Tinder

A new study found that dating app users tripled in India over the course of 2018, thanks mainly to women.

Dating app usage in the Indian market has huge potential, and not just because of the impressive growth over the last year. Overall user penetration still rather low at 2.7 percent as of 2018, but it’s expected to hit 3.2 percent by 2023 according to online market researcher Statista. Analysts also expect the market to be valued at $100 million in the next five to eight years, according to a report in LiveMint.

The dating industry’s trial of the century is one step closer to taking place. Tinder co-founder Sean Rad’s $2 billion lawsuit against the dating app’s parent company, IAC, can move forward after a New York Supreme Court judge rejected IAC’s motion to dismiss the case. Rad and his co-plaintiffs may pursue their allegations that IAC purposely undervalued Tinder to avoid paying out billions of dollars in stock options to the dating app’s original team.

“We are pleased by the court's ruling denying IAC/Match's motion to dismiss and paving the way for this case to go to trial,'' Orin Snyder, Rad's lawyer, said in a statement. “IAC/Match robbed the Tinder founders and early employees and will now be held accountable by a jury for their multi-billion dollar scheme.”

Justine Sacco, a spokesperson for Match Group, also issued a statement: “This baseless lawsuit has no more merit today than it did a year ago when it was filed. We’re pleased the court dismissed some of these bogus claims and look forward to defeating the rest of them, both on appeal and in the trial court.”

Dating apps are incredibly popular, but as they saturate the U.S. market, the significant growth of the last few years is not expected to continue through 2019. Research analysts at eMarketer found that while the number of people use dating apps in the country has grown to a whopping 25 million, the market demand is starting to slow down.

According to Business Insider, apps like Tinder, Bumble and OkCupid, (all owned by Match Group), ^[1] have contributed to the growing interest in dating apps, launching new features every few months to attract new (and young) users.

During Pride month Tinder announced that users will now be able to identify their sexual orientation on their profiles. The ‘Orientation’ feature allows users to choose up to three labels they identify with in order to more effectively match based on sexual preferences.

To edit or add more information about your sexual orientation on Tinder, simply edit your profile. Tap Orientation to select up to three terms that you feel best describe your sexual orientation. There are nine options to choose from, including “straight,” “gay,” “bisexual,” “queer” and “asexual.” New users will see these options as part of their onboarding process.

A new study from Harvard University found that when people use dating apps, they are 2.7 to 16.2 percent more likely to have an eating disorder than those who don’t use the apps.

Researchers from Harvard’s Chan School of Public Health reported that those who used dating apps were more likely to abuse laxatives or use “unhealthy weight management practices,” according to a report from CNBC regarding the study.

Dating apps like Tinder and others feature photos prominently, with users swiping left and right based on how a potential match looks. This points to why dating app users might be more self-conscious about their bodies and try unhealthy tactics to lose weight.

Chinese dating app Tantan, which was recently removed from the Chinese app stores, is on the rise in India. The popular app has gained traction among singles and is now the fifth most popular dating app in the country.

“India is one of the fastest growing internet markets in the world, hence it’s very important to be present and win in the Indian market,” Tantan told Quartz. “After doing a soft launch in India, we learned more about the market and users which helped us in serving the market better.”