United States

Match Group has joined Epic Games in expanding their lawsuit against Google and its Play Store, claiming the company paid developers to prevent Play Store competition.

According to a report by Engadget, the companies filed a motion with a federal court in the Northern District of California in October, accusing Google of paying off developers that had the financing and ability to create new Android app stores to compete with Google.

As Tech Crunch pointed out, this would be “a direct violation of U.S. antitrust law known as the Sherman Act,” the amended lawsuit states.

In the original lawsuit, Epic Games and Match Group detailed a program called “Project Hug” that paid game developers hundreds of millions of dollars to keep their games on the Google Play store, notably following the release of Epic Games’ Fortnight in 2018 (where it was made available outside of Google Play, bypassing their fees).

A new study by Pew Research Center found that roughly half of U.S. online daters, or 47 percent of those surveyed, want to see the vaccination status on the profiles of potential matches.

Covid-19 vaccination status has been a divisive issue for people when it comes to dating. Many are eager to move past the pandemic and don’t mind if their dates aren’t vaccinated or if they know up front how they feel about getting the vaccine. But still, 47 percent say it is at least somewhat important that they know upfront before they start engaging with a date, and that they look to see if their matches included vaccination status in their profiles. About a quarter of all respondents said it was very important their dates mention their vaccination status in their profiles.

When drilling down, Pew found that those wanting to see their dates’ vaccination status were more likely to vote Democratic, so the divide was also along political party lines. The research found that respondents who identified as Democrats were more likely to be vaccinated and more likely to say they would only go out with someone who is vaccinated.

The Right Stuff, a conservative dating app backed by investor Peter Thiel, launched in late September and has already been met with controversy. More than one quarter of users give it a one-star rating, with many complaining about the lack of women using the app despite the female-focused marketing campaign.

The campaign featured several women professing to want a conservative man with their same conservative values. However, the people joining for the most part seem to be middle-aged men, and they are not finding a lot of choice when it comes to swiping. Another reason for the lack of people on the app could be its invite-only premise. New users can only join if invited by an existing member.

According to Gizmodo, January 6th is also sparking some controversy for the app, with some users posting that FBI agents have come after them after they’ve shared that they attended the rally that preceded the attack on the Capitol. The Right Stuff asks users to respond to a series of prompts when setting up their profile so matches get to know them, and one prompt says “January 6th was…” which is open-ended enough for people to write and potentially incriminate themselves.

BLK dating app has announced a partnership with former First Lady Michelle Obama’s voting initiative “When We All Vote” to help drive people to register and vote, ahead of the midterm elections.

According to Cassius Life, the popular dating app for black singles created an in-app Election Center, which prompts users automatically when they open the app to engage with a choice – “Share Your Voice” or “Shift the Culture.” When users select “Share Your Voice” they are asked to choose an issue that is important to them, such as “universal healthcare” or “affordable housing,” which will be displayed on their profiles to engage other users.

If users prefer not to pick an issue, they can choose “Shift the Culture,” which provides a link to register to vote. BLK also provides push notifications, so users know important dates and deadlines, from the last day to register to vote to when election day is.

The share value for dating app conglomerate Match Group was downgraded from buy to hold in mid-September by a Wall Street analyst who projects the company will fall short on revenue goals until the end of the year.

According to Seeking Alpha, Loop Capital Analyst Laura Champine said Tinder remains a “wildcard” on the heels of Renate Nyborg’s exit from the company, the app’s market share losses to Bumble, and “cannibalization” of Tinder by the company’s other star app Hinge. She also lowered her price target from $70 to $60 a share, adding that “we see potential for further misses” going into the next quarter. 

Champine added that CEO Bernard Kim will be able to “bring in exciting talent” from outside the company, which she takes as a promising sign. Still, she said of the company’s star app: "Tinder has not been executing in line with expectations…Match blamed Tinder for its lower outlook overall and said product launches had been poorly executed of late. The brand needs to do a better job attracting new customers," according to Seeking Alpha.

Grindr CEO George Arison

Dating app Grindr, which serves the LGBTQ+ community, named board member George Arison as its new CEO. He is scheduled to launch the company’s IPO this fall with a $2.1 billion valuation.

Arison is scheduled to take the reins on October 19th. He has long worked in the tech industry and been a board member of the company since May, according to NBC News. Prior to his appointment as CEO, he founded the car reseller app Shift Technologies, where he also served as CEO, and before that he headed a taxi-hailing app.

In addition to hiring a new CEO, Grindr also appointed a new CFO, the former CFO of Disney Streaming Service Vanna Krantz, who launched and grew the highly successful Disney+ product. Grindr’s outgoing CEO Jeff Bonforte and CFO Gary Hsueh will move into advisory roles going forward, according to NBC News.