General News

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.”

Tinder has agreed to pay $17 million in a settlement resulting from a class-action lawsuit accusing the popular dating app company of age discrimination. The lawsuit alleged that Tinder charged users who were 30 years old and older more money for the same services, a move that caused the company to come under fire when the pricing structure was first announced.

As a result of the settlement, Tinder also agreed to stop charging people different prices based on their ages, but only in California where the lawsuit was filed.

Tinder’s premium service offers members additional features separate from the free version of the app, like the chance to “rewind” previously passed-on matches, to match with people in different countries while traveling, and the ability to “Super Like” matches in an effort to get their attention. Tinder was criticized when it charged a $9.99 monthly fee for users under 29 and $19.99 for users 30 and up for access to these premium features.

INTO, the online LGBTQ publication owned and operated by Grindr, is no more. The company ended the digital magazine’s 14-month run by terminating its editorial staff on January 15 and announcing a pivot to video.

Grindr launched INTO in August 2017. The website featured news articles, op-eds, lifestyle content and advice columns for a modern LGBTQ audience. The launch was part of a larger effort to reframe Grindr as a lifestyle brand, not “just” a dating app, but the outlet’s journalism was praised and went on to win awards from The Association of LGBTQ Journalists and the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund.

In a statement shared with NBC News, a Grindr spokesperson called the decision to dismiss INTO's staff a "strategic shift in focus."

Bumble confirmed that a new ad featuring its latest celebrity partner Serena Williams will debut during the first half of the SuperBowl.

According to AdWeek, Bumble teased a new campaign with the tennis star, admitting that it would coordinate with the SuperBowl, though it wasn’t clear if they were planning to air an ad during the game, one of the most-watched annual events in the U.S. (and one of the most expensive ad buys). Bumble has now confirmed their first SuperBowl ad will feature Serena Williams and their new campaign “The Ball is in Her Court.”

Bumble, a female-friendly dating app, is serious about its female-empowerment mission. Over the past few years, the brand has debuted offerings that appeal specifically to women, such as partnering with Moxy Hotels to offer BumbleSpot – verified locations where Bumble users can meet for dates, career networking, or potential new friendships - in an effort to create safe spaces for women.

Tech Crunch broke the news that popular dating app Tinder is teaming up with Spotify to test a new feature that allows users to share songs with each other.

The website reported that users could select songs from their own Spotify playlists to be shared via the in-app messenger, to engage users and get people to connect. Last year, the company unveiled another new feature allowing users to share Bitmoji and GIFs over the app’s messenger service, a move to increase engagement among social media savvy members.

The Spotify testing is currently taking place in different cities around the globe, but only with Spotify and no other streaming music service, according to Tech Crunch. The new feature was originally spotted by the blog MSPoweruser.

Black Mirror, the twisted British sci-fi anthology series turned Netflix smash hit, is one of the last things you’d want to inspire a real-life business. The show is notoriously dark, dystopian and disturbing to watch, with an outlook on human behavior and technological advancement that’s designed to leave viewers devastated. Despite its bleakness, Black Mirror is consistently praised by critics and has become a cult favorite for fans - and now, against all odds, it has inspired an enterprising Reddit user to launch a dating app based on a popular episode from season four.

Twenty-four year old programmer and entrepreneur Julian Alexander introduced his fellow redditors to Juliet, an AI matchmaker, in a post to the popular AMA subreddit.