Online Dating

No picture. No age. No name. No signup. A new dating app is taking anonymity to the extreme, but only for women.

Pickable bills itself as the first and only dating platform to completely remove women’s exposure in the online dating world. Female users of the recently-launched app are not required to upload a photo, write a description, or include their name and age in their profiles. In fact, they don’t have to sign up at all. Women can download Pickable and immediately start browsing with full anonymity, free from any fear that friends, family members, or colleagues might stumble across their profile.

Tamara Goldstein, the founder and CEO of Pickable, told Yahoo Finance that she was inspired to create the app after worrying that her own dating profile would be exposed to her professional network. She wanted her account to be visible only to relevant and appropriate men, while remaining hidden from any personal connections. When she couldn’t find an app that met her needs, she created her own.

Match Group stock fell 10% 2 weeks ago in response to falling short of analysts’ Q4 goals, which were released along with their third quarter earnings reports.

Match Group reported revenue of $444 million, topping analyst estimates of $437 million for quarter 3. This is an increase of 29% when compared to quarter 3 of 2017 ($343 million). Match said it expects revenue of $1.72 billion for the year. But despite the growth and positive news, it was the projections for the last quarter which caused the dip in confidence from Wall Street. Analysts projected $454.5 million in Q4, while Match Group estimates it will only reach between $440 and $450 million.

Match Group lowered its estimates because of its higher-than-anticipated spending for Tinder and its other dating apps. Marketing costs are expected to rise 20% for Tinder and other brands like Hinge.

Is the end in sight for the legal battle between Match Group and Bumble?

According to documents filed in Texas last month, Bumble is looking to drop its $400 million countersuit against Match Group, which alleged Match interfered with its business operations, fraudulently obtained trade secrets, and intentionally tried to make Bumble less appealing to other potential acquirers. The countersuit was filed in response to a lawsuit from Match that claims Bumble infringed on several patents related to Tinder.

Initial attempts to settle failed and the war appeared poised to rage on, but a statement released by Match Group in early November indicated that Bumble will drop its lawsuit. A notice of non-opposition filed by Match confirms the company’s intent to support Bumble dropping its claims, provided the court issues declaratory judgments validating Match’s patents and Bumble’s alleged infringement of them, and absolving Match from allegedly stealing Bumble’s trade secrets.

Since the announcement of Facebook Dating at the company’s annual F8 developer conference in May, the online dating industry has anxiously awaited the arrival of its newest competitor. Facebook began testing its matchmaking product internally in August, revealing a few key features in leaked screenshots, then went live for users in Colombia in September.

Canada and Thailand are the latest nations to take Facebook Dating for a test drive. The feature launched in the two countries earlier this month, along with several updates that aim to enhance the dating experience.

The first update is Second Look, a tool that will be familiar to some users of other dating services. Second Look, as its name implies, allows users to reconsider matches they have previously passed on by going back through their Suggested Matches or reviewing profiles they may have accidentally rejected. Similar “do-over” features can be found on services like OkCupid and Tinder, but it is often limited to members with paid subscriptions.

“Get swept away. Not swiped away.”

That is the promise of Cove, a new members-only dating app that aims to provide a more engaged experience for singles who are tired of wasting their time with idle conversations and hookup culture. The app offers users three opportunities to establish chemistry through an innovative level system that must be completed within 10 days.

"Random hookups can threaten one's physical and psychological health. While other dating apps may foster this sort of behavior, we believe that there is a large segment of the population hungry for something more meaningful in the online dating experience," says Cove founder Charles Messow. "We created Cove to guide matches through more meaningful conversation within 10 days while respecting the premium of everyone's time and attention."

Starting Friday November 9^th eHarmony members can get 20% off any subscription upgrade. The sale lasts for 5 days and ends in the late evening of Tuesday November 13^th. It also is only available in the United States.

With this sale, the discount is automatically applied when you use the code below. Depending on the term of the subscription you select, you can save over $40.

To obtain the 20% discount use the code: JOIN20

New and existing eHarmony members can take advantage of this sale. if you have not joined eHarmony before all you need to do is visit eHarmony.com and create an account. You can do this by connecting your Facebook account or by using your email address. Once you have logged in you can then create your profile and take the personality questionnaire. The whole process will take about 30 minutes to finish. The length of time takes longer than most other dating services. This is because eHarmony wants to truly understand what type of person you are and what your ideal match would be based not only what you want, but what is most compatible with your personality. Once your profile is complete you will then receive your first selection of matches (this happens daily). At this point you can review your matches profiles and photos to determine if you would like to contact any of them. If you do then at this point, you will need to purchase a subscription which are available anywhere from a 1 month term up to 12 months.

For more details about this dating service which specializes in finding it's members long-term relationships, you read our review of eHarmony.