Types (Niche)

We all know about dating app Tinder by now. It’s known less for its accuracy in matchmaking and more for its accessibility in meeting people anytime, anywhere – who are up for a brief fling or flirtatious chat. While Tinder is getting a lot of name recognition, another dating app called Hinge is slowly surfacing, city by city, taking the dating app world by storm and attracting a recent round of $4.5 million in venture capital money.

Why is Hinge getting so much attention (and money)? Because it is differentiating itself from Tinder in the most basic of ways. Hinge is focused on the quality of matches, which means instead of scrolling through endless photos and swiping left or right, the app finds a fixed number of matches for each user that they think suit you. Hinge is all about playing matchmaker. (It also doesn’t help Tinder that its CMO Justin Mateen was suspended recently for sexual harassment.)

Hinge matches people based on particular factors, namely profession, education history, and interests, as well who you’ve been interested in previously. What’s different about the dating app is that it’s not just pairing you with people from your circles with the same job or who went to the same college. Hinge looks for less obvious connections, like that Ivy League college alums like to intermingle, or that guys in finance like to date female lawyers. Plus, matches are all gained through your Facebook circles (friends of friends only), and you must have a Facebook friend who’s already on Hinge in order to join. It makes for a kind of exclusive club feeling.

Hinge started small in the D.C. area, but it’s iOS and Android userbase is up 300% this year in the nine cities it operates in: DC, Philadelphia, NYC, Boston, San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, and L.A.

Hinge however isn’t focused solely on the dating game. They want to move in the direction of the so-called “social discovery” app, where they match people who could be friends based on interests.

The new $4.5 million round from Founders Fund and Lowercase Capital brings Hinge to $8.6 million in total funding. Right now, Hinge is free, but in order to be profitable for its investors the company is probably looking into adding premium services for a fee, or potentially licensing its technology, according to website Tech Crunch.

For now, it’s slow-growth approach and catered matchmaking are making it a big hit, especially among the more serious and discerning female daters. It will be interesting to see where it goes next.

Online dating is about to get a major shakeup. And when I say major, I really mean major. Spark Networks, which owns popular dating sites like JDate and Christian Mingle, has put itself up for sale and has at least one prospective suitor.

The big news comes on the heels of the company unexpectedly postponing its annual shareholder meeting in June, two days before it was scheduled. The move allowed Spark Networks to put its focus on the potential deal and to sidestep a board battle with its largest shareholder, Osmium. Things have been tense lately with Osmium, a San Francisco hedge fund that has been pushing for board seats over concerns that Spark has been neglecting to allocate sufficient funds for JDate while over-spending on Christian Mingle.

Spark has spent $120 million in direct marketing on Christian Mingle since 2011, which has helped grow Christian Mingle’s subscribers by almost 700 percent since 2010. Revenue is also up, from $45 million in 2008 to $70 million in 2013, but along with those efforts came dramatically increased costs as a percentage of revenue.

Meanwhile JDate, the most famous and lucrative site in the Spark Networks arsenal, looks to be going through a rough patch. According to Osmium, the Jewish dating site posted revenue of $6.1 million in the first quarter – its lowest level since 2006. Jewish subscribers have also declined to  2006 levels.

All of this is coming at the same time as big-time changes for the Spark Networks board. When the delayed annual shareholder meeting finally took place, four of the company’s six sitting directors were nixed, including Chairman and CEO Greg Liberman. The shareholders instead picked four directors nominated by – surprise! – Osmium. One of the two Spark directors who was re-elected, Thomas Stockham, resigned not long afterwards.

“The new board is eager to work alongside Spark employees with a renewed sense of urgency, accountability and focus, in order to drive increased shareholder value,” said Osmium’s founder and new Spark director John Lewis to the New York Post.

As for what’s happening with the sale of Spark Networks, everyone involved is remaining tight-lipped for now. The name of the prospective buyer has yet to be revealed, but the New York Post notes that “the world of online dating companies is small and currently dominated by Barry Diller’s IAC, which owns popular dating sites Match.com, OKCupid and Tinder.”

If you’re one of the largest and most successful online dating sites around, what would be your next move in the ever-changing dating market? Would you focus on growing your membership, improving your technology, or ramping up your marketing efforts?

Online dating giant Match.com has decided to focus on building its app business – since that’s where most online daters go now (instead of their laptops).

But Match.com has taken things a step further, trying to get ahead of the technology curve. They’ve announced that this month they will be launching one of the first dating apps for Android Wearables, so you can effectively “wear your heart on your wrist.”

Android Wearables are small, powerful devices worn on the body – kind of like a mobile phone worn as a wristwatch. More stylish and less intrusive than Google Glass (there’s no clandestine recording of someone as you’re watching them), Android Wearables make access to your mobile information a bit easier. For instance, you can respond to texts, instant messages and emails by voice. You can also ask for directions with its handy GPS feature, or reach fitness goals if you’re a runner or biker. It connects to your phone, so you can access the same basic information that’s on your mobile device, but it’s hands-free.

The Match app for Android Wearables will cater to busy and active singles who are already purchasing this new technology. The app offers basic features that you’d find with any online dating app, but it’s driven by voice commands, which makes it easier than typing when you’re out and about. Notifications for winks and messages from other members are sent straight to your Android wearable. With pulse notifications, you’ll know exactly when someone has reached out to you. To reply, simply swipe to read an incoming message and respond directly with the app’s voice command feature. (Make sure you are in a private place unless you want the general public to know about your dating life.)

You also receive your daily matches so you can choose who to respond to, rating with a “yes” or “no” a la Tinder. You can also find singles nearby with the handy GPS feature.

I’m not sure why it’s important to check your dating app when you’re on a bike ride or jog, but it seems that would be the point of using Android Wearables instead of just picking up your phone and silently texting your matches when you’re able. But maybe that’s just me.

The app will be available for Android Wearable users this month. For more on this service please read our Match.com review.

Everybody’s got that one ex in their back catalogue. The one they think they’ll never get over. The one they’re sure is the love of their life. The one who convinces them they’re doomed to singlehood forever, because no one will ever compare.

You'll probably never get that ex back but now, thanks to a partnership between Match.com and a new matchmaking startup, you might have the chance to date someone who looks just like them.

It’s got to be one of the most unusual (or maybe just downright creepy) dating services out there at the moment. Match has teamed up with Three Date Rule to offer a “white-glove approach” to dating for the white-glove price of $5000. For that paltry sum, you can send in photos of your ex that Three Date Rule will use to find you a new suitor.

“If you like one facial structure, you will probably like someone with a similar facial structure,” explains Three Day Rule founder Talia Goldstein. In addition to finding a lookalike, TDR coaches will interview you in person and even go on pre-dates with potential matches to vet them before making an introduction. Why go through the gruelling work of weeding out weirdos when you could hire someone else to do it for you?

Three Day Rule matchmakers are a team of highly-educated dating experts known for their intuition, compassion, trustworthiness, and genuine desire to help clients find meaningful relationships. Most had successful corporate careers before making the transition to matchmaking, often at Fortune 500 companies. What sets the company apart from the competition is its unique blend of traditional matchmaking techniques (like in-depth personality assessment) with cutting-edge facial recognition technology designed to determine what clients are most attracted to.

The powerhouse partnership between Match and Three Date Rule is beneficial on both sides. "We know there is a segment of busy professionals on Match who would love to have a high-touch service to help them find a compatible partner," says Amarnath Thombre, President of Match. "People come to Match because of the quality and scale of our membership base, and now with Three Day Rule as a partner, we can combine the convenience of a white-glove matchmaking service with our huge community of high quality members."

For Three Day Rule, Match’s support means improved access to its current markets and eventual expansion to other markets. “With Match's support, we will be able to further build out our team of matchmakers and realize our vision of becoming the most recognized, trusted, and respected matchmaking brand in the country," says Talia Goldstein.

Brazil is heating up for singles, and not just because of its sunny weather.

Dating app Tinder is apparently a hot commodity among those taking part in the World Cup festivities. News site Quartz recently reported that Tinder has seen a 50% increase in downloads since the World Cup began last month.

Brazil is Tinder’s third-largest user base behind the US and the UK, and the app is available in Portuguese.

Hookup apps like Tinder and Grindr, which are popular around the world, allow users to swipe through pictures of potential matches that are geographically close to them, accepting or rejecting based on a few photos and a brief profile description. If two people select one another, they can start chatting and then take it from there. This simple process caters perfectly to short-time travelers looking for a fling.

First, we saw Tinder downloads spike during the Olympics, especially in Olympic Village where the athletes mingle with fellow athletes, fans watching the games or employees working the events. Now with the World Cup festivities drawing fans from all over the world to watch and celebrate the games, we’re seeing another significant spike in dating app downloads.

It seems dating apps are becoming more popular at major events that draw huge crowds. Tinder has become a popular tool for singles traveling during the summer to meet up with other singles, so it only makes sense that events like the World Cup would attract a lot of new users. Why not try something new when you’re in a foreign city with tons of people all around that you could meet?

The numbers also seem to favor women, especially local Brazilian women. Many men have come to Brazil not only to watch the World Cup, but to meet the stereotypical idea of the sexy, beautiful Brazilian woman. An unofficial poll suggested as many as 90% of the tourists are men.

Grindr, a popular app among the gay community, has also seen its numbers spike by 31% in Brazil since the World Cup began. Brazil is the sixth-largest market for Grindr.

An estimated 600,000 tourists from 186 countries are expected to visit Brazil during the World Cup, adding to the 3.1 million Brazilians who will be on the road for the championship. And as reported by Quartz, alcohol and hook-ups go hand in hand. Annual beer sales in the country are likely to rise 37%—bringing in about $816 million—during the month-long tournament.

For more on a popular dating app you can read our Tinder review.

Most singles might agree: we’ve become Tinder-obsessed lately. It’s so easy to flip through photos, rejecting and accepting as many people as possible. It’s become a bit of a sport, or an old game of hot-or-not.

Needless to say, while some people have found true love over apps like Tinder, the majority are still finding it hard to meet people and go on a real date. There seems to be too much choice, too many options for meeting new people. Few daters are focusing on finding a relationship or even dating one person because there are so many options out there.

Studies have shown that people are not great at dealing with too many options. In scientific terms, they become "cognitively overwhelmed." In other words, the more men or women there are to choose from, the harder it can be to pick just one. Kind of like going to a grocery store and choosing from 100 different types of chocolate. How do you really make a good decision about what to purchase?

Fortunately, a new crop of dating apps are addressing this dilemma by trying to give singles what they really want – a more manageable way to date, rather than more options.

CoffeeMeetsBagel is one such app, offering its members one match per day (every day at noon), and you have twenty-four hours to decide if this person is right for you. Matches are chosen based on your Facebook networks, so they are also on better behavior than those you could meet over Tinder and who have no accountability.

Hinge is another such app, offering anywhere from seven to fifteen matches per day to its users, depending on how many Facebook friends you invite to join. It works kind of like a referral service, but since you only get a limited number of matches, you have time to really consider your options and likely accept more dates. Plus, you have to have a friend on Hinge to be able to join, and both your first and last name are visible to your matches. So again, there is some accountability because of your Facebook networks – bad behavior isn’t going to be easily forgotten.

This less-is-more strategy also helps daters in terms of communication. Guys aren’t cutting-and-pasting mass emails to send to as many women as possible on the more selective apps, nor are women receiving many unwanted sexual advances from random guys. It is more of a formal approach, and one that is slow and deliberate.

Are apps like Hinge or CoffeeMeetsBagel for everyone? Maybe not, but if you’re a guy looking to meet women, these are the apps females are more likely to check out and join.