COURTLAND BROOKS INTERNET DATING AGENCY-CONSULTANCY

Why Did Garbo Fail? Unraveling Its Unmet Potential With Match Group & Tinder

REALME - Dating apps are facing trust issues due to many fake profiles and a 800% increase in scams. Match Group incorporated Garbo in an attempt to enhance user safety, but despite its substantial user base and noble goals, it failed to deliver. Here's why Garbo failed and how RealMe could potentially fill the gaps left by Garbo.

User Experience Dilemma: Despite having 2.5M users, Garbo provided a fractured experience, forcing users to leave the primary dating platform, impacting user retention and Match's credibility.
Information Dependency: Garbo didn't work well because it needed users to know a lot about their potential matches early on, which is hard during the beginning of online interactions.
Absence of User Verification: Garbo didn't check if users were real, which is important for correct background checks.

The RealMe Solution
Integrated User Experience: By partnering with apps like Say Allo, The RealMe offers an uninterrupted, in-app experience, maintaining user engagement.
Simplified Search Process: A simple click on any profile initiates the search, with no need for users to know extensive info about their matches.
Comprehensive Background Checks: RealMe's extensive scan across 389 data sources offers a complete background check.
User Verification: The distinctive badge on profiles verified by The RealMe ensures genuine interactions and significantly reduces the risk of encountering fake users.
Ease of Integration: The service can be easily integrated into existing platforms.

Garbo's endeavor with Match Group showed there is a substantial demand for trust-building tools in online dating. However, the lack of a seamless user experience and comprehensive services hindered its success. The Real Me addresses these limitations, offering a more inclusive and robust solution. 

See full article at RealMe

Dating Apps Put a Hefty Price Tag on Finding Love

Appeared in the Aug 28, 2023, print edition as 'Apps Put a Higher Price on Love'

WALL STREET JOURNAL - Match Group recently added a plan to Hinge at $50/mo, up from $35, and is examining interest in a plan for Tinder at ~$500/mo. Bumble is considering a tier above its $60/mo plan. Grindr plans to add more premium offerings. Companies are betting on premium tiers to boost growth, even if adoption is limited to a fraction of users who are more intentional daters.

Match has made up ground, with revenue per payer rising in the past two quarters. Bumble reported paying users rose 20% to 3.6 million in its most recent quarter from a year earlier.

Match which will roll out a superpremium tier on Tinder in the fall. "If you actually take a small fraction of our payers at higher price points, you actually get a number that's in the tens of millions of dollars on an annual basis," CEO Bernard Kim said.

Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd sees premium services delivering new opportunities. "We see that there's a lot of runway to expand there."

Even if uptake is slow, there is precedent behind the move to raise prices. Mark Brooks, CEO of Courtland Brooks, which helps online dating companies grow, said that other brands, such as eHarmony and Tawkify, have for years priced their premium services above what Tinder, Hinge and Bumble charged. The stakes are high in showing users that paying is worth it, Brooks said. Otherwise, they could defect to competing platforms. "They've got to actually really deliver on it, because they'll get crucified if they don't," said Brooks.

The League, another app in Match's suite of offerings, has a $1,000 weekly subscription.

by Denny Jacob
See full article at Wall Street Journal

The Essence of Teamwork

MARK BROOKS - I watched this video today and found it very inspirational on the topic of teamwork.

Our Next Industry Leading Events

COURTLAND BROOKS - We have two kinds of events. Online, and offline.

Our online event is LTR (see www.LTR.us) and is open to IDEA members. LTR stands for Love, Technology, Relationships and is for leaders of dating companies. It's free to join if you are a full-time leader at an online dating company.

Our offline event is IDEA Summit (see www.IDEASummit.org), and these are for a small number of dating company CXOs to meet. These are by-invite-only, so we can balance the groups for optimal learning and sharing.

These events are free, as is IDEA (see www.IDEA.gp) membership. To join IDEA and start getting invites to our events, please email [email protected].

Our next event dates are...

• Wed 12th July - LTR
• Tue 8th Aug - Smitten & Courtland Brooks IDEA Summit in Iceland
• Wed 6th Sep - LTR
• Thu 28th Sep - Evercore ISI & Courtland Brooks IDEA Summit in New York

The Top Internet Dating Reporters in 2022, According to Online Personals Watch

COURTLAND BROOKS - Each year we take a look at which reporters have received the most coverage on Online Personals Watch. Here's our rankings for 2022.

1. Sarah Perez, Tech Crunch
Sarah Perez secured the top spot in this ranking with 14 published posts. Her coverage primarily focuses on major companies such as Match Group, Tinder, Bumble, and Facebook Dating.

2. Lauren Forristal, Tech Crunch
Lauren Forristal, a reporter who joined Tech Crunch in April 2022, makes her debut on the list. We have included 8 of her articles published between Aug and Dec. She specializes in writing about new features introduced by both major and smaller dating apps.

3. Anna Iovine, Mashable 
Anna Iovine continues to feature on this list for multiple years. As a culture reporter for Mashable, she contributed 5 articles last year. Her coverage primarily revolves around Bumble and Tinder, along with a piece highlighting defunct apps and sites.

4.-10. We included 3 articles from various reporters, including:

Natasha Lomas, Tech Crunch 
Natasha Lomas is a long-term reporter for Tech Crunch. She covered the Match Group complaint against the Google Play store.

Rachel Thompson, Mashable 
Rachel Thompson, a senior culture reporter for Mashable, regularly reports on internet dating news, including Bumble and Tinder.

Jessica Bursztynsky, Fast Company
Jessica Bursztynsky has been a staff writer for Fast Company since July 2022 and a former tech reporter for CNBC. Her articles focused on Match Group news and matchmaking.

Laura Forman, Wall Street Journal
Laura Forman, a tech columnist for the Wall Street Journal, has been featured for the second year on our list. Her articles covered Hinge and investor news.

Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune Magazine
Emma Hinchliffe, a Senior Writer for Fortune Magazine, is a fresh addition to our list. She explored topics related to Tinder and Bumble.

Erin Carson, CNet
Erin Carson, a former Senior Writer for CNet who currently teaches journalism at Belmont University, is a new name on our list. Her coverage last year focused on news surrounding Tinder, Bumble, and OkCupid, providing informative insights into these dating apps.

Sarah Mahoney, freelancer
Sarah Mahoney, a freelancer and regular contributor to Media Post, is another new addition to our list. Her articles, published in Media Post, covered news related to OkCupid, Tinder, and Match Group

Which Dating Apps Got the Most Press Coverage Last Year?

COURTLAND BROOKS - Last year, we mentioned 177 internet dating industry brands in 887 posts. Although Match Group and its brands are clearly still dominating this list, Bumble takes first place again. Here is the full list of companies with the most press coverage for last year.

1. Bumble Dominates Headlines with 76 Mentions
Bumble got the highest number of mentions on OPW in 2022. Here are some of Bumble's news we covered last year. While Whitney Wolfe Herd remains the CEO of the company, she hired Drena Kusari to be the Bumble app's GM in December. Bumble continued its growth. They briefly brought a fictive dating app Bantr to life in October. They also started testing a speed dating feature which was launched at the beginning of this year. In Sep, Bumble surpassed 1OOM in lifetime downloads and also launched Audio Prompts In Aug, a revamped version of BFF launched. In June, several Bumble execs were hit by a lawsuit over lackluster offering. In Apr, Bumble launched an IRL program that would allow singles to get out and meet at free events. Probably the biggest news in 2022 was the acquisition of French dating app Fruitz, closed in Feb.

2. Tinder Celebrates 10 Years with 73 Mentions
Tinder turned 10 last year. Its growth slowed down. However, it still launched multiple new features during last year - Relationship Goals in Dec, Tinder UNI in the UK in Oct, School of Swipe in Aug, Festival mode in May, or background checks in Mar. Tinder lost CEO Renate Nyborg after less than a year with the company in Aug, Melissa Hobley moved from OkCupid to the role of Tinder CMO.

3. Match Group in the Spotlight with 67 Mentions
Match acquired The League in July, launched Stir in Mar, and shut down Ship in Nov. CEO Shar Dubey left the company in May, replaced by the former President of Zynga Bernard Kim. Garbo started to offer free background checks on all Match Group apps in Aug. Barry Diller sold all his Match Group shares in Sep. As every year, Match Group was involved in several lawsuits, the most press coverage got the ones against Muzmatch and Google.

4. Hinge Had 31 Mentions
Hinge launched in Germany in Sep. The app added some new features in 2022, like video verification in Oct, Video Prompts in Sep, or Self-care Prompts in May. Hinge hired a new CMO in Jan.

5. Grindr Makes Waves with 29 Mentions
Grindr's biggest news of 2022 was the IPO. To help with the IPO, the company hired a new CEO in Sep. Grindr was banned in China in Feb. The app also added a few new features last year: Albums, a new way to share private content, in Mar or an AI system for content moderation in partnership with Spectrum Labs.

6. OkCupid's Featured in 18 Mentions
OkCupid launched Cupid's Picks in May and published a number of studies like the one about the Global state of digital dating in Dec.

7. Match.com Highlights Single Shaming and Background Checks
Match was mostly mentioned as a part of Match Group. It launched background checks in cooperation with Garbo in July or published a study about "single shaming" in Apr.

8.-9. Muzz (formerly Muzmatch) and POF, each with 11 posts
Most of Muzmatch's press coverage in 2022 were mentions of the trademark infringement lawsuit filed by Match Group, which Muzmatch lost and was forced to change its name to Muzz. POF added a new CMO to its team in June and introduced a dating card game as a new feature.

10. Spark Networks and Blued, both with 10 posts
Most of Spark Networks' news was financial results announcements, but the company named a new CEO in Dec and a new CPO in Mar. Blued was bought by Newborn Town last year and its Founder stepped down from the CEO and Chairman role in Aug.

Please note: The number of posts does not reflect the total number of press mentions. We curate the most relevant press mentions for our audience, which primarily consists of CEOs in the online dating industry.

Buyers Are 'Window Shopping' for Startups, but Few Are Willing to Spend Big

PITCHBOOK - Acquisitions of VC-backed companies may have hit a decade low in Q1, but the number of conversations between potential buyers and sellers is far from that nadir. "There is a lot of window shopping," said Sheila Patel, general partner at VC B Capital Group. Dealmakers and investors agree that by the end of this year or early next year, M&A activity will increase significantly. The timing comes down to simple math. The runways of many early and mid-stage startups are expected to expire in the next six to nine months. "If companies can't raise money, where are they going to go?" said Navin Chaddha, a managing director at Mayfield. "I see a lot of consolidation."

Larger startups are looking to buy smaller companies with complementary products. These acquisitions aim to create a bigger platform and grow revenue by cross-selling to each other's customer bases. Combining these companies could create a business large enough to be an IPO candidate.

Public companies more recently have a lower acquisition appetite than before because their valuations are down significantly. Strategics will only buy a startup that offers a product they absolutely "must have," and it should be straightforward to integrate the target into the parent business.

A recent survey of CEOs from The Conference Board found executives expect the economy to deteriorate further by the end of the year. Such sentiment may be a reason to wait for valuations to drop even lower.

While a sale to a private equity firm is seldom a great financial outcome for VCs, dealmakers expect a surge in these transactions in the next 12 months. There will eventually be a deluge of VC-backed companies for sale, which means private equity investors can afford to be picky.

by Marina Temkin
See full article at Pitchbook

Mark Brooks: Match Group's cost of capital is higher now, so INHO they will rest on their laurels and make the most of what they have until the trajectory of the market looks more clear. Other buyers will be bargain hunting, but mindful of the poor outlook for IPO'ing a consolidated dating group. VC money is a little dry. Angels rule. If you're in the market for funding, let me know, and I'd be happy to share a comprehensive list of investors that we've built over the years, and just updated current thru April. FYI, Courtland Brooks works with startups through $500m+ revenue dating companies.

The Solution to Bad Pickup Lines Is...

...time travel. See video.

LTR Edition 21 Gets Record RSVPs

OPW - LTR Edition 21 is now over 50 RSVPs. LTR stands for Love, Technology, Relationships and is the monthly online gathering of leaders in the Online Dating industry. This is where we learn, share and connect. Daniel Salmon from New Street Research and Joel Simkhai who founded Grindr, are speaking. See event details here.

IDEA (see IDEA.gp) members are welcome to join the LTR event, and can apply to IDEA free by emailing [email protected]. IDEA, LTR, and OPW (Online Personals Watch) are all services provided for free by Courtland Brooks.

Online Dating (Investors) Summit, in New York, Assisted by Courtland Brooks

COURTLAND BROOKS - New Street Research, assisted by Courtland Brooks, is organizing the Online Dating (Investor's) Summit in New York tomorrow, Tuesday 14th March. 40-50 institutional and large-scale public company investors will be in attendance, along with a diverse group of public and private Internet dating company CEOs. Speakers include the CEO of Match Group, and COO of Tinder, and CEO of Grindr. Mark Brooks will interview a panel of CEOs, and Courtland Brooks assisted by inviting a select group of leading CEOs of private dating companies.

This is a completely unique event and opportunity for large investors to meet and mingle with the CXOs of both the large online dating public companies and private dating companies. Investors who are interested in joining future niche industry meetings and learning from New Street Research's independent analysis, please inquire with New Street Research.