Bumble

Actress Sharon Stone was blocked on Bumble in late December, and took to Twitter to air her concerns publicly. Bumble responded and tried to restore her profile, but days later, Stone still wasn’t able to access it.

Stone signed up for Bumble to start dating again, according to reports. She was surprised when the female-friendly app quickly shut her profile down, claiming it was fake. She then posted about it on Twitter and Instagram, along with the screenshot of the message from Bumble saying she was blocked.

“I went on the @bumble dating [site] and they closed my account. 👁👁 Some users reported that it couldn’t possibly be me!” she tweeted. “Hey @bumble, is being me exclusionary ? 🤷🏼‍♀️ Don’t shut me out of the hive 🐝”

Recipient
Bumble

Bumble is this years recipient of the Editor's Top Pick - Innovative award. This dating service continues to grow and innovate in an extremely competitive industry, in fact we think so over all others. Thanks in part to its female friendly reputation and it's "Bee Kind" attitude which promotes respect and kindness this service has surpassed 55 million members (since launch). This is Bumble's second year in a row to earn this award which shows they want to continue to evolve and change and keep pace with what users expect from an online dating service.

So how did Bumble innovate this year? They added a number of new and USEFUL features including:

California state senator Ling Ling Chang

Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder and CEO of Bumble, is on a mission to make the internet a cleaner, more clothed place. California state senator Ling Ling Chang recently announced that she has partnered with Wolfe Herd on a proposed law that would make it illegal to send unsolicited explicit photos online or via text. This comes nearly eight months after Wolfe Herd backed a similar bill in Texas.

For Chang, the cause hits close to home. She was the recipient of unwanted nude pictures in 2018, when she publicly shared her phone number in an effort to get feedback from her constituents in Diamond Bar, California. Chang claims that 95% of women she has spoken to about the issue have been sent lewd photos they did not ask for.

Blackstone Acquires Majority Stake in MagicLab

Russian billionaire Andrey Andreev is ending his relationship with MagicLab, the company that owns Bumble, Badoo, Chappy and Lumen. Andreev is set to sell his majority stake in MagicLab to Blackstone in a deal that values the company at $3 billion. As part of the transaction, Andreev will step away from the business and Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd will take over as CEO.

In a prepared statement, Andreev said:

Blackstone presented MagicLab with a great opportunity to further develop the brands and platform, and I am confident Blackstone will take MagicLab to the next level in terms of growth and expansion. I am incredibly proud of the company, and of how we have connected millions of people around the world. At MagicLab, I have had the pleasure of working with some of the best and most talented entrepreneurs. My aim now is to ensure a smooth and successful transition before I embark on a new business venture in search of innovative leaders with new and exciting ideas. I am grateful for all the support of my partners and employees over the years as we couldn’t have gotten to this point without them. I wish MagicLab and Blackstone every success.

Image: Bumble

Bumble is fighting ghosting once again – this time with a marketing campaign whose launch coincides with Halloween.

“Ghosting” is a dating term that refers to two people who have been messaging or seeing each other, and one suddenly stops texting or returning calls, leaving their date to wonder what happened and why they “disappeared.”

The tie-in with Halloween is clever but ghosting itself can be very painful for those on the receiving end. Many daters have experience with ghosting and know how it can ruin the dating experience to be left in the dark. When someone is ghosted, it’s easy to assign blame and make up stories as to what happened, or worse – they can lose confidence as they consider how they might have fallen short - which is counter-productive to finding the right person.

Image: Newsweek

In today's highly competitive business environment, companies are constantly fighting for consumers’ attention and loyalty. Those that manage to secure it set themselves on a path to market domination and financial success. Those that cannot face an uphill battle. Though we’re used to hearing that “the customer is always right,” the reality is that not every company lives by that credo.

Few industries are more competitive today than the online dating industry. From the major players of Match Group and Spark Networks to countless hopeful startups, dating services around the world are locked in a fierce feud to become the go-to matchmaker of tech-savvy singles.