Dating Services

Brian Norgard, who has reigned as Tinder’s chief of product the past two years, announced his resignation.

According to website Tech Crunch, Norgard says he is exiting on a positive note and plans to get back to his entrepreneurial roots. Before he joined Tinder, he founded startup messaging app Tappy, which was acquired in 2014, along with Facebook messaging app Chill, another successful startup with 30 million users. When Norgard first joined Tinder, he was head of revenue and moved on to his chief of product role.

Norgard cites Keith Rabois of PayPal as his inspiration for leaving to pursue something new.

“It’s been a great ride but my strength has always been in the early-stage game,” Norgard told TechCrunch. “What I’m trying to do now is take all the learnings from that wonderful experience and bring them into my investing.”

Chappy, a dating app for gay and bisexual men, has announced a new partnership with GLAAD. As of November 2018, every chat initiated by Chappy users will raise money for GLAAD’S work to accelerate acceptance for the LGBTQ community through an initiative called “Chats For Charity.”

“Chats For Charity” is designed to unite and mobilize the LGBTQ community around a common interest, to support global LGBTQ voices, and to influence the community to be tolerant, respectful, inclusive and non-discriminatory.

“Every time Chappy users chat and connect with each other, they will be supporting GLAAD’s culture-changing LGBTQ work,” said Zeke Stokes, vice president of programs at GLAAD. “Chappy is making a powerful commitment to LGBTQ acceptance and we are proud to partner with them on this initiative as well as their broader work to build community.”

Bumble disclosed in an exclusive to website Bustle that they will soon be launching a new feature called BumbleSpots to help its members meet face-to-face.

BumbleSpots offers Bumble-verified locations where its members can meet so they feel safe grabbing a drink with a match for the first time IRL. It’s a new way for the female-friendly dating app to appeal to its prime market: single women.

Getting people to meet in person instead of messaging each other over a dating app is no small feat. Tinder and Hinge have been trying different approaches to get users to meet face to face, but it’s still a difficult proposition. This is especially tough for female daters, who feel unsafe meeting strangers at locations or neighborhoods that are unfamiliar. Bumble wants to remove as many barriers as possible for women to feel more empowered in the online dating process - not only to reach out via a dating app, but also initiate meeting in person.

Tinder announced that it is testing its newest feature Swipe Surge – inspired by popular ride-hailing app Uber’s surge pricing when it operates at the busiest times.

Swipe Surge will offer push notifications to users when Tinder usage spikes in a specific geographic area, alerting users to dating opportunities (rather than traffic jams). As Tinder noted, when more people are on the app, the chances of matching increase.

It works like this: if a user opts in to Swipe Surge, their profile goes to the front of the line (virtually speaking), so other users who are also swiping during the surge will see them first. (This advantage is normally reserved for those paying for it at non-peak times.) Those participating in Swipe Surge will also be identified by a badge on their profile.

Bumble continues to dominate dating industry headlines. In recent months, the company continued its high-profile legal battle with Match Group, debuted in India with the help of actress Priyanka Chopra, launched a fund to invest in women-founded companies, and announced an upcoming line of beauty products. Bumble also revealed that it is exploring an IPO, a rare move in the dating space.

“Our revenue is remarkable, and it is only going to get better,” Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd told Forbes in September. “There is a need for a new IPO in this space, and we offer something that nobody else offers. This would allow us to really spread our wings at a new level.”

Plans for the IPO appear to be moving forward. Andrey Andreev, the majority shareholder of Bumble’s parent company, publicly discussed a possible Nasdaq listing with Bloomberg in October. “We’re now in very deep discussions with banks,” including JPMorgan Chase & Co., he said. “The listing would be on the Nasdaq. It’s been in the air for ages, but the serious consideration has happened only recently -- in the past month.”

New Branding Effort for Tinder

Match Group is looking to differentiate their suite of dating apps acquired over the past few years, including star Tinder and relationship-focused app Hinge.

On a call with investors, Match Group CEO Mandy Ginsberg shared that the company is looking at better defining their brands, according to website Tech Crunch. This means that Match Group has decided to embrace the hook-up reputation of Tinder to attract younger users from 18-25, who aren’t necessarily looking for a long-term relationship.

Match Group will launch a new branding effort called “single lifestyle” with billboard campaigns and digital initiatives. It’s begun publishing content on the “Swipe Life” website with stories about travel and dating. Recent articles have included “7 Exit Strategies for Terrible Dates,” and “Study Abroad Hookup Confessions.”