Tinder's New Look

Will dating apps soon be saying sayonara to the swipe? Tinder, the app often credited with popularizing the swipe gesture, has gotten an updated look and new navigation gestures to go with it.

“Over the past few months, we’ve been hard at work refreshing the user experience,” said a company blog post. “Today, we’re excited to start rolling out a more seamless way to navigate Tinder for our users around the world.”

Tinder promises a new user experience that is both smarter and better looking. On the aesthetics front, the app now boasts a cleaner design and photos take up more real estate, extending all the way to the edges of the screen. Tinder calls the makeover “part of an ongoing effort to make our app as fun and attractive as the community it serves.”

Online dating corporation Match Group was reported to have made an offer to purchase dating app Bumble for $450 million this summer, according to a report by website Tech Crunch.

Match Group is the parent company to a number of dating apps, including popular Bumble competitors Match, Plenty of Fish, OkCupid and Tinder. It seems Bumble hasn’t accepted the offer, which is understandable since some analysts value the company at almost a billion dollars.

Bumble has a rocky history with Match Group as well, which could play a part in any decision about an acquisition. Bumble’s founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe sued Tinder and IAC in 2014, (when Match Group was a part of IAC). Wolfe was one of the co-founders of Tinder, and brought a sexual harassment lawsuit against her ex-boyfriend Justin Mateen, who also happened to be one of Tinder’s co-founders and the CMO. Wolfe accused him of sending her “sexist, racist, and otherwise inappropriate comments, emails, and text messages” following their very public breakup. The two parties settled out of court for an undisclosed amount, with neither side admitting any wrongdoing.

Badoo Look A Like

Ever downloaded Tinder or Bumble in the hopes of meeting someone who looked like Ryan Gosling or Chris Pratt? Well, look no further – dating app Badoo has launched its new Lookalikes feature to help you out.

The app provides a list of various celebrities for users to choose from (think Beyonce, Kim Kardashian, Jessica Alba, Henry Cavill, Jake Gyllenhaal, and even Donald Trump). When you click on that celebrity’s photo, a list of choices with profile pictures of your matches appears.

The app uses facial recognition technology to scour their database of 350 million daters to deliver the results. The matches aren’t exactly spitting images, but there are certain features that they and their celebrity counterparts have in common to consider them a lookalike. (Although I question a 40-something Jennifer Lawrence, for instance).

How many trends and buzzwords can you fit into a single business idea? Matchpool may have set a new record.

The company is a dating platform that describes itself as “a decentralized matchmaking protocol which uses group dynamics to help participants match with each other.” Others simply call it “Slack Meets Tinder.”

Matchpool raised over $5.7 million in 48 hours in an Initial Coin Offering (ICO), a crowdfunding mechanism modeled after the Initial Public Offering (IPO) process of conventional companies. And in keeping with that high-tech theme, Matchpool’s most successful users earn cryptocurrency rewards for their matchmaking efforts.

To celebrate Labor Day in the United States, and Canada eHarmony is having a Free Communication Weekend. It starts Thursday August 31^st and runs to the end of day on Monday September 4^th for the United States and Canada.

So All you need to do to participate is create a free eHarmony membership by visiting them online. No credit card or coupon code is required. Just signup as a new member, fill in your profile, and answer the personality questionnaire. This process takes about 30 minutes. It is important to take the time and answer the questions as it helps eHarmony match you with other members. Once your profile is complete you will then receive your first set of matches (new ones are sent everyday). You can then review the matches and communicate with the ones you like by using the eHarmony messaging system. One thing to note is that profile photos are not included with Free Weekends. To view them you will need to become a paying member.

To find out more about this online matchmaking service, please check out our review of eHarmony.

“Money can’t buy me love,” said The Beatles, but Australian singles are determined to prove them wrong. According to ING Direct’s 2017 Cost of Dating report, Aussies happily hand over nearly $12 billion per year in the name of finding their happily ever afters.

The exact figure is $11.65 billion, a price tag that’s sure to induce sticker shock in almost any dater, regardless of how deep their pockets run. Australians reportedly spend an average of $79 on a first date, with one third of singles going on at least one first date per month, and a further 32% going on two or more first dates per month. Additionally, almost one in five (18%) have paid for dating services, an expenditure that tallies up to $80.7 million each year.

When it comes to first dates, Australians err on the side of tradition. More than half (56%) of single men are prepared to pick up the tab. Baby Boomer males (33%) are particularly committed to this classic notion of romantic chivalry, followed closely by Gen X men (27%) and Millennial men (26%).