Match Group

Following a successful launch on Facebook Messenger last year, Match is bringing its dating chatbot Lara to Google Assistant.

The AI matchmaker uses contextual understanding and speech recognition to provide advice and guidance for dating in the digital age. Lara first launched in France in 2016, then rolled out to users in the UK in 2017.

Match's vice-president of Northern Europe, Abbie Oguntade, spoke to The Drum earlier this year about the bot’s success and future trajectory. Lara has driven a 30% increase in visitors to Match’s landing page in Europe, she said, and subscriptions have “heavily improved” as a result. A team of around 15 engineers and tech experts are working out of Match’s innovation hub to improve the assistant’s AI features.

Dating app Badoo, which boasts a record 388 million users, has announced that it will be dropping the swiping feature from its dating app. The company plans to replace swiping with a new feature called Badoo Live which features live video.

According to TechCrunch, Badoo received feedback from users that they were getting tired of swiping, and were looking for a “more authentic” way to online date. The company wanted users to be able to get a better glimpse of potential matches before making decisions to meet, and thought the best way to do this would be through video.

Badoo Live will be similar to Facebook Live, in that users will be able to message their matches while recording their own live video, offering instant interaction to build connection. People can also watch video in playback mode, also similar to Facebook Live. Badoo will also offer a “Badoo Live” tab that users can click on to see any live videos happening that moment.

At Facebook's annual developer conference F8, founder Mark Zuckerberg made an announcement that spread like an especially voracious wildfire across the web: Facebook is entering the dating game.

The news sparked immediate reactions from key players in the market.

Despite recently ditching the Facebook login requirement for its app, Bumble took a diplomatic approach. A spokesperson described the company as “thrilled”, telling CNNMoney “Our executive team has already reached out to Facebook to explore ways to collaborate. Perhaps Bumble and Facebook can join forces to make the connecting space even more safe and empowering.”

Other major dating players took a less enthusiastic path.

It’s been a tumultuous month for Match Group. The company’s share price dropped over 25% in the wake of Facebook's announcement that it was entering the online dating space, prompting CEO Mandy Ginsberg to assure users and investors that Match Group had little to fear from its new competitor.

“People don’t want to mix Facebook and their dating lives,” she said in an interview with Bloomberg.

She may be right. Looking at Match Group’s Q1 2018 Earning Results, also released this month, the company appears to be in a strong position despite the recent hit.

Did you eat at a new neighborhood cafe for lunch? Do you want to share this over Tinder? There’s a new feature the dating app is testing called “Places,” which lets potential matches know where you’ve been.

Website The Verge broke the story with screenshots of the new feature, showing how GPS tracking can now be used as a way to connect with your dates. The idea behind Places is similar to dating app Happn, where users can see if they had any missed connections during the day, depending on where they’d been. Let’s say you stopped for morning coffee at your local shop and one of your potential matches also happened to be there. Places will alert you so that you can message your match to let her know you were there too, and start a conversation.

Image: Verge

A concerning issue with the new feature is that Tinder is in charge of documenting and revealing your locations to other users. Instead of allowing users to “check in” when they want to share their location, Tinder automatically chooses to reveal or hide the location. For example, you might go to your dentist appointment and then stop for coffee on the way back to work. Tinder won’t report that you’ve been to the dentist, but it might choose to reveal the coffee shop you visited.

What’s a bigger turn off: a sloppy kiss or sloppy grammar? According to the second annual “Conversation Nation” study from Plenty of Fish, adult singles consider lackluster conversation a greater offense than lousy sex.

POF took a deep dive into the communication habits of daters across the U.S. for Conversation Nation 2018, surveying 2,000 men and women over 18 years of age to discover how singles connect in the digital era.

“Singles are prioritizing conversations over physical attraction,” dating expert Shannon Smith told Metro. “We’re seeing again and again from user testimonials and data that relationships start with a great conversation.”