Finances

The online dating market is booming, and is expected to grow to $9.9 billion by 2026, thanks to leading apps like Tinder, Bumble, eHarmony, Hinge and other popular platforms.

New research by Market Growth Insight shows that the dating services market’s expected goal of $9.9 billion in 2026 is up from $6.7 billion in 2018. The dating market continues to grow with a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 5.2% to achieve that marker. Of this, North America contributes to 37% of that growth, but Asian markets are quickly picking up speed. 

Image: Bumble

Dating platform Bumble has announced the addition of two new executives to its roster, making its C-Suite have an equal male-to-female ratio. Overall according to LinkedIn, Bumble has 926 employees and offices in Austin, London, and Moscow.

Anu Subramanian will join as Bumble’s Chief Financial Officer, and Selby Drummond will take on the position of Chief Brand Officer. Subramanian comes from the same position at Univision, where she led digital assets that included its direct-to-consumer business, according to Tech Crunch. Drummond departed Snapchat, where she had been the first-ever global head of Fashion and Beauty Partnerships. She led the launch of Snap’s fashion and shopping features, as well as initiatives for the popular Bitmoji products. Prior to that, she had been a senior fashion editor at American Vogue and was involved with events like the Met Gala as well as the magazine and website.

Match Group joins several prominent tech companies including Spotify, Epic Games and Tile to rally app developers against App Store policies and to create a fairer marketplace.

These companies have banded together to form The Coalition for App Fairness, whose mission is broader than just the App Store. According to The Verge, they aim to “create a level playing field for app businesses and give people freedom of choice on their devices.” The goal of the organization is to create a united front to protest Apple’s regulations regarding its store, essentially to amass their power against Apple. The Coalition also allows smaller developers to join so they can have some leverage against the tech giant.

Dating app Bumble has announced it will donate a “high six-figure commitment” to the National Domestic Violence Hotline’s new “love is respect” initiative, which aims to empower young people to end abusive relationships. According to news site Built in Austin, the partnership will continue for a three-year period, building on the $100,000 donation Bumble made to the organization back in March. 

When the pandemic progressed and stay at home orders went into effect, many women were placed at risk, because they were essentially trapped with their abusers. Domestic violence is a problem in the U.S., where guns are pervasive and far too often women are the victims in domestic assaults.

Match Group shared in an exclusive interview with Marketwatch that they expect its dating app Hinge to triple its revenue by the end of the year.

Analysts shared that they are optimistic about the dating app’s prospects too, with 6 million monthly active users and about 400,000 subscribers. Hinge has the opportunity to add more paid features and can raise subscription prices as ways of increasing revenue among its so-called “premium” customer base of high earners. According to Marketwatch, Morgan Stanley analyst Lauren Cassel said, “we believe Hinge is Match’s next major revenue and earnings growth driver.”  

Match Group criticised Apple's App Policies

Match Group CEO Shar Dubey recently voiced criticism of tech giant Apple’s policies in regard to their app store.

In an interview with Axios, she claimed that the way the store operates is “inconsistent and unfair” in terms of the percentage of revenue Apple takes from every app store purchase (30%). While this is definitely a disadvantage for Match Group’s revenue stream, Dubey pointed out that consumers lose, too because they don’t have as much choice as they otherwise would have.

When Match Group customers have issues with subscriptions or billing, they have not been able to help them directly either, and instead have to refer them to Apple for any refunds or payment issues. In other words, it creates a big headache for customers who would rather just deal with one company in one interaction, rather than going back and forth.