Recipient
eHarmony

The Editor's Top Pick - Innovative Award winner of 2016 is eHarmony. Late in 2016, eHarmony made a number of bold moves by launching several big new features for their website and dating apps which continue to roll out early in 2017 for some locations. One of the more exciting ones is that eHarmony now shows you your compatibility score with your matches. You can see your top 3 attributes for matching which predicts a long and successful relationship plus, members will also be able to drill down further to see how they match in other dimensions of compatibility (for all 29).

eHarmony also reduced the initial profile questionnaire so that it will take most users only 10 minutes to sign up for a free membership, fill in the profile, and start receiving matches. Previously completing the profile took on average 40 minutes. Members will still be able to fill in the expanded eHarmony profile at a later time to ensure that they will receive the same high quality matches as before.

The last place many love weary daters would go for advice on how to date is consulting a dating app. Especially Tinder, which has often been accused of being a “hook-up” app, and recently taken to task by competitor Hinge for that reputation.

But last month, Tinder launched a brand new podcast offering online daters some much-needed advice.

Branded podcasts are popping up everywhere, since the platform has really caught on with the way the public consumes information. According to Edison Research, about 21% of Americans over the age of 12, or 57 million people, listen to a podcast monthly, up from 17% last year. It seems Tinder is trying to capitalize on its success and pave a more helpful and hopeful path while expanding its user base.

Recipient
MillionaireMatch

The recipient of the 2016 Editor's Top Pick - Wealthy Award is MillionaireMatch. One of the oldest wealthy dating services around MillionaireMatch has been matching wealthy singles and admirers since 2001 and now has almost 3 million active members. You can access MillionaireMatch via their website (at MillionaireMatch.com) and dating apps found on iTunes (iOS) and Google Play (Android).

Members you will find on MillionaireMatch include CEO's, lawyers, and doctors. To become a member it is as easy as using your Facebook account to login (you share only the information you want) or by manually creating a free profile. One of the main safety benefits of MillionaireMatch is the feature they offer members to verify their profile information. Any paid member can do this and can verify their, photo, age, and city location. Millionaire members can also verify their income.

Hornet, a dating app that touts itself as “the world’s second largest gay social network,” has announced that it has raised $8 million in its first round of institutional financing. The Series A round adds to a $500,000 angel round raised in 2012.

Founded in San Francisco in 2011, Hornet set out to strengthen the gay community by providing quality social interactions and being the most inclusive, diverse service in the LGBT dating market. CEO Christof Wittig has previously said the company aims to “jump in where Grindr dropped the ball” by focusing on lasting connections rather than quick flings.

In much of the world, dating services like OkCupid and Tinder are openly used for hookups. It’s a reputation some have tried to shake, but many tolerate and others have even embraced. It’s 2017 - that’s just how people date.

Unless, that is, you’re dating under the watchful eye of the Indian government.

Authorities in India plan to enact regulations that prevent singles who aren’t interested in marriage from using matrimonial websites. The new rules will require websites to keep IP address records, and require users to upload documents proving their identity. A government official told Bloomberg that the regulations are designed to ensure the websites aren’t being “misused.”

Recipient
Tinder

The 2016 Editor's Top Pick - Dating App Award goes to Tinder. 2016 was another big year for Tinder being the most popular dating app on iOS and Android. It's estimated value was pegged at $1.2 billion USD in 2016 and it has now more than 1.5 million paid subscribers (end of Quarter 3 in 2016).

In 2016 Tinder introduced a number of new features for it's members including the paid feature Tinder Boost which allows members to jump to the front of the line and get your profile seen by other members first. Tinder also added dozens of new gender identity options, and Smart Photo which figures out which of your profile photo's people like best. Tinder also partnered with Spotify to allow sharing of your favorite tunes along with a partnership with Giphy which enabled GIF support in all Tinder messages.