Dating Services

Spring is a time of renewal, and in keeping with the theme of the season, Match.com has unveiled a freshly redesigned mobile experience for iPhone users. Match 3.0 for iOS took major cues from Apple's own iOS7 overhaul, even redesigning the Match.com logo for 2014. But the biggest inspiration for the new Match mobile app was its competitors.

Prior to the app’s makeover, it was a carbon copy of the Match.com website. These days, the mobile application includes original features that were built specifically for smartphones and can't be found online. The app now opens to a Discover page containing two brand new features: Stream and Mixer.

Stream serves up photos of singles close to your location utilizing an innovative algorithm that analyzes your preferences. The feature highlights additional photos and a member's profile as well as the primary profile picture, giving a greater glimpse into his or her personality. Match President Amarnath Thombre spoke proudly to TechCrunch about the new feature:

“The challenge was to leverage all the rich data that Match has about users, like secondary photos and information from their bio, and make it super lightweight,” Thombre said. “With the Stream, users can see a lot of information about their potential matches without ever clicking in to anything.”

Mixer is Match’s attempt to capitalize on the explosive success of Tinder. Scroll through a rapid-fire presentation of profiles. Swipe right if you're interested; swipe left if you're not interested. You can also like photos and send messages from within Mixer.

Other new features include:

• Threaded messaging. Messages are now organized in conversations, enabling you to easily preserve the history between you and a match. “Delivered” and “read” receipts are included.
• Easier photo uploading. There are now three different ways to add photos from within the app’s interface.
• In-app notifications. In-app notifications make it easier for users to stay connected.
• In-app purchasing. For the first time, users have the ability to purchase subscriptions and additional features while signed into the app.
• More ways to communicate. Communication can begin as soon as you launch the app and can be continued in multiple different ways, from Stream to Daily Matches, and even directly from a members’ photo. Single-click payment is now available.

Of course, in addition to all the new features, the updated app still includes traditional search and matching, but the experience has been redesigned to be more mobile-friendly. Considering that 50% of Match.com’s sign-ups come from mobile, and more than half of messages sent between users come from smartphones, the new generation of Match's iPhone app is coming not a moment too soon.

Here is our Match.com review where you can find more information on this service.

IAC has released its first quarter 2014 financial results. All in all, the company reports $740.2 million in revenue for Q1 2014, more or less on par with the $742.2 million in revenue of Q1 2013.

Websites revenue increased thanks to the acquisition of the “Owned & Operated” website businesses of ValueClick (which the company acquired in January of this year), the contribution of CityGrid Media, and growth at About.com. On the other hand, applications revenue decreased, primarily due to lower queries in B2B. Adjusted EBITDA decreased as well, as a result of lower revenue in B2B and higher marketing expense in B2C.

The Match Group – which includes Match.com, Chemistry, People Media, OkCupid, and other dating businesses – saw 9% growth in dating revenue (broken down into 7% growth in North America and 12% growth in International). Non-dating revenue grew 53%. Despite the higher revenue, driven mostly by increased subscribers, IAC’s profits declined due to a significant increase in marketing expenses for certain businesses.

Dating revenue for North America totaled $134.5 million in Q1 2014, up 7% from $125.6 million in Q1 2013. International dating revenue jumped 12% to $70.5 million in Q1 2014 from $63.2 million in Q1 2013. Combining both, IAC’s total dating revenue for Q1 2014 is $205 million, an increase of 9% from $188.9 million in Q1 2013.

The question now, of course, is what does the rest of 2014 have in store for IAC?

One major change that stands to make a huge impact on IAC's bottom line is the monetization of Tinder. Though IAC has declined to specify its exact ownership stake in the company, it has said that Tinder is now completely owned by IAC and Tinder executives, with CEO Sean Rad at the helm. The hugely popular mobile dating app is the hottest company in IAC's portfolio, but it doesn't yet generate any revenue. IAC has announced that 2014 will be the year that changes, though they've been vague so far about the exact way that monetization will take place.

The most obvious strategy would be to run ads on the service. In fact, it wouldn't be the first time it's happened. Fox used fake profiles to promote The Mindy Project, as did the USA Network program Suits, though they did not bring Tinder or IAC any revenue and a company spokesperson maintains that the campaigns were "strategic partnerships" rather than advertising.

Happily ad-free Tinder users should enjoy the experience while it lasts – with all the money-making potential the app packs, it’s probably only a matter of time before ads become the new norm.

Dating and communication between two potential romantic partners has reached a whole new level thanks to the growing popularity of apps. If you’re nervous or shy, you can approach a woman or man through an app and never experience firsthand rejection. You can swipe left or right, without having that uncomfortable conversation if one of you isn’t interested.

Tinder is an app where users interact with each other through profiles and information pulled from Facebook. You can see, at least through photos, who is messaging you. But other apps are surfacing to channel all of that flirting through a new, underground form of communication.

Truth is the latest in a series of anonymous messaging apps that sends private flirtations or missives to people on your contacts list. It's undercover one-on-one messaging between friends.

So, if you like a guy but aren’t sure if he likes you, you can hide behind an avatar and anonymous username with Truth to message him and see if he might be interested. If he doesn’t have Truth on his phone, he can download it to read your message, making him another user. This is a cool and exciting feature for shy types.

On the other hand, if you want to slam your friend without her knowing who did it, you can do that, too.

Truth is different from popular apps like Secret and Whisper because it utilizes your own contacts list instead of broadcasting through a feed like Twitter. So, the focus of communication is between friends. But all of these apps share one thing in common – they allow you to be anonymous. Which means in the online world – you can say or do whatever you want with no accountability.

One of the objectives for the app is to allow people who are uncomfortable flirting or asking someone out face-to-face a means to do it without having to feel the sting of rejection. On the other hand, it’s a perfect platform for bullying.

Truth’s co-founder Ali Saheli tells website Mashable that, “We try to keep it light and playful,” but acknowledges that from day one they have seen the potential for abuse. He estimates content reported as abusive represents less than 5% of all messages. "The most common usage is flirting with classmates. And obviously we've seen a range of uses, like people giving feedback in workplaces.”

The app has taken off among the most vulnerable age groups – specifically high school and college-aged people. But is it making dating any easier or a better experience? As one young woman told Mashable, “You're just playing a game to figure things out."

If you would like to try the Truth app you can visit their site called Use Truth.

Many singles have tried at least one online dating site. Some have found success right away while others get frustrated and wonder why they decided to try online dating in the first place. Unfortunately, many people don’t know all of the options available, or one dating site might work better for them than another.

There is a lot of competition among online dating sites, but most people flock to the few they know, like Match.com. But it’s important to first ask yourself before you sign up: what do I want out of my dating experience?

People date for different reasons, and the same goes for online dating. Not every member is interested in finding a long-term relationship. So it’s good to ask yourself if you just want to date and have fun, or if you’re looking to meet someone special and settle down. Your intention is an important part of your dating experience.

Next, you have to know yourself. Are you very shy? Are you more at ease on a date where you’re doing something together rather than sitting across the table from each other? Or are you really confident and slightly intimidating? Do you know what you want and you’re not afraid to say it?

People date differently – some go into it like a job interview, asking questions and checking boxes off of their “must-haves” list. People place importance on different things – like religious beliefs, career, location, or even how close you are with your family. Others are a little less choosy, and go from date to date unsure of what they want but recognizing that they aren’t meeting the “right one.”

This is why it’s important to ask yourself these questions. From there, you can try a few different dating sites to see what’s right for you.

If you’re looking for a serious relationship, then eHarmony or Chemistry are your best bet. They have a significant number of members to choose from, and you have to go through a pretty rigorous and time-consuming sign-up process before you can search through matches. So from the start, people on the site are a little more serious than your average online dater. But I would also suggest Christian Mingle or a niche dating site if you have particular beliefs that are most important to you when looking for a partner. Again: know yourself and what you want.

If you’re looking to dip your toe back in the dating pool after a long absence, but aren’t sure if you want a long-term relationship, then sites like Match and OkCupid are a little less intense than the relationship-focused sites. They also have a large subscriber base and so you can meet a variety of people. Keep your options open if you’re unsure. Date outside of your “type.”

I suggest trying two or three sites and seeing which format you like best. Most sites offer a free trial period so you can at least set up a profile and check matches. It’s worth the time to really look and see what’s right for you.

What makes Tinder so damn special?

There’s certainly something that’s catapulted the dating app straight into the mobile stratosphere, but users, investors, fans, and detractors alike are still trying to put their finger on exactly what makes the app so popular. Carrie Yurie, a writer for the Huffington Post, had a chance to interview Tinder CEO Sean Rad after his talk at GigaOm Roadmap to hear more about what's going on behind the scenes.

Though Tinder seems simple on the surface, the app leverages a fundamental understanding of human behavior in order to optimize user experience. Rad says “We built…a flow that emulates interactions in the real world. What we’re striving to do with Tinder is understand what are the sort of social dynamics, physical dynamics, the flows of where you start with a request or desire to make a new relationship and how that progresses to you actually meeting that person, talking to that person and getting to know them.” Armed with an understanding of how human relationships are built in the real world, Tinder attempts to emulate that natural flow with its app.

One question that continually comes up where online dating is concerned is whether users are looking for serious relationships or just searching for short-term hook-ups. Rad thinks Tinder is effective either way – it all depends on a user’s original intentions.

“I think it emulates whatever you want in the real world,” he told Yurie. “So if you are young and you don’t want to be in a serious relationship, you are going to look for that on Tinder, or if you are older and desire something more serious you will look for that.” Ultimately, the younger generation that makes up the largest portion of Tinder's user base is all about going with the flow and dating without a specific outcome in mind.

Tinder has worked hard to appeal to its target millennial market. We all know how it works on the front end, but what’s happening backstage? According to Rad, Tinder observes a user's behavior in the app to determine compatibility. That's nothing new, but Tinder is able to take it to an extreme degree. “When you match with somebody,” Rad explains, “we look at the depth of the conversations you are having with your various matches. You might have a deeper conversation with one person of a certain characteristic or another person of another different characteristic.”

At the end of the day, Tinder prefers to keep things simple. The app is consistently grounded in real life, putting the focus on the human experience outside the digital realm. “It all comes down to what do people want to do, how do they want to do it, and how do we create a frictionless experience to allow them to do that?” Rad says. “Whether we are coming up with a feature or improving something, we always look at, first and foremost, how does that relate to some desire or some thought process that the user has.”

For more on this dating app you can read review of Tinder.

This week’s round of congratulatory applause goes to Zoosk, which just filed its S-1 registration statement with the SEC and announced its plans to raise $100 million in an initial public offering.

The company will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ZSK, with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, and Citigroup Global Markets underwriting the IPO. Oppenheimer & Co. and William Blair will also be joining as co-managers.

As part of its filing, Zoosk provided details of its global online dating business.  The company states that the website now has 26 million members across 80 countries, including 650,000 subscribers (users who pay for access to additional features and products). The company also states that its user base grew from 18 million at the end of the year in 2012 to its current numbers, a 44% growth rate. The number of paying subscribers grew to 650,000 in 2013 from 483,000 in December 2012.

As those subscriber numbers have grown, so too has revenue. Revenue increased 63% from 2012 to 2013, rising from $109.1 million to $178.2 million. Net loss also decreased drastically during that period, from $20.7 million in 2012 to just $2.6 million at the end of 2013. Subscriptions account for much of that revenue ($153.8 million), but Zoosk also has a rapidly growing virtual currency business that jumped from $5.4 million in revenue in 2012 to $24.3 million a year later.

On top of that, Zoosk has raised more than $60 million since being founded in 2007. Investors include Crosslink Capital, Keating Capital, Canaan Partners, Bessemer Ventures, ATA Ventures, Jeff Epstein, Plug & Play Ventures, and Amidzad Partners.

While it started out on the web, Zoosk has been hugely successful in the mobile arena. In the Apple App Store it's the #1 grossing dating app and a top 25 grossing app overall. Much of that success can be chalked up to the site's proprietary Behavioral Matchmaking engine, which learns from a user's clicks, messages and other actions to produce more compatible matches. The better the data it gathers, the better its recommendations get.

Looking to the future, Zoosk knows the biggest challenges it will face. The service must optimize its strategy for retaining current members as well as its approach to attracting new members and subscribers. Zoosk must find a way to retain high levels of user engagement and subscription rates and, most importantly, must continue honing its Behavioral Matchmaking engine in order to connect users with mutual attraction.

To find out more about this service you can read our review of Zoosk.