Tinder owner Match expands to human matchmaking to fight swipe fatigue

“Voice Prompts” on Hinge… slightly cringe. Dating giant Match Group owns Tinder, Hinge, OKCupid, and 20+ other e-romance businesses. Algorithms rule the world, from suggesting your Spotify tunes to hooking you on TikTok. Match has long used algorithms to surface eligible singles who also love Nirvana and vegan sushi. Now its techy selection process is getting a human edge:

• Matchmakers: For $5/week, Match.com users can lean on human dating coaches to handpick two top candidates based on their answers to four personal questions.
• Match said it created the feature because, for some singles, the pandemic added urgency to find a serious relationship.

#CuffingSeason… During the pandemic, couch-bound singles flocked to dating apps for (virtual) company. Bumble video-chat usage soared 93% after a national emergency was declared, and Match added features to its apps — think free video calls, virtual trivia nights, and Insta-like social feeds. But the real money is in paid subscriptions like Tinder Gold and perks like unlimited swipes. Case in point: Tinder is the #1 grossing lifestyle app worldwide, with a record 10.4M “payers” last quarter. Human matchmaking could be apps’ next premium perk.