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Category: Uncategorized

Reminder: LTR Edition 48 Happening This Wednesday, January 28th

Posted on January 26, 2026

OPW – This is a reminder that LTR Edition 48 will take place this Wednesday, January 28th, at 12:00 PM EST. In this edition, Mark Brooks will be joined by:

  • Ophir Laizerovich, President and Co-Founder of LeadThink. Ophir will talk through tactics and best practices for Google pay-per-click and Facebook paid acquisition for dating companies. He manages millions of dollars a month in lead spend for the dating industry and has been working with dating companies for over 15 years.

Following the interview, Mark will be talking about the Courtland Brooks influencer system. This is a system of ensuring that an influencer integration has the best possible chances of succeeding. Four years of influencer marketing experience wrapped up in 20 minutes.

This LTR is kindly sponsored by HubPeople.ai and Courtland Brooks.

Event graphic for LTR US featuring Ophir Laizerovich, President & Co-Founder of LeadThink, and Mark Brooks, CEO of Courtland Brooks, with an audience in the background

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Vybes Turns Dating App Into Creator-Led Reality Series to Drive Growth

Posted on January 23, 2026
Logo of VYBES featuring a stylized heart design with the text 'More than a dating app' underneath.

NET INFLUENCER – Vybes, a Gen Z dating app, launched Vybes Villa, a creator-led reality series on YouTube to show how its product works in real life rather than relying on traditional dating-app advertising. The show features creators and real Vybes members, highlighting the app’s video-first “Vybe Check” model and focus on intentional, in-person connection. Since the premiere, the company reports an eightfold increase in weekly downloads and conversion rates of ~60%, positioning original content as a core driver of trust, adoption, and brand differentiation.

See full article at Net Influencer

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The Top Internet Dating Reporters in 2025, According to Online Personals Watch

Posted on January 19, 2026
The Top Internet Dating Reporters in 2025, According to Online Personals Watch

OPW – Each year, we review which reporters received the most coverage on Online Personals Watch. Here are our rankings for 2025.

1. Sydney Bradley (Business Insider)
2. Lauren Forristal (Tech Crunch)
3. Natalie Lung (Bloomberg)
Shared 4.-7. place: Amanda Silberling (Tech Crunch), Anna Iovine (Mashable), Henry Chandonnet (Business Insider) and Ivan Mehta (Tech Crunch)
Shared 8.-9. place: Brittaney Kiefer (AdWeek) and Sarah Perez (Tech Crunch)
10. place was shared by Zack Whittaker, Aisha Malik (both Tech Crunch), Reece Rogers (Wired), David Salazar (Fast Company) and Eli Tan (New York Times)

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Online Dating Jobs Listing Update – January 2026

Posted on January 16, 2026

OPW – An update to the online dating jobs listing is live here.

Below, see a couple of this month’s most interesting offers:
Bumble – Associate Director, Social Media
FFN – COO
Grindr – Head of Privacy
Hinge – Director, Brand Strategy
Match Group – Director, Brand Strategy & Operations
Muzz – Country Marketing Lead (KSA)
ParshipMeet Group – Director Group Controlling
Social Discovery Ventures – Chief Marketing Officer (Once)
Tinder – Sr. Director, Communications (Americas)

Do you have an idating industry job offer that is not included? Please, send it to tips@onlinepersonalswatch.com and we will add it to the list.

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Top Dating Apps by Press Coverage in 2025

Posted on January 15, 2026
Top Dating Apps by Press Coverage in 2025

OPW – In 2025, we selected and summarized over 600 of the top news items mentioning 212 companies from the online dating industry. Tinder took the top spot, followed by Match Group and Hinge. Here’s the full list of dating companies that received the most press coverage last year:

1. Tinder – CEO Faye Iosotaluno was replaced by Spencer Rascoff who took over the brand in an attempt to reinvent it for Gen Z through safety tools, AI, and product experiments.
2. Match Group – hired a new CEO, Spencer Rascoff, but lost several long term C-level execs, acquired Her and Salams, and pivoted to AI and emerging markets.
3. Hinge – reached 15 MAU worldwide, launched in Mexico and Brazil and also launched new features, but ended the year with it’s founder and CEO Justin McLeod stepping down, being succeeded by the CMO, Jackie Jantos.
4. Grindr – saw a year of growth, with numerous new features launched, mostly AI and safety oriented. At the end of the year, he company experienced a buyout attempt, which ultimately failed due to financing uncertainty.
5. Bumble – Whitney Wolfe Herd returned as a CEO in an attempt to revive the company which lost over 90% of it’s market value in the last 4 years. The company announced major layoffs and shut down two previously acquired apps, Fruitz and Official. It launched Bumble BFF as a standalone app.
6. Happn – was acquired by Hello Group, introduced flexible relationship options, and launched AI powered “Perfect Date” tool.
7. Matrimony.com – invested in AI in and attempt to boost the growth, however later financial results showed rising costs and a year-on-year profit decline in Q2 FY2026. In December, the company announced a share buyback.
8. Three Day Rule – launched a “$1 Million Matchmaking” service, secured an investment from Palm Venture Studios. Later in the year, it introduced Tai, an AI-powered matchmaking app.
9.-10. Chapter2, Match.com, OkCupid, Sitch, Tea
Chapter 2 acquired M14 white label dating platform last year. Match.com released another Singles in America study in June. OkCupid was usually mentioned alongside other Match Group’s app and we also used several of OKCupid’s studies for posts last year. Sitch raised $6.7M and announced the U.S. expansion. Tea was first mentioned as a fast growing app that should help women spot red flags before a first date, but their news coverage quickly turned to negative with two hacks that exposed user data. In October, the app was removed from AppStore by Apple.

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Announcing LTR 48 With Ophir Laizerovich, President and Co-Founder of LeadThink, and Mark Brooks (Courtland Brooks)

Posted on January 14, 2026

OPW – Edition 48 of the LTR (Love, Tech, Relationships) online experience will be on Wednesday, January 28th, at 12 pm (noon) EST (New York time).

In this edition of LTR, Mark Brooks will sit down with Ophir Laizerovich, President and Co-Founder of LeadThink. Ophir will talk through tactics and best practices for Google pay-per-click and Facebook paid acquisition for dating companies. He manages millions of dollars a month in lead spend for the dating industry and has been working with dating companies for over 15 years.

Following the interview, Mark will be talking about the Courtland Brooks influencer system. This is a system of ensuring that an influencer integration has the best possible chances of succeeding. Four years of influencer marketing experience wrapped up in 20 minutes.

If you hold a full-time leadership role at an online dating company, you are welcome to join LTR events for free.

Why attend LTR?

🏠 Flexible: Attend from anywhere – no travel required.
⏰ Convenient: Live session. 90 minutes.
💰 Free: No registration fees.

See the LTR Edition 48 speakers and invite page here.

Email mark@courtlandbrooks.com to RSVP.

Image of two business professionals, Ophir Laizerovich and Mark Brooks, with a blurred audience in the background. The image is promoting the LTR US event and features the logos of LeadThink and Courtland Brooks.

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Surf Dating Partners With HYROX Americas

Posted on January 13, 2026
Logo of SURF HYROX indicating their status as a National Partner.

PRNEWSWIRE – Surf Dating has been named the official dating partner of HYROX Americas, becoming a national partner across North American events in 2026. The partnership integrates Surf into HYROX races by allowing users to filter for HYROX athletes and trainees in the app, hosting on-site activations such as singles wristbands, pre-race runs, recovery events, and official after-parties, and encouraging offline connections among fitness-focused singles.

See full article at PRNewswire

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Dating Options Reports £2.19M in Sales in 2025

Posted on January 13, 2026
Logo of a dating options platform featuring a red heart symbol and the text 'dating options'.

PRESS RELEASE – UK Matchmaking agency Dating Options reported £2.1M in sales in 2025. The company was founded in 2003 by Mike Parker and is currently led by Managing Director Andrew Parker-Dennis. It operates nationally across the UK, with its head office located near Stratford-upon-Avon. During 2025, Dating Options facilitated 2,222 new relationships. Its service model requires clients to be personally interviewed and then assigned a dedicated matchmaker who provides curated introductions; many packages also include professional coaching.

See full article at OpenPR

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Tech Founders Gather in San Francisco to Apply A.I. and Data to Dating

Posted on January 10, 2026
Logo of Keeper, a matchmaking app focusing on data-driven relationship outcomes.

NEW YORK TIMES – The Love Symposium, held in San Francisco, brought together tech founders, dating app builders, researchers, and philosophers to discuss whether dating and relationships can be improved through data, A.I., and optimization. The event featured talks on predicting relationship outcomes, psychometrics, alternative matchmaking models, and the broader loneliness and marriage decline debate. One of the apps represented was Keeper, which uses extensive personal data and A.I. to match users and ties its fees to long-term relationship outcomes. 

See full article at New York Times

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Loverse: An AI Dating App Recreating the Emotional Friction of Real Romance

Posted on January 8, 2026
A screenshot of Loverse app

JAPAN TIMES – Loverse is an AI dating app launched in 2023 by Goki Kusunoki that mimics real dating mechanics – swiping, matching, and rejection – but all matches are AI partners. Unlike typical AI companion apps that cater entirely to user preferences, Loverse deliberately recreates the friction, uncertainty, and emotional risk of real romance to trigger genuine emotional responses. The app uses thousands of distinct AI personalities rather than a single shared character to increase realism. Its core audience is unexpected: over 60% of users are married, most are over 40, and many seek safe, pseudo-romantic experiences similar to those found in games, fiction, or fandom culture.

See full article at Japan Times

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CONTACT

Mark Brooks
CEO, Courtland Brooks
Publisher, Online Personals Watch
mark@courtlandbrooks.com

Irena Brooks
Editor, Online Personals Watch
irena@courtlandbrooks.com

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