latest trends for the category:
- Dating app revenue and download trends in the U.S. and top apps
App Store install growth outpaced that of Google Play, perhaps suggesting that dating apps are going after the comparatively higher spending consumers on Apple's platform. The Meet Group has found steady success with apps including MeetMe, Tagged, and Skout. - A look at how COVID-19 altered the dating landscape
Despite COVID-19, dating app adoption remained steady throughout 2020. Downloads grew 3% Y/Y in Q4. - Trends among traditional dating apps entering 2021
- Advertising trends among top dating apps, including a look at Bumble's creatives
You can download the summary report here or request the full report from SensorTower.
See the top news on The Meet Group
See the top news on Bumble
The Rise of Borderless Dating
QUARTZ – Feb 16 – In the early days of the pandemic, Tinder users started teleporting themselves into other countries. The feature, normally available with Tinder's paid subscriptions, was so popular that the company made it free for everyone for a month. Bumble followed suit, giving users the option to set their location filters "nationwide". Location has started mattering less. Nicole Parlapiano, VP of marketing for North America at Tinder, also says that Gen Z has a more relaxed, open approach to dating. "I think the world's getting smaller. What matters is good interaction, good conversation. And you can jump on a plane, you can get in a car," said Geoff Cook, CEO of The Meet Group, which owns streaming app MeetMe. OkCupid said in a blog post that since the start of the pandemic "connections and conversations across borders are up 50%, and people are setting their location preferences to 'anywhere' more than ever before.” ~1.5M users say they are open to a long-distance relationship. Dating coach and industry consultant Steve Dean said his clients have been more willing to widen their geographical perimeter during the pandemic. Eric Resnick, longtime online dating coach and industry consultant, is skeptical. "He wonders, how do you navigate a new online relationship? Are you exclusive, or do you also date locally?" "There's potential for it, but I think it's inherently risky," he said. "Nothing's real until you're in the same room at the same time as someone."
by Hanna Kozlowska
See full article at Quartz
See the top news on Tinder See the top news on The Meet Group
See the top news on Bumble See the top news on OkCupid
CEO of The Meet Group, Geoff Cook to Speak at LTR Edition 5
OPW – Feb 15 – TOPIC: Inside the vPaaS Video Platform as a Service
Geoff Cook heads one of the most unique social dating community companies worldwide. The Meet Group is focused on providing one-to-many video, and comprises industry leading brands Meetme, Lovoo, Tagged, Skout and Growlr. Geoff joined the dating industry in 2005 and pioneered one to many video. This platform (vPaaS) is now available to other dating apps, like POF. What does vPaaS do? Who can get vPaaS? What's in store for the future? Geoff will answer these questions and enlighten you on one-to-many video.
LTR Edition 5 is on Thursday 18th Feb starting 11:30am EST (New York). If you hold a full time leadership role at an Internet dating company then you are welcome to join IDEA for free, and welcome to join LTR events for free. See the LTR Edition 5 overview and invite page here. Email mark@courtlandbrooks.com to RSVP for LTR. There are 80 places only.
LTR is kindly sponsored by RealMe, vPaaS by Meet Group, Utopia Analytics, Real Gifts, and Courtland Brooks
The Meet Group Takes Part in Safer Internet Day 2021
BUSINESSWIRE – Feb 8 – The Meet Group, a leading provider of interactive dating solutions, is participating in Safer Internet Day, a global event celebrated in ~100 countries around the world, hosted by ConnectSafely.org, the nonprofit organization dedicated to educating users of connected technology about safety, privacy, and security. The Safer Internet Day is on February 9, 2021. The Meet Group is committed to high standards of safety, implementing the best-in-class safety practices, actively collaborating with various online safety and dating organizations, and partnering with industry-leading technology partners such as Spectrum Labs and Microsoft. Recently, Geoff Cook, CEO of The Meet Group, joined the Oasis Consortium advisory board, an organization focused on brand and user safety to make the Internet a safer place.
The Meet Group Partners With RAINN to Enhance Dating Safety
BUSINESSWIRE – Feb 1 – The Meet Group Inc., a leading provider of interactive dating solutions, is partnering with RAINN (Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network), the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization to build safer communities, educate the public, improve public policy, provide assistance to survivors, and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice. In addition, Catherine Connelly, SVP of Marketing and Co-founder of The Meet Group, will join RAINN's National Leadership Council.