Dating Services

The Norwegian Data Protection Authority has notified dating app Grindr that it could be fined as much as $11.7 million U.S. dollars for sharing the personal data of its users to third parties without their consent. The company has until February 15th to respond to the notice, at which time the Authority will make its final decision.

According to the report from Associated Press, Grindr’s data sharing practice was in violation of European Union privacy rules (GDPR), which requires app companies to let users know how their personal information is being shared as well as obtaining their consent. The Norwegian Consumer Council alleged that Grindr was sharing user information with third party companies so that they would be able to send more targeted ads to users of the app. However, Grindr’s customers weren’t given a thorough explanation of how their data was being used or asked if they consented to sharing it.

A new investment scam targeting dating app users has been detected by Interpol, according to ZDNet.

The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) issued a “purple notice” to 194 member countries, describing a new money-making scheme on dating apps, according to ZDNet. Interpol stated that the scam “takes advantage of people’s vulnerabilities as they look for potential matches, and lures them into sophisticated fraud scheme.”

The scammers have set up fake profiles in apps like Tinder, Bumble, and eHarmony, and match with users who don’t know they are scammers. The scammers then message their targets pretending to be interested in them romantically in order to build trust, occasionally giving them investment “tips” to turn the conversation towards money.

Recipient
Zoosk

The Editor's Top Pick - Paid award recipient for 2021 is Zoosk. With the ongoing pandemic this year and the increased use of online dating services, questions visitors have sent us has solidified our thinking on what makes a good paid dating app. When we reviewed our list of apps to compare and pick our choice, Zoosk came out on top.

With Zoosk's recent acquisition by Spark Networks late in 2019 they have made strides to improve an already good dating service, and have succeeded.

Dating app Once, which dubs itself the “slow” dating app, has been sold to conglomerate Dating Group for $18 million in cash and stock, according to Tech Crunch.

Dating Group owns Dating.com, Dil Mil, AnastasiaDate and ChinaLove among other online dating platforms, competing directly with Bumble and Match Group’s suite of apps as well as Facebook Dating. It currently has offices in seven countries, and around 73 million users across its portfolio. Once comes with about 9 million users.

Once positioned itself as a more purpose-driven dating app, offering only one match per day to its users, who then have 24 hours to message that match to show interest, or they disappear. This offering was an intentional tactic to compete with the frenetic pace of apps like Tinder where people are inclined to swipe through dozens of profiles each minute rather than spending time really looking at each one. On the other hand, Once forced its users to consider one match at a time.

Recipient
Plenty of Fish

The recipient of the Editor's Top Pick - Free award for 2021 is Plenty of Fish. POF has won this award 4 times since 2016 and this year makes it the fifth time in a row. The free dating service category is extremely competitive and POF has managed to stay on top over the last decade and a half thanks to their continued improvements along with the success their members find when they use the service. A statistic that points to this services popularity is, in the last 5 years the POF dating apps have been downloaded over 73 million times (for iOS and Android). The reason that POF members enjoy a 30% success rate in only 4 short weeks or less, is because over 17 million conversations are exchanged every day. Singles who join POF are on their to find dates, and since it is free to use, everyone participates making your chances of finding love that much better.

Bumble Inc. made its IPO filing public Friday January 15th, following rumors that the company would go public in time for Valentine’s Day. The app is expected to list on NASDAQ under the BMBL ticker.

According to The New York Post, Bumble reported revenue of $488.9 million in 2019, and $376.6 million in revenue between January 29 and September 30th of 2020. (Fourth quarter results have not been reported.) The pandemic has helped fuel dating app sign-ups and activity, with people using them to connect in a time of social distancing. Bumble offers an in-app video chat feature, which has been incredibly popular the last several months as people were in lockdown.