Marketing

As dating app usage spikes worldwide in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, dating app companies are examining whether this means revenue will increase, too. Match Group recently posted a memo to all of its users that while usage is up, new (and paying) subscribers are down in the countries most affected by the pandemic, including Italy, Spain and the UK.

According to Seeking Alpha, Match Group was leading the pack a year ago with revenue increasing year over year in the billion-dollar dating app industry. And now, across the globe its star dating app Tinder is seeing a spike in user activity. It reported a record 3 billion swipes in one day on March 29th. But revenue hasn’t increased along with it.

Match Group’s revenue is gathered in two ways – from advertising on its free platform, and for charging users for premium services on its tiered services – Tinder Plus and Tinder Gold. Users can also purchase in-app a la carte options for certain features like Passport, but right now, Tinder is offering this particular feature free for all users. 

Tinder announced that its hit interactive series Swipe Night has been greenlit for season two. The new season is expected to debut this summer, according to The Verge.

Swipe Night season one premiered last year in October in the U.S., and will be released internationally in March. The series consisted of five-minute episodes available once per week (Sunday evenings throughout the month) via the Tinder app. As users watched, they were presented with choices of what to do in real time, which informed how the story unfolded for them, described as a “choose-your-own-adventure” format.

The choices viewers made also populated their user profiles, so other Tinder users could see how they chose and make decisions as to whether or not to swipe right or message them.

Image: OkCupid

OkCupid launched a new provocative ad campaign called “Ask Yourself,” which focuses on questions that can serve as deal-breakers to younger daters. The campaign doesn’t shy away from getting political, since the majority of its customers are most interested in partners that align with them politically.

The campaign includes illustrated outdoor posters that feature the most popular topics discussed among OkCupid users. For example one poster states: “It’s OK not to date a man who won’t vote for a woman” and “It’s OK to choose to only date someone who’s pro-choice.” It also features animations and a series of polls for Instagram stories, gauging people’s opinions on a wide range of topics from light to serious - such as thoughts on body hair, climate change, and Trump’s impeachment.

Popular dating apps including Tinder, OkCupid, Happn, and Grindr have come under fire from consumer rights groups and privacy coalitions for sharing personal data of their users with third parties, specifically advertisers.

A study was published this month from the Norwegian Consumer Council that showed 10 apps were collecting sensitive information including a user’s exact location from GPS tracking, sexual orientation, religious and political beliefs, drug use and other information and sharing it with at least 135 different third party companies, according to several reports. Some of those businesses included household names like Google and Facebook, but also lesser-known adtech companies such as OpenX, MoPub, and AppNexus. The study only looked at apps on Android phones, according to NPR.

This type of data collection and sharing violates the European Union’s rules to protect user data online under the General Data Protection Regulation.

Dating app Hinge is looking to capitalize on the popularity of its new mascot Hingie. The company just launched an online store selling Hingie-related products, according to AdWeek.

Hinge launched a new marketing campaign in 2019 saying that the dating app was “designed to be deleted” to promote its focus on long-term relationships. The company created TV and web spots featuring a cuddly-looking square named Hingie that proceeds towards its own demise as a couple who meet over Hinge get closer, until they finally delete the app – and Hingie along with it.

Image: Business Wire

Spark Networks announced that Eric Eichmann will take over as CEO of Spark Networks, replacing Jeronimo Folgueira.

“I could not be more excited to join Spark at this time,” Eichmann said in a statement, published in Yahoo! Finance News. “Spark has a tremendous brand portfolio to help people find love across the globe…I look forward to working with the great team at Spark and leading the next chapter of its development.”