REFINERY29 – Feb 27 – Tinder's former Sociologist Jessica Carbino, or Dr. Jess, has now joining Bumble as the app's new sociologist. In her time at Tinder, Carbino offered data-based tips on everything from scoring a date to perfecting profile photo. Carbino says her primary responsibilities at Bumble will involve understanding users' experiences on the app and using that understanding to make effective product changes.
by Madeline Buxton
See full article at Refinery29
CNBC – Feb 22 – Tinder could see new user growth cut in half by the end of June unless it gets more kindling, J.P. Morgan said. J.P. Morgan's Doug Anmuth downgraded shares to neutral from overweight. "Tinder's highly successful Gold launch in late August/early Sept 2017 accelerated subscriber growth but we believe Tinder's peak Gold surge is now behind," he wrote. Thanks to Gold offerings, Tinder's user growth skyrocketed, jumping to 476K in Q3 and 544K in Q4. But Anmuth cautioned investors that people aren't likely to continue to join Tinder at that rate; he now expects the app to add 350K users in Q1 and 230K in Q2. Anmuth did note, however, that the company expects a big Tinder product later in the year.
THE VECTOR – Feb 21 – Tinder uses a rating system based on the ELO score that determines whose profile is shown to who, and in what order. When a Tinder account is first created, it has no rating. Users are allowed to swipe on a wide selection of profiles. Based on whom a user matches with and swipes on over the course of the first few days, a score is determined. Many analysts explain the ELO score as a 1-10 scale. If a user is a 5, they will be shown profiles that are 4-6 and rarely anyone else. If the user swipes and matches with more 4s than 6s, they will then become a 4. There are also some users who swipe right on every profile in order to dig for as many matches as possible. A new Tinder update recognizes users who abuse the swipe right feature as bots. These users are flagged and given a very low score, making them mostly invisible to non-bot users.
KOREA EXPOSÉ – Feb 19 – The 2018 Winter Olympics are now under way. So it's not surprising that multiple media have reported a 348% increase in usage of Tinder in the area since the games began in early February. Tinder made its debut in South Korea in 2015 but despite its international popularity, the dating app is still largely unknown in a country notorious as the graveyard of many foreign-born startups and companies including Uber and Google. The country's online dating industry is valued at 70B won ($66M), according to a 2017 study by An Hyo-Jin and Kim Seung-in of Hongik University. Shin Sang-hoon is CEO of Nextmatch, the company that owns the most popular South Korean dating app Amanda. He told Korea Exposé that Amanda had ~4M users in South Korea. Given that there were ~8.54M bachelors (aged between 20 and 39) in the country in 2016, it can be inferred that one out of two South Korean bachelors has used or is using dating apps. Tinder has successfully established itself in Hong Kong and Singapore (but not in China because the app insists that users log in via Facebook, which is blocked in the people's republic).
#1 Tinder (123 posts published on OPW last year)
#2 Bumble (48 posts)
#3 eHarmony (42)
#4 Match Group (41)
#5 Match (37)
#6 OKCupid (37)
#7 Grindr (34)
#8 Happn (22)
#9 The League (21)
#10 Matrimony.com (17)
Other companies that did well and got a solid press coverage last year were Hinge, The Meet Group, Zoosk, Hater, Matchpoool and Chappy.
TECH CRUNCH – Feb 15 – Oregon Senator Ron Wyden sent a letter demanding that Tinder resolve some security issues that allows would-be attackers to view nearly everything about a user's Tinder experience via an attack over unsecured wifi. As the security firm Checkmarx explains: "The vulnerabilities, found in both the app's Android and iOS versions, allow an attacker using the same network as the user to monitor the user's every move on the app. It is also possible for an attacker to take control over the profile pictures the user sees, swapping them for inappropriate content, rogue advertising or other type of malicious content." Tinder response: "We've recently updated our mobile app and web platforms to encrypt profile images, in addition to swipes and other data which were previously encrypted. We are constantly improving our defenses in the battle against malicious hackers. However, we do not go into any further detail on the specific security tools we use to avoid tipping off would be hackers."
LIVEMINT.COM – Feb 15 – Tinder India's new ad titled 'Start Something Epic' features a young girl who takes charge of her love life. The 90-seconder, made by advertising agency BBH India, features Indie musician and actor Kavya Trehan apparently playing the role of a Tinder girl who goes about meeting new people through the app before ending up with the right match. The company said that it wanted to convey the ease and independence that Tinder provides to users to meet people and make connections. Uploaded on 13 February, it has garnered ~450k views across the brand’s YouTube and Facebook platforms.
MARKETWATCH – Feb 14 – Tinder will soon roll out a feature that lets women choose who makes the first move on that app. She also pointed to other efforts that the company hopes will make its online-dating platforms more female-friendly, such as a new campaign for OkCupid that emphasizes shared hobbies over hookups.
Q: What does the change at Tinder reflect about Match's efforts to appeal more to women?
A: Every time we talk about product, we talk about the female experience. On Tinder, women can choose if they want to start the conversation first or if they want someone else to start. For OkCupid, we started a campaign called "DT____," so "down to farmer's market," "down to fiesta," etc. The idea is that women don't want "DTF".
Q: Is there concern that if you make the product too good, people will quickly find love and stop paying?
A: On Tinder, people are younger. When you're 19, you're not going to find the love of your life – you might, but that doesn't always happen. If you've had a success, you're going to come back and start another one. And then the best marketing in the world is from people who have seen success.
by Emily Bary
See full article at MarketWatch
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WYBORCZA.PL – Feb 14 – ~26% of respondents admitted that they using online dating apps. And 19% said they currently in a relationship with someone they met online. (Ipsos study, commissioned by Huawei). Badoo is #1 dating app in Poland, followed by Tinder, Grindr and Meetville.