Dating Services

Match Group reported fourth quarter and full year 2016 financial results, revealing a mix of highs and lows.

“Match Group executed well in our first full year as a public company,” said Greg Blatt, Chairman and CEO. “We had strong double digit revenue, operating income, Adjusted EBITDA and PMC growth, generally on track with our expectations at the time we went public. As we roll into 2017, we’re confident we can maintain that momentum.”

Q4 2016 highlights include:

Online dating industry giant Match is looking to distinguish itself from the more popular dating apps like Bumble or Tinder. In an effort do this and to attract new customers, Match unveiled “Missed Connections,” a location-based feature that allows users to see other members they have crossed paths with in real life.

For example, if you walked in your neighborhood park this morning or grabbed coffee at your favorite coffee shop, you can see who on Match did the same and reach out to them.

The new feature offers a more organic approach to dating. Match hopes it will help people connect more easily in real life instead of relying on messaging, which has become an issue with many dating app users. In Match’s upcoming “Singles in America” survey (which will debut in early February), 55% of singles say they feel that technology has made it more difficult to connect with others in real life.

See Date Spots and Mixtape

Coffee Meets Bagel has launched two new tools to help its busy singles find love.

Since 2012, Coffee Meets Bagel has strived to stand out from the swipe-saturated mobile dating crowd. The app makes dating efficient and accessible by presenting members with one curated match each day at noon, eliminating the need to sink hours into searching.

The stripped-back strategy won over users around the world, and Coffee Meets Bagel has steadily expanded its reach and offerings over the years. The company secured $7.8 million in a Series A financing round back in 2015 and has introduced an array of new features, including Photo Lab and Send A Woo, in the time since.

The latest additions to the CMB family come courtesy of collaborations with Yelp and Spotify. The pair of web apps, called DateSpots.co and Mixtape, are designed to ease the awkwardness of getting to know someone new.

How to use BumbleVID

Do you think a few photos provide enough information to determine whether or not someone is a good match? The makers of dating app Bumble think they aren't, and that video can help.

The popular female-centric dating app will soon release BumbleVID, which will allow users to create a video "story" with unlimited 10-second videos, which will each delete after 24 hours. According to Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe, the video feature was inspired by Snapchat.

To make sure the videos are current, Bumble asks users to record their 10-second features within the app, which then posts to their profiles. If someone wants to use a pre-recorded video from their phone or another source, it has to have been recorded within the last 24 hours. These videos will also be marked with a tag saying they weren’t posted “live.” The new BumbleVID feature also lets users send their videos to specific matches.

Tinder sociologist Jessica Carbino

Tinder is making some bold moves lately, with the introduction of Tinder’s Apple TV app and a new profile feature that allows users to choose from over 30 gender identities. While Tinder has a reputation for being a hook-up app, the company is focusing its efforts now on helping users connect and find relationships. Its latest move: hiring an in-house sociologist.

It’s no secret that Tinder has revolutionized the online dating industry in engaging new users who were once weary of online dating. In fact, 70% of online daters only use mobile apps thanks to Tinder’s popularity, quite an increase from just a few years ago when most preferred looking for love from the comfort and privacy of their home computers.

Which is why Tinder wants to remain a trendsetter for the industry. In another bold move, the company recently hired an in-house sociologist to help point users in the right direction for making connections. In recent interviews for Grazia magazine and Fast Company, Tinder sociologist Jessica Carbino shares some tips on what makes a good profile, according to her research.

Christian Mingle and JDate are having a sale on subscriptions to celebrate Valentines Day. The sale starts February 9th and runs to February 14th, 2017. During this time you will be able to receive 20% off a 3 month and 30% off a 6 month subscription. No coupon is required for this sale which appears automatically on the upgrade page.

• Visit JDate now and receive up to 30% off a subscription
• Visit Christian Mingle now and receive up to 30% off a subscription

Both Christian Mingle and JDate have been matching singles since the late 90s and are Spark Networks flagship online dating services. You can access the faith based services via their websites and dating apps which are available for Android and iOS phones.

For more information about these popular dating services please read our Christian Mingle review and our JDate review.