Bumble

Dating app Bumble is changing the look of profiles and giving an upgrade to its algorithm to provide a better online dating experience for its users.

The female-focused dating app unveiled its new look in early December. The update prioritizes a person’s pronouns and interests after their primary photo, and according to Axios Austin, this move will help users more easily identify potential matches.

The algorithm changes are aimed at creating a more curated experience. The app will now provide users with recommendations for which picture should be front and center in your profile, which the company said from early reports has already led to more matches. Bumble’s AI technology is also learning more preferences based on user behavior, noting that curating matches this way has helped people spend more time looking at each profile, an indication of heightened interest among users.

The Bumble Shop

Bumble is moving into the online retail business by opening its first store and selling Bumble-branded apparel.

The Bumble Shop will offer a collection of t-shirts, hats, sweaters, accessories and games, according to WWD, and will be available for purchase at shop.Bumble.com. Featured items will include a varsity sweater, a bucket hat with the company’s tagline of “make the first move” in the lining, pronoun keychains, and a Question Game card game to help people connect by moving past small talk and into deeper conversations.

The Bumble Shop partnered with retro California lifestyle brand Aviator Nation to offer custom limited edition items as well, including the Ninja Hoodie, Ninja sweatpants, and Classic Truck Hat. These will be co-branded and available for purchase on the new site. Bumble plans to offer new collections quarterly, and Aviator Nation is its first clothing partner. Multiple sizes are available as well, ranging from XS to 4XL.

Shares for Bumble Inc, which owns the popular dating apps Bumble and Badoo, fell more than twenty percent after the company’s third quarter earnings call in November. 

The dating app went public earlier this year, with shares taking off out of the gate. In recent weeks however, investors have cooled on the stock, and Bumble has pointed to pandemic lockdowns in strong markets like Japan which have cut into the company’s overall revenue. The latest dip after the earnings call was the stock’s lowest point yet. 

According to Forbes, for the first time since its IPO, Bumble posted a decline in overall user growth, with total paying users dropping to 2.87 million through September, down from 2.93 million in the second quarter.

Dating app Bumble had a rough third quarter, with total paying users down 2 percent from the second quarter. It was the first time the company saw a decline in its user base since going public in February of this year.

According to Reuters, total paying users fell to 2.9 million as the pandemic surge prompted new lockdowns in hard-hit countries. The company says the pandemic surge caused an overall drop in consumer spending on dating apps and in-app purchases. This news spooked investors and sent Bumble’s stock tumbling 9 percent, a 32 percent total decline since its IPO.

The company owns popular dating app Badoo which was hit especially hard due to its popularity in markets affected by the Covid surges. Badoo accounts for about a quarter of the company’s total revenue according to Barron’s.

Green dating is becoming a trend among UK daters, according to a new study by dating app Bumble.

In recent months, Bumble added a feature for daters to include values in their profiles, not only to highlight their priorities to other daters, but also to support a cause, including for environmental, social or political justice. Each time a user sends a message to another user, the company will donate to select organizations that work for these causes. 

According to Bumble, 27 percent of UK users selected “environmentalism” as their highest value.

Scammers stole more than $1.4 million from users of popular dating apps like Tinder, Grindr and Bumble, among others. Dubbed “CryptoRom” by cybersecurity research firm Sophos, the attackers feigned romantic interest with victims to build trust, and then lured them into downloading fake cryptocurrency apps.

According to reports, these scammers used Apple’s Enterprise Development platform to push the fake cryptocurrency apps, which gave the victims a sense that they were legitimate, but in reality, this allowed scammers to bypass the normal app review process. 

The CryptoRom attackers set up fake profiles on dating apps and strike up conversations with users, later moving them to messaging apps. After a time, the subject of cryptocurrency is introduced into the conversation, and the scammer asks the victim to install the fake crypto trading app to make an investment. At first, the victim makes money and is allowed to withdraw from their account, providing a false sense of security. Soon after, they are asked to make a more substantial contribution, and if they do, the scammers not only refuse their withdrawal requests, but blackmail them to invest more and take the money they already paid if they refuse.