Bumble Inc

New research has shown that the dating app market, once booming after the pandemic, has started to show signs of slowing down.

According to Tech Crunch, research firm data.ai found that global downloads of dating apps saw very tepid growth year-over-year in January 2024. The slight increase of 1.9 percent (128 million installs) from January 2023 was down drastically from the 29 percent increase seen the year before.

In the U.S., data.ai found only a 2.38 percent year-over-year growth from January 2023 to January 2024, with 12.7 million installs, down from a 16 percent growth seen during the same time period last year.

The U.S. market is one of the largest and most lucrative for dating apps, but Pew reported last year that only three in ten U.S. adults had ever used a dating app or online dating site, the same percentage that was reported in 2019. This was surprising considering how dating apps took off during the pandemic and the years immediately following.

Image: Bumble

Dating app Bumble launched Deception Detector, an AI-based feature that aims to cut down on bots and fake profiles.

According to ZD Net, the new feature leverages the machine learning-based technology to help identify fake, scam or spam profiles on the app before the user comes into contact with them. The feature can assess the authenticity of a profile and, according to Bumble’s test, supported automatically blocking 95 percent of accounts identified as spam or scam by the company.

Bumble was quick to add that the AI-based feature will be used in conjunction with “dedicated human support” for added safety for its members.

Bumble also said in its release that within the first two months of the technology’s introduction, the platform saw member reports of spam, scam, and fake accounts reduced by 45%.

Dating app Bumble is taking the popular Lunar New Year holiday and launching a promotional celebration for its user base in Asia.

The “Bumble Lo Hei: Toss Love into Your New Year” campaign says it will “spice up” holiday traditions and give the celebration a romantic twist for those seeking love in 2024. Bumble will give away exclusive gift packages for users to help them “manifest” a great love life this coming year, and encourage them to take charge of their own love journeys.

The promotion was inspired by the traditional Lunar New Year “prosperity toss,” or “lo hei.”

Teri Hatcher, the popular actress who starred in the hit tv series Desperate Housewives and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, has shared that she was kicked off dating app Hinge after being accused of posting a fake profile.

The actress spoke about the incident in an episode of Getting Grilled with Curtis Stone when he asked her about her dating life.

"I've tried them all, and I tried my latest one. I tried Hinge," she told host Curtis Stone while sharing that she doesn't "meet people," according to People Magazine.

Bumble has shared the best time to be on a dating app – down to the exact hour. According to the popular dating app platform, being on the app on Mondays between 7pm and 8pm in the U.S. and between 8pm and 9pm in the U.K. will boost your chances of matching.

The dating app shared that these are the busiest times with the most people active on the app - and will give you more opportunities to match and set up dates. Other good times to be active on the platform is Tuesday evenings at 9pm, Thursdays at 7pm, and Sundays at 5pm, according to recent user data.

Dating Sunday (the first Sunday in January following the holidays) might be the busiest day of the year for online dating. But on a regular basis, searching for potential matches on the weekend won’t yield the same results as looking during weekday evenings. More people are with friends and family (and on other dates), and only log back in after work during the week to match with more people.

Clean Slating is the newest dating trend in India to kick off 2024, at least according to dating app Bumble.

The term refers to letting go of past relationships and baggage that you no longer want to hold onto, and starting the year on a clean slate, according to The Deccan Chronicle.

According to the nationwide study, an overwhelming 71 percent of Indians said they are starting the new year on a clean slate, leaving the past behind. Bumble’s findings also revealed that 70 percent of respondents feel that making peace with exes and past relationships going into 2024 gives them a fresh start. Sixty-nine percent say that it will “open them up to new experiences and people,” and 67 percent said it will allow them deeper connections, according to the Chronicle.