Tinder

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.

You've heard of wearing your heart on your sleeve, but how about wearing your heart on your wrist?

Purchase an Apple Watch and you could do exactly that.

Tim Cook called the gadget Apple's “most personal device yet,” so naturally developers jumped at the chance to make it even more personal. The smartwatch won't only shake up how we keep time, but perhaps also how we find love on-the-go.

Several of the biggest players in the online dating game were quick to introduce apps when the Apple Watch launched back in April. Match.com, OkCupid, and Tinder (coincidentally – or not – owned by the same parent company) all released apps designed for the device. Each one is an easy extension of your regular online or mobile dating activity.

But it's not just the biggies who are getting in on the ground floor. A few lesser-known dating services have also sprung up for the smartwatch.

1. Watchme88: This watch-first app helps users meet other users nearby in real-time. Set your preferences (gender, location, age) and when a match shows up within the specified radar, both Apple Watches start to glow. If you're shy, you can send your match a message or a wink before approaching in person.
2. Jack'd: Jack’d claims to be the first Apple Watch app for guys looking to meet guys. Users receive notifications in real-time whenever their profile is viewed by someone nearby. The app also offers key insights on who’s viewed your profile and other revealing stats.
3. The Inner Circle: Think you have what it takes to be part of the inner circle? If the answer is yes, try out this app, which prescreens members to “maintain the highest quality.” The Inner Circle has been featured in Cosmopolitan, Men's Health, ELLE and more.
4. PlanetRomeo: PlanetRomeo claims to be one of the world’s largest online dating and social platforms for the gay/bi male and transgender communities. Use your Apple Watch to browse profiles, read messages, and save users to your favorites so you'll be notified when they're online.
5. Close Encounter by 3nder: Feeling adventurous? Try a “real-time blind dating app for open-minded people.” The app does away with profile photos to focus on personality. Your watch will vibrate when a potential match is nearby, then you can decide whether to reveal your location. Close Encounter doesn't exist quite yet, but you can read more about its proposed features on Medium.

Or maybe you're not into the big names or the underdogs. In that case, you have a solid middle-of-the-road option in Coffee Meets Bagel. The company released an Apple Watch version of its popular app that simplifies the dating process by focusing on only one potential match each day.

A study was recently released about users of dating app Tinder, which found that over 40% of the Tinder population is either already married or in a relationship.

While dating apps do attract users with less virtuous intentions, and some people feel compelled to meet for random hook-ups through a dating app even while they are in a committed relationship, there is an interesting question: what if some of these non-single users don't even know they have an online dating profile?

Turns out, there are many people who think deleting a dating app from your phone is the same as deleting your profile - but it isn't.

Dating apps and online dating sites make it kind of tricky to get rid of you altogether – after all, they attract people (and investors) based on user numbers, so they are not motivated to make it obvious how to delete your account. Many Tinder and dating app users delete the app from their phones, mistaking this from deleting their profile altogether.

So perhaps we shouldn’t be so cynical when it comes to daters’ intentions. Maybe instead, it’s good to take you through the steps of how to delete a profile for the most popular apps:

Tinder

Many people make the mistake of deleting the app from their phones and thinking their profiles will be deleted, too – but this isn’t the case. To delete your account, go to “Settings” in the app, select “App Settings” then scroll down to “Delete Account.” You’ll get a message that says it was deleted, so you know for sure. (Keep in mind – this deletes all your messages and profile information, so you can't get it back.) If you paid for the Tinder Plus service, Tinder makes it one step harder to cancel: you have to cancel your subscription via email. Bear in mind, if you log in to Tinder again after deleting your account, it creates a whole new account for you.

OkCupid

OkCupid, unlike Tinder, gives you the option of letting your profile be disabled, which means that if you decide to use the service in the future, you’ll still have access to those old photos, profile, and messages. If you prefer to delete it altogether, you can go to “Settings” in either the app or desktop version and select “delete account.”

eHarmony

eHarmony is tricky to delete, because it takes two steps. First, go to “Settings,” then “Account Settings,” then “Billing” then “Close Account.” Then according to some to make sure it’s completely deleted, you have to send an email to deletemyinfo@eharmony.com with the subject line “Delete my Account Information.”

Hinge

Hinge doesn’t allow you to delete your account from your phone, but only from a computer. Go to the Hinge website for a link to your Facebook App settings, and then delete Hinge from there. Once you have done this, then you can delete the app from your phone.

Single celebrities have not been shy to admit that they are on Tinder. Stars like Lindsay Lohan, Chris Pine, former Miss USA Nana Meriwether and Mindy Kaling have all been spotted on the popular dating app. The latest celebrity to check it out is recently divorced single mom Hilary Duff.

Duff shared her fascination with Tinder on Ryan Seacrest’s radio show, admitting that she wasn’t sure what to make of the dating app at first, but she told her girlfriends after helping them swipe left and right on a few of their matches, she wanted to join. They protested, but Duff insisted it would be fun.

Turns out, it has been fun for her – she was recently spotted on a date in a bowling alley, and later in the week getting pizza with the same guy. Apparently, a man she met on Tinder.

Rumors are swirling that she signed up with Tinder to film a new dating reality show, one that follows her around on her various Tinder dates. According to The Daily Mail, film cameras were present when Hilary and her date went to dinner, but the crew left when they went to a bar.

Hilary went into some detail about her date on Seacrest’s show. “We went bowling so we didn't have to talk too much, but we did talk a lot actually,” she said. “He was cool. He brought a friend and I had some friends there. He used to be in editing for reality shows. Now, he's an actor and he just wrote a play. He's an interesting guy. To be honest, I don't really want an actor either … I think he has a few jobs.”

'I'm just a Tinder animal!' she joked. 'I had my Tinder training wheels on for my first date. Now it's smooth sailing.'

Duff’s latest project is a co-starring role in the series “Younger” alongside Broadway star Sutton Foster, where she plays friend and co-worker to Foster who is trying to pass herself off as 26 to keep her job. Duff hasn’t announced whether there is a dating reality show project in the works.

Duff assured Seacrest during her interview that whoever she dates has to be accepted by her son Luca, who she described as a “Mama’s boy.”

According to TMZ, she has swiped right on 9 guys so far since she joined a few weeks ago. Now we just have to wait for the show to launch.