Dating used to be about the end result. Its transformation into an online business has made it all about the journey.
This may not be great for the longevity of consumers’ relationships, but should continue to benefit investors’ love affair with publicly traded companies. match group And bumble, Match’s apps had about 100 million collective monthly active users as of the end of the first quarter. Meanwhile, the number of people willing to pay for so-called “freemium” dating apps continues to grow. According to data from research firm Yipdata, both Bumble’s namesake app and Match’s Tinder had more than double the number of paying users in the US in May as they did the same month five years ago. Together, Wall Street expects Match and Bumble to generate more than $4 billion this year from their users searching for … whatever they’re looking for.