General News

Match Group announced that it has fully acquired dating app Hinge, owning 100 percent of the company along with other high-profile brands like Tinder and OkCupid. This news comes on the heels of Match Group’s announcement that it exceeded revenue expectations in the last quarter of 2018, causing its stock to rise.

Previously, Match Group stock had been downgraded from hold to buy by Deutsch Bank analysts. But with the earnings report, its stock climbed more than 5 percent.

Part of the appeal of Match Group to investors is that it has acquired a host of popular dating apps, including Hinge. The app has been through a rebrand over the last year, focusing on attracting more serious daters.

Image: WongMJane

Details continue to surface about Facebook’s much talked about dating service. The latest news comes courtesy of tech tipster Jane Manchun Wong, who revealed that Facebook Dating will allow users to share information about their dates with friends and family on Messenger. The innovative feature is a precaution designed to keep singles safe as they use the dating platform.

Wong shared a screenshot from Facebook Dating on Twitter. “Share your plans in Messenger,” reads the screen’s headline. “Let your friends and family know when and where you’ll meet your date. Choose whether to share your live location and provide updates in Messenger.”

Meeting a stranger in person after you’ve matched on a dating app is an inherently risky proposition. Though most users are genuinely interested in making connections, the potential dangers shouldn’t be overlooked. Dating platforms have taken an interesting array of measures to increase safety for their users, including verified profiles, anonymous browsing, behavior pledges and strict punishments for terms of service violations.

Image: Bumble

A good ice breaker can help you make a memorable first impression and turn an online encounter into a real-life relationship. A bad ice breaker can be boring, confusing, awkward or send you viral for deeply embarrassing reasons after the recipient posts a mocking screenshot on Twitter.

So, how do you start a meaningful conversation with a match that avoids uncomfortable silences or public shaming? Bumble is here to help with a new Convo Starters Generator and a Convo Starters messaging feature.

The Convo Starters Generator, now available on Bumble’s The Beehive blog, helps women make the first move by suggesting opening lines based on personality type and interests. Start by choosing which of Bumble’s three modes you want to use - Bumble Date, Bumble BFF, or Bumble Bizz. The generator then updates to reveal sliding scales or check boxes with information relevant to the mode you selected.

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, love is in the air for couples around the world and dating platforms are seeing dollar signs. Tinder and Hinge have both announced collaborations to release branded product lines that celebrate love and singlehood as Cupid’s season kicks off.

Tinder teamed up with Barcelona-based fashion company Stradivarius to release a range of t-shirts in European markets. Each tee features a simple design of the dating app’s logo and a slogan on a black or white base. The three options include “You Looked Taller On Tinder,” “I’m Your Right Swipe,” and the punny “Love Me Tinder.” The shirts are available now on the Stradivarius website and in-store for £15.99 in the UK or €12.99 in mainland Europe.

Along with announcing its first-ever fashion collaboration, Tinder is also entering the world of homewares. The dating platform joined forces with Homesick Candles to take a humorous jab at Valentine's Day culture. The candle, named “Single, Not Sorry,” honors Singles’ Awareness Day, the anti-commercialism antidote to Valentine’s Day that falls on February 15.

Another day, another privacy scandal for Facebook.

A new investigation by TechCrunch reveals that Facebook secretly paid a number of users, including teenagers as young as 13, to install an app that gave the tech giant extensive access to their personal data. Users ages 13 to 35 were paid up to $20 per month plus affiliate fees to install the iOS or Android “Facebook Research” VPN app that tracked their smartphone and web activity, a program referred to in some documentation as “Project Atlas.”

Online dating company eHarmony, who built its reputation for more serious daters, was recently acquired by German media company ProSeibenSat.1. The media company are the producers behind “Married at First Sight,” and have already expanded beyond television with the acquisition of Parship Elite Group, an online dating platform for long-term relationships similar to eHarmony.

It left many wondering what future plans were for eHarmony, which has seen competition lately from apps like Tinder and OkCupid, and how Parship fits into the mix.

Online Personals Watch recently interviewed Tim Schiffers, the CEO of Parship Elite Group about the acquisitions and Parship’s future plans. Schiffers said Parship plans to bring eHarmony to its platform instead of offering competing services. “We have invested a lot into our technical setup over the past few years and are happy to harness synergies in that area.”