Tinder

Match Group has a new CEO, and she’s determined to provide a better online dating experience for women. In a recent interview with Marketwatch, Mandy Ginsberg revealed that Tinder will be debuting a new feature that lets women choose whether or not they want to make the first move. She has female-friendly plans for their other properties as well, including Match and OkCupid.

Tinder’s new feature competes directly with dating app Bumble, which has seen incredible growth since its debut. Bumble differs slightly in that women automatically get to make the first move, rather than choosing.

Ginsberg has also launched a new campaign for OkCupid that “emphasizes shared hobbies over hookups.”

Despite strong showings from the likes of Bumble and Coffee Meets Bagel, Tinder is still on top as the most popular dating app for young, tech-savvy singles. But can it continue to crush the competition in a space that becomes increasingly crowded?

Tinder is determined not to slip or stagnate. A series of new features are planned for 2018, parent company Match Group revealed during its Q4 2017 earnings call, with a focus on location.

Though the company has been tight-lipped about exactly what’s in the works, it has previously described its strategy as blurring the “distinction between digital and real-life dating, and dating and simply engaging in your social life.” Tinder has also said that its upcoming location features will pull in “a new audience” and “expand the definition of dating.”

Tinder’s premium service has been controversial since its debut in 2015. The company started off on the wrong foot by setting higher prices for users who were older than 30, and a sliding scale to younger users. Now, a California appeals court has found the company’s pricing model to be discriminatory to older users.

Judges with the California 2nd District Court of Appeals reversed the decision made by a previous judge, and has ordered Tinder to stop charging older customers more for its premium service, according to reports.

Tinder was charging users 30 and older $19.99 to use the premium service as opposed to those in their twenties, who were only charged $14.99 or $9.99. For the extra funds, users got to “superlike” their favorite matches, swipe as much as they wanted, change their decision on a match even after they swiped left, and avoid those pesky ads that pop up in the free version.

Are you watching the Winter Olympics? Maybe you’ve fantasized about what it would be like to meet one of the athletes, especially because they are competing at peak physical fitness – what’s not to love?

Some Tinder users are taking it a step further and actually changing their locations to match with Olympic athletes.

Tinder users with a premium service such as Tinder Plus or Tinder Gold have the option to use the “Passport” feature, which allows them to change their location so they can swipe left and right on matches from any other city in the world. This feature was created for those who travel and want to connect with people in more than one place.

Image: wired

The next time you swipe right on a Tinder match when you’re sitting at a bar, consider that hackers might be taking notes.

Website MarketWatch reported that vulnerabilities were found in the popular app, exposing users to hackers. The vulnerability stems from Tinder not using encryption on users’ photos. Instead, they use a basic HTTP, an unsecure older protocol, rather than HTTPS. This means when you swipe, hackers have the ability to see not only profiles, but the actions you take with swiping, super-liking, and rejecting photos as well. Think of it as someone looking over your shoulder as you’re swiping.

Tech Times reported that users aren’t at risk of spies seeing their actions when they are swiping at home over a private Internet connection, but they are when using public WiFi networks.

Match Group, the company who brought online dating into the mainstream first with iconic dating site Match.com and then with its acquisition of Tinder, is looking for new business opportunities outside the dating industry. This week at CES, the company announced the new app Ripple for those wanting to network for career opportunities.

The app is positioned to be a direct competitor of LinkedIn, a popular career building and networking site. According to Ripple executives, LinkedIn’s framework is too stagnant for users to effectively network, and ends up being primarily a database of resumes. LinkedIn also doesn’t do much to create stickiness for people to update their profiles and check in regularly, unless they are actively seeking clients or trying to find a job.

Ripple borrows the matching game from Tinder to help with its stickiness. When you launch the app, Ripple presents you with people who might be a good professional match, based on interests, people you are connected to, events you’re attending, and groups you are part of. Ripple also includes your social networks like Twitter and Medium, so potential employers or work colleagues can see what you’re posting and what is most current (encouraging you to be more active). Users are able to decide whether someone is a good fit, and then connect with them.