Hayley Birkin
Reporter, Finance, Regulation and People, Dating Industry Insights. Edited by Bill Alena.
Hayley Birkin reports on the business of online dating for Dating Industry Insights: earnings, funding rounds, deals and valuations, the laws and regulators that shape the sector, and the people who lead it.
619 stories. Latest: .
Stories by Hayley Birkin, page 29 of 31
- Tinder's AUD$20K Charity Cap: Cause Marketing or Safety Investment?
Tinder will donate AUD$1 per profile verification in Australia to Wesnet, capped at AUD$20,000, from 12 November to 6 December.
- Dating Apps and Sexual Health: Why Operators Won't Play Educator
A University of Texas study of 122 students links dating app use to riskier sex, but cannot prove causation, and operators resist an educator role.
- Meta's Free Dating Model: A Strategic Moat or Anti-Competitive Threat?
Facebook Dating grew 20% across North America in the past year, and Meta claims 24% in the U.S. and Canada, without disclosing user numbers.
- Mumbai's Dating Conference: A Moat-Building Exercise Without Silicon Valley
Mumbai's 20 November dating conference lists no Match Group or Bumble executives. India's dating app market is estimated at $100M a year, per Tracxn.
- Date Right's Android Move: A Political Niche or a Plateau?
Date Right, the conservative dating app, is moving to Android with 300,000 iOS downloads and 3.4 million TikTok followers, raising scale questions.
- Matchmakers Push for App Integration. The Real Play Is AI.
Match Group announced $150M in AI investment in November 2024 as matchmakers and coaches urge dating apps to adopt human services instead.
- Bumble's Revenue Decline: A Warning Shot for Freemium Dating Models
Bumble's Q3 2024 revenue was $273.6M, down 0.7% year-over-year, its first fall since going public, despite 4.3 million subscribers.
- GDI's Mumbai Move: Betting on India's Matchmaking Model Over Western Norms
Global Dating Insights will hold its first Asia-Pacific conference in Mumbai this November, with Flutrr, Betterhalf and Sirf among the speakers.
- Bumble's Privacy Policy Rewrite: Transparency Without Control
Bumble rewrote its privacy policy in October after pressure from Mozilla but refused to introduce opt-in consent for third-party data sharing.
- Bindr's $135K Prize Wins: A Signal of Venture Capital's Identity Problem
Bindr, an LGBTQ dating app, has raised $135,000 from two startup competitions, $75,000 from UpPrize and $60,000 from StartupFest.
- Dating Apps Break Barriers, But Racial Bias Remains Unchecked
University of New Mexico research finds dating app couples cross more religious and educational lines but show stronger same-race preferences.
- RAW's Anti-Ghosting Play: Moral High Ground or PR Stunt?
RAW's 'Ghosting Killer' blocks new chats until users reply to existing ones, and the app says its ghosting rate is between 1% and 5%.
- Match and Bumble's Decline: Niche Platforms Are the Real Winners
Tinder paying users fell 8% year-on-year, Match Group reported, while dating app HER grew its user base 15% in 2024 to 13 million members.
- Grindr's 'Daddy Lessons': Community Service or Brand Play?
Grindr is considering extending its 'Daddy Lessons' queer history video series beyond this month, but has shared no performance metrics.
- Match Group's $252M Ad Spend: A Desperate Bid to Mask Retention Woes
Dating app operators are set to spend $252M on ads in 2024, up 15%, as Bumble's $44M through July passes Tinder's $41M, per Pathmatics.
- DOWN's 400% Revenue Growth: A Wake-Up Call for Dating App Marketing
Dating app DOWN claims 15 million registered users and 400% revenue growth in 2024 with near-zero ad spend, mostly via word of mouth.
- Greenlight's Real-World Dating Bet: Innovation or Privacy Nightmare?
Greenlight, a dating app with no profiles or messaging, launches a Hoboken, New Jersey beta by end of November, using live venue check-ins on a map.
- Feeld's Print Magazine: A Lifestyle Pivot or Costly Brand Theatre?
Feeld is launching a biannual print magazine on sexuality and relationships, as the dating app reports 30% year-on-year growth.
- LA's Curated Dating Startups Bet on Scarcity. Will It Scale?
FROME, Lox Club and Summer, three LA dating startups, limit choice through conversation caps, events and applications, but none has disclosed revenue.
- Victoria Milan's BIPA Suit: A Privacy Promise Collides with Reality
Victoria Milan faces an Illinois class action alleging its selfie verification breaches the state's biometric privacy law (BIPA).
Companies Hayley covers most
- Match Group (54)
- Grindr (25)
- Bumble (19)
- Meta (7)
- Matrimony.com (6)
- Ithaca Holdings (5)
- Aisle (5)
- ODDA (3)
- ParshipMeet Group (3)
- Hello Group (3)
The DII team
- Kim Harris, Reporter, Technology, Data and News
- Bill Alena, Editor and founder