Dating Apps’ Relationship With Investors Is on the Rocks
Finding true love is difficult, and it’s becoming more expensive as matchmaking services crank up monetization in 2024 to please needy shareholders.
Bumble was worth almost $8 billion when it went public in 2021. Things have soured since then.
Photographer: Jerod Harris/Getty Images North AmericaWhen I told my old college friends I was moving to New York City to become a columnist, they called me Carrie Bradshaw for an entire week. Well, be careful what you wish for, because I’ve been thinking a lot about online dating over the past few days. And with Bumble Inc.’s chief executive officer stepping down, and the share prices of the leading dating app groups at record lows, I couldn’t help but wonder: What are we really willing to pay to find true love?
In the most unromantic sense, it’s currently about $25 a month. That’s the ballpark for most subscription plans offered by the mainstream dating apps. For that, you’re promised more “noticeability” — though unfortunately not attractiveness — through an algorithmic boost or preferential treatment when you send a potential date a message. There are also little micro-transactions, such as the “roses” sold on Match Group Inc.’s Hinge. At about $2 each, they are meant to convey a more enthusiastic compliment (with the downside being it risks looking a bit desperate, but maybe that’s just me).