Online Dating

Tencent, China’s largest social networking platform and operator of the immensely popular app WeChat, has launched a new dating app that seems positioned to compete with both Tinder and Tantan, China’s most popular dating app.

Qingliao - roughly translated as “light chat” – is kind of a hybrid of different dating app features already on the market. There is no swiping, but users can choose to “like” or “pass” on a potential match by choosing an “X” or a heart. When two users are matched, they can start chatting, according to details described in South China Morning Post.

Got the hots for your married boss? Or the cutie in accounting? If you’ve fantasized about having a fling with a taken colleague, a naughty new dating service is here to help.

Affair at Work is designed to help attached employees “safely” cheat on their partners in the workplace. Although dating services for affair-seekers are nothing new (Ashley Madison is the most notable among them), Affair at Work takes a slightly different approach. The service works via Instagram and is centered around the idea of verifying if an office crush shares your interest.

Momo Homepage Screenshot

Momo reported financial results for the third quarter of 2019. The company’s major moments this year included topping Fortune’s ranking of the 100 fastest-growing companies in 2019 and working to get Tantan reinstated after it was removed from Android app stores by order of governmental authorities in China. Overall, Q3 was a positive period for the Chinese social networking and dating company.

Momo highlighted the following achievements for Q3 2019:

Grindr G4E Homepage

In an effort to protect users around the world, Grindr has announced new safety features and unveiled a ‘Holistic Security Guide’ in six languages. These releases are designed to help queer users navigate dating in countries where a culture of homophobia, biophobia and transphobia puts them at risk.

Scott Chen, President of Grindr, said in a statement, “As Grindr has grown to become a vital part of the gay, bi, trans, and queer community, we feel a responsibility to provide important information and evolving tools to facilitate our users’ safe dating experience. Our work in improving the well-being for the LGBTQ community around the globe is far from finished, but we are proud of these additional features to help provide a safer platform for our users.”

Tinder is rolling in cash at the close of 2019 thanks to consumer spending on its popular dating app. According to Annie’s List, it ranks as the number one non-gaming app where consumers are spending money, ahead of entertainment and social network giants like Netflix, YouTube and Tencent.

Video games are by far the most popular apps for consumers and generate the most revenue from in-app spending. However, outside of the gaming world, Tinder subscriptions have driven it to the top spot in consumer app spending.

Months after going public with its intention to spin off Match Group, IAC has entered into a definitive agreement providing for the full separation of Match Group from IAC’s remaining businesses. The transaction will result in IAC and Match Group (which includes dating sites like Match, Tinder, OkCupid and Hinge) becoming two independent public companies.

"We've long said IAC is the 'anti-conglomerate' – we're not empire builders. We've always separated out our businesses as they've grown in scale and maturity and soon Match Group, as the seventh spin-off, will join an impressive group of IAC progeny collectively worth $58 billion today," said Barry Diller, Chairman and Senior Executive of IAC.