Tinder

It’s a revolutionary time in online dating. Now your physiology will be making decisions about who you should date, instead of having to rely on your own decision-making process to swipe left and right.

The new Tinder app debuting on Apple Watch called Hands-Free Tinder, created by developers from Austin-based integrated marketing and advertising firm T3, links a person’s heart rate to their interest in potential matches. Since pulse rates quicken when you are attracted to someone, the technology tracks this and suggests that you are a match. If there’s no quickening of heart rate? Then it’s an automatic rejection.

The process is entirely automated, meaning you don’t have to do the swiping yourself. The watch app does it for you. (Which kind of takes the fun out of Tinder, doesn’t it?) By simply looking at someone’s picture, the app will determine whether to reject or accept a match, all based on the user’s heart rate.

The Apple Watch won’t be the only wearable technology getting the new Tinder app – it will also become available soon on Google Play, so Android wearables will offer Hands Free Tinder, too.

“Swiping left and right is a thing of the past,” explained the developers to the UK’s Daily Mail. “After we found out that the Apple Watch could detect heart rate, we went to work developing hands-free Tinder. Now you can follow your heart to the right match.”

An article in Tech Times pointed out the precariousness of relying on heart rates to monitor attraction or interest in a potential date. Hands-free Tinder does not discriminate. If you are excited in that moment, whether it’s because you saw an old friend or took the first sip of a delicious drink, then your watch will right-swipe for you. The same thing goes if you are excited in a bad way, like if you witness an accident or suddenly remembered that you didn’t turn the stove off when you left the house. It will swipe right for you in these instances, too, because your heart rate goes up. So it’s important to not allow yourself to be distracted while you’re using the new app.

The smartphone helped propel online dating into the mainstream, making it easier than ever for people to choose or reject matches based mostly on a few photos. It has also encouraged our tendency toward laziness, especially when it comes to dating. Instead of manually accepting or rejecting matches, the next evolution of online dating says it will be done for us. Where’s the fun in that?

For more information on this dating app you can go ahead and read our review of Tinder.

Curious to find out if that’s really Leo DiCaprio or Hilary Duff using Tinder? Now, you can rest assured that either it’s a fake, or yes – your favorite celebrity is really on Tinder. (And maybe there’s a chance for a mutual swipe right...)

The latest update to Tinder brings with it a much-anticipated feature: verified profiles. But the verification in its current state doesn’t extend to all users. Specifically, Tinder verifies the authenticity of well-known people who are using the service, whom Tinder describes as “notable public figures, celebrities and athletes.” Following in the steps of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, Tinder will now add the recognizable blue and white checkmark badge to all verified celebrity profiles.

Tinder has been known to have problems with spam bots and fake profiles in its database, which has raised concerns among many in terms of its cybersecurity and the potential for its users to be catfished. One example is the number of fake profiles set up by prostitutes, who offer prices for their services should you swipe right on their profile. Other red flags have been raised when some companies advertising their services began using fake profiles to entice customers, without Tinder's approval.

But the real concern among Tinder management was not the safety and security of every day users – it was the fact that celebrities weren’t getting many matches because nobody believed their profiles were real.

So, the new feature came about not because of complaints or requests from the general population of Tinder users, but at the request of celebrity clients using the service. As Rosette Pambakian, vice president of global communications and branding at Tinder, told The Huffington Post: “Many celebrities were telling us that no one believes it is really them on Tinder, so we launched verified profiles to authentic users who are notable public figures.”

So how does the verified profiles feature work? Celebrities can email verified@tinder.com to be considered for the badge, and Tinder will review requests on a case-by-case basis. If you're not a celebrity don’t try to submit one yourself, because for now, only notable public figures will be considered. But if you’re Heidi Klum or a single politician? That’s a different story.

So what does this mean for the average Tinder user? Not much has changed. While you won’t be able to tell if the average profile you are looking at is a real person or a scam, you will be able to tell if Brittany Spears or Lindsay Lohan shows up as your match. They will be marked verified.

To find out more about this service please read our review of Tinder.

If only all breakups ended as well as this one.

IAC/InterActiveCorp announced recently that Match.com, Tinder, OkCupid, and other dating services would become part of their own spinoff unit. The subsidiary will be called The Match Group and will be a publically traded company. Following the news, shares of IAC rose over 5%.

According to the announcement, The Match Group is likely to issue less than 20% of its common stock. The IPO is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year, after which investors will be able to buy stock in the company. So far, the ticker symbol (the three-or-four letter identifications that represent companies on stock exchanges) is unknown.

The Match Group is starting out on top. IAC/InteractiveCorp is a $6 billion media conglomerate, and revenue of the new Match Group accounted for nearly one third of IAC's total revenue in the most recent quarter.

Last quarter, The Match Group reported revenues of $239.2 million, marking an increase of 13% on a year-over-year basis. Reports say Match Group’s revenues are expected to increase 18% in 2015, bringing the number to $1.24 billion.

The hope with separating the Match Group, and combining more established businesses (like Match and Meetic) with earlier stage businesses (like Tinder), is that the move will lead to significant cash flow generation and meaningful growth potential.

Or, as Chariman and Senior Executive Barry Diller colorfully put it, “I'm not a believer in simply agglomerating assets in perpetuity. I've long felt that as entities grow into size and maturity it's healthy to give them separation and independence from a mother church."

It's an exciting time for the industry, but dating services haven't always done well on Wall Street. AshleyMadison forfeited an IPO in 2011. Zoosk filed for an IPO in April 2014, but withdrew the application in May 2015. Hinge, on the other hand, skipped the IPO entirely, instead relying on raising capital from venture capitalists. In 2014, Hinge had raised $12 million.

The Match Group will also face stiff competition from other key listed players like Spark Networks and Jiayuan.com. Still, IAC believes this IPO can give new life to the Group. Estimated EBITDA for The Match Group in 2015 is $264.9 million – and that's excluding the $75 million EBITDA anticipated from Tinder alone.

A well-received IPO could not only put IAC significantly ahead of its competitors, but also serve as a litmus test for the entire dating industry.

IAC is no doubt a leader in the dating market, with such prominent online dating brands as Match.com, Tinder, and OkCupid, which make up a company subsidiary called The Match Group.

The Match Group has announced its plans to launch its first IPO, making the company available for investment dollars from the general public. Match.com has long been a cash cow in the online dating industry with its paid subscription service, and Tinder with its new premium paid service has been reported to be worth about $1 billion by the end of the year. In fact, the combined revenues of all the companies in The Match Group accounted for nearly one third of IAC's overall revenue in the most recent quarter. They're also growing rapidly, surging 13% year-over-year in the most recent quarter to about $239 million.

Greg Blatt, Chairman of The Match Group said in a statement: "The Match Group is poised for substantial growth in the coming years. The dating industry has come a long way since its inception, but the category remains underpenetrated.  We believe the combination of our more established businesses such as Match, Meetic, and OurTime, and earlier stage businesses such as Tinder and OkCupid, creates an attractive combination of significant cash flow generation, strong margins and meaningful growth potential.” 

This comes at a good time, as Zoosk recently pulled its plans to launch an IPO, leaving the dating space wide open for potential investors. Ashley Madison, a dating site for infidelity, was quick to throw its hat in the ring, too. They are planning a second attempt at an IPO for later this year after a forfeited attempt in 2011.

The Match Group joins other prominent and publicly traded online dating services, notably Spark Networks, which owns several niche dating sites such as JDate, Christian Mingle, and BlackSingles.com, as well as Jiayuan.com, the largest online dating site in China.

After the IPO, investors will be able to buy stock in the company, although the ticker symbol is not yet known. Notably, IAC made the decision to split The Match Group from its parent company to do the IPO.

Barry Diller, IAC’s Chairman and Senior Executive said in a statement: "As many know from our actions over the last 20 years, I'm not a believer in simply agglomerating assets in perpetuity.  I've long felt that as entities grow into size and maturity it's healthy to give them separation and independence from a mother church.”

Tinder is looking to make a new kind of match: the kind between advertisers and consumers.

Since Tinder's launch in 2012, it has remained a largely ad-free space. Users had plenty to love about that approach, but the model was less successful for a company in need of revenue. To fix the earnings issue, Tinder is joining the trend of dating services offering purchasable ad space.

It's an expected move for Tinder, but a big one nonetheless, and it's uncertain how users will respond. On one hand, an ad-free user experience is preferable because it is seamless and free of annoyance.

On the other hand, users are hardly ignorant to the business side of the services they use. Most understand that a company like Tinder needs money in order to continue, and that selling ad space is an effective way to generate revenue. If advertising allows the app to remain free to download, it’s a reasonable concession for a customer to make.

The question becomes “How will Tinder introduce advertisements in order to minimize backlash?” The app's interface is not conducive to unobtrusive advertising. Facebook Newsfeed ads are easy to scroll past and therefore minimally disruptive, but Tinder doesn't have that option.

An advertisement slipped directly into a user's personal profile would compromise their ability to present themselves accurately on the app. Instead, Tinder will have to create ads that mimic profiles – they'll take up the entire screen, and users will swipe into and out of them. The challenge for brands will be to take advantage of this, by creating thematically relevant advertising content.

Another eye-catching strategy means using video (again with thematic relevance to users). Video could be considered unnecessarily disruptive, so brands will have to tread carefully. Knowing both their own demographic and Tinder's demographic – and making sure they align – will be key. Video ads are a riskier move for Tinder as well, as users may find them too irritating.

How users respond to these kinds of ads remains to be seen, but the experiment is an intriguing one. It’s clear that both Tinder and the advertisers are venturing into largely unexplored territory. OkCupid has seen brands successfully create thematically relevant ad content on its site, while companies like Match and Meet Me have had ads included in their applications for years, but it is still a relatively new practice.

Tinder's audience of tech-savvy millennials may also present a unique set of challenges. It will be interesting to see which strategies prove most effective for that highly sought after market.

Popular dating apps like Tinder and Grindr have a reputation of being so-called "hook-up" apps. While more and more people are turning to dating apps to meet singles for long-term love and/ or a casual affair, this trend appears to coincide with a rise in the rates of syphilis and HIV, too.

Public health officials in Rhode Island released a health report last week stating that there has been a 79% rise in syphilis cases in the state between 2013 and 2014, and that it’s attributable in part to the use of social media and dating apps to arrange casual or anonymous hookups. People having unprotected sex, multiple sex partners, and having sex under the influence of drugs and alcohol were also cited as reasons for the increase in STDs.

“These new data underscore the importance of encouraging young people to begin talking to a doctor, nurse, or health educator about sexual health before becoming sexually active and especially after becoming sexually active,” Rosemary Reilly-Chamma of the Rhode Island Department of Education said in the report.

A rise in STDs, particularly HIV and syphilis, were also reported in New York, Utah, and Texas, where officials have warned of increased risk of transmission. The New York City Health Department announced earlier this year that men in the neighborhood of Chelsea had the highest infection rate of syphilis in the country.

Anindya Ghose, co-author of a study that monitored the rise of STDs along with the launch of Craiglist personals ads, believes that online dating apps have had a similar effect. "Basically what the Internet does is makes it a lot easier to find a casual partner," he told VICE News. "Without the Internet you'd have to put effort into casual relationships, chatting with someone at the bar or hanging out in places, but these platforms make it a lot more convenient and easy. That's essentially what the primary driver is."

Others disagree, citing a lack of education and resources, especially for young people, the largest group at risk. They argue that community health providers, doctors, and even schools should educate people about the risks of not using condoms and other protection when engaging in casual sex. Access to condoms and affordable healthcare are two big concerns.

Social media and dating apps make it easier to meet people, but they didn’t create the problem of STD risk. They magnified a problem that already existed – casual sexual encounters without adequate knowledge of safety and protection leave people vulnerable to risk.