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Dating AppsFrom Bumble to Hinge, the dating app industry is made up of mobile phone-based applications that use algorithms to match users with romantic prospects. While it generated roughly $6B globally in consumer revenue in 2024, its financial impacts pale in comparison to its social ones. Dating sites and apps have become a hallmark of modern romance: 53% of US adults under 30 have admitted to using them.
Dating apps evolved from online dating websites, such as Match.com, which launched in 1995 and has since evolved into the dating app parent company Match Group. It now controls roughly 65% of the US market by revenue share with its ownership of industry powerhouses such as Tinder and Hinge. Today, some estimates claim half of all online relationships began on a Match Group platform.
In recent years, dating app business models have become increasingly dependent on "freemium" subscription models. Parts of these platforms are often free to use, but to get certain perks (such as seeing more potential matches per day), users must pay a subscription fee.Explore Dating Apps
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Learn how the algorithms behind Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, and other dating apps workFormerly based on the Elo rating system, which ranks chess players, the Tinder algorithm is built on user data, with more time spent on the app providing more data on user preferences from which to customize potential matches. OkCupid's match percentage algorithm relies on overlaps in users' search preferences and responses to a subset of over 4,000 questions. MashableA larger share of LGBTQ+ individuals use dating apps than their straight counterpartsRoughly a quarter of LGBTQ+ adults reported using a dating app in the past year as of 2022. The trend seems to have persisted as the years have gone on, with apps like Grindr geared toward the community seeing significant revenue growth in recent quarters as of 2025. Pew Research CenterThe business model for many dating apps is paradoxicalWhile these apps are designed to help people create romantic relationships, dating apps lose money when people find a monogamous relationship and stop using the app as a result. Some call it the dating app paradox. NPRDating apps adopted 'freemium' business models as the market became more saturatedAs dating app user growth slowed and companies like Tinder saw increased competition from upstarts like Bumble and Hinge, the industry has pushed for subscription tier adoption due to pressure from investors for predictable profits and more. Morgan StanleyThe top three US dating apps by market share are Tinder, Bumble, and HingeWhile Tinder took up about 25% of US dating app market share as of 2024, Bumble wasn't far behind at 24%. Up-and-comer Hinge sat in third place with 18% of US market share. Visual CapitalistThe way dating apps make money is changingAs downloads fall across the industry, dating apps are trying to stay competitive by adding paywalls to their business models. The more than $6B dating app industry is largely dominated by Match Group, the parent company of both Tinder and Hinge. This video explores how AI and human behavior are changing the industry one right swipe at a time. The Wall Street JournalHow one autoimmune disease patient is questing for inflammation curesThis article's writer, who has Hashimoto's Disease and characteristic symptoms from her body attacking her thyroid—like exhaustion, hair loss, and brain fog—shares big take-aways from an anti-inflammatory retreat in Italy. The writer suggests that a holistic approach to eating, sleeping, and stress management, are the only sustainable ways to lower inflammation. Conde Nast TravelerSome Ozempic users lose their desire to eatThis essay follows a writer whose Ozempic journey involves a dramatic loss of appetite, leading them to stop compulsive snacking and even lose some of the joy of eating. As a result, he becomes fixated on watching food videos and eventually tries to "beat" an all-you-can-eat steak buffet. The experience leaves him feeling disappointed and lacking in desire. LongreadsA look at the foods eaten by astronauts during and after the space raceAfter John Glenn became the first American to demonstrate that eating in space was possible by eating apple puree out of a tube, meals were prepared for astronauts to meet an approximately 2,800-calorie-a-day requirement via freeze-dried foods. Meal quality gradually improved throughout the Apollo program, including the Apollo 8 crew's nondehydrated Christmas meal in 1968. BBCBlackstone acquired a majority stake in Bumble's former parent company in 2019 ahead of the dating app's IPOThe New York City-based investment management company paid about $3B for its stake in female-focused dating app Bumble. The app's 2021 IPO that made Bumble Founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd a billionaire at age 31 proved lucrative for Blackstone as well. PitchbookBumble was originally created under the MagicLab parent companyWhen Blackstone acquired MagicLab in 2019, Bumble Founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd was elevated to CEO of the entire parent company (which also owned Indian dating app Badoo). The parent company was rebranded as Bumble Inc. CNBCBumble's valuation peaked at roughly $13B around the time of its 2021 IPOAs of April 17, 2026, its market cap was roughly $550M. Experts attribute the decline to a multitude of factors, including slowing user growth and increased competition from Match Group-owned dating apps like Hinge. Yahoo FinanceBumble's ill-received 2024 rebrand included ads encouraging users to stop being celibateThe ads were meant to promote a new option on the dating app that allowed men to message first in opposite-sex matches—a significant change to the app's signature "women make the first move" feature. Bumble later apologized for the ads on Instagram. Bumble shares fell 54% after the brand removed the signature feature and allowed men to message first. Marketing BrewWhitney Wolfe Herd is considered the youngest self-made female billionaireWhitney Wolfe Herd founded dating app Bumble in her 20s after cofounding Tinder. She was inspired to create Bumble partly due to an experience she had with female friends who made fun of her for making the first move with a man she went on a date with. The Diary of a CEOLearn about the applications of radioactivity in medical, academic, and industrial settingsBesides their use for radiometric dating by archaeologists and researchers at museums and universities, radioactive materials are used in sensors that help track ocean currents and analyze pollution, soil, and petroleum products. Radioisotope-based sensors also help measure air in ice cream and prevent spillovers when soda bottles are filled in factories. US Nuclear Regulatory CommissionStevia is a plant-derived sweetener but the plant isn't approved for eatingSteviol glycosides, the sweet-tasting stuff in the plant leaves, are purified and highly processed before they end up in the food or drinks sold in stores. The US Food and Drug Administration does not allow the use of stevia leaf or crude stevia extracts in food, and the agency also bars them from being imported into the US for use as sweeteners. Consumer ReportsTen writers and thinkers on what growing older actually requires of usThe Marginalian's Maria Popova curates a collection arguing our culture has learned to dread aging while forgetting it is a privilege, and that the antidote is sustaining passions strong enough to keep us from turning inward. Voices include Simone de Beauvoir, Joan Didion, Pablo Casals, and Kahlil Gibran. The MarginalianDe-extinction techniques create new species from existing organismsRather than recovering a genetic sample of a lost species and editing it with that of living creature—as has been depicted in science fiction—scientists begin with living cells from close genetic relatives and use tools like CRISPR to swap in extinct versions of specific traits to create new hybrid species. NOVA PBS OfficialPaleontologists apply rules about rock layering, fossilization, and radioactivity to date geological samplesConcepts such as the understanding that older rock layers will form beneath newer ones allow scientists to compare the ages of samples from various layers. Although no geological site preserves evidence across all time, samples can be combined with fossils of known age, such as those dated by analyzing the decay of their radioactive isotopes, to reconstruct Earth's timeline. The Science of EverythingWatch the history of human migration that led to civilizationsStarting in Africa where they hunted with spears and fires, humans would gradually move out of the continent over thousands of years as they navigated crossing deserts, rivers, uneven terrain, and shifting climates. Development of technology, language, farming, and other societal structures helped build up the first civilizations. Kurzgesagt – In a NutshellSee the original websites for companies like Google, Facebook, and AppleExplore archived images of homepages on websites dating all the way back to 1991. Web Design MuseumInvasivorism is a form of ethical eating focused on eating invasive speciesThe culinary approach helps combat the growth of invasive species populations by increasing demand for dishes made with them, but some suggest that creating a market for these species may help prolong their presence by moderating control. Some diners have expressed reluctance toward consuming more exotic species, such as nutria—raccoon-sized rodents. Popular Science'Sweat dating' is a dating approach where partners specifically select by body odorWith dedicated events in major cities around the world, "sweat dating" offers people the chance to judge if a potential partner's smell is a match. Participants show up for an event, do calisthenics, wipe themselves with a cotton pad, and then place the smelly pad in a numbered jar for potential partners to sniff. This Podcast Will Kill YouView this timeline of polio milestones and vaccine developmentPolio has a long history in art and medicine, dating back centuries. It includes a representation of an apparent polio survivor with a shriveled leg in ancient Egyptian art. See milestones in the history of polio in this timeline. Global Polio Eradication InitiativeMany dating app users are beginning to suffer from 'dating app burnout'For younger generations, dating apps have become a primary avenue for creating romantic connections—leaving some users fatigued and contributing to increased feelings of loneliness. Psychology Today57% of men who have dated online say their experiences have been positiveHowever, 51% of female users say that their experiences on dating apps have been negative. LGBTQ+ users are more likely to report positive experiences on dating apps than non-LGBTQ+ users. Pew Research CenterTinder revolutionized dating when it introduced swipe-based interactionsMany dating apps today allow users to "swipe right" to match with someone and "swipe left" to opt out of the match, but Tinder did it first, introducing swipe-based interactions in 2013. The idea for swipes came from the founder's desire to gamify dating—Tinder's early interface was based on a deck of cards that users could sort. CNBCDating app Bumble laid off roughly 30% of its staff in June 2025Founder Whitney Wolfe Herd was criticized at the time for telling staff to "calm down" during a company-wide call informing staff of the layoffs. "I see a lot of freaking-out emojis, y'all need to calm down … everyone's going to have to be adults in dealing with this," she said on the call. (Some users may experience a paywall.) IncThe dating app Hinge markets itself as 'designed to be deleted'Harvard graduate Justin McLeod started Hinge in 2011. Since then, despite competition from larger apps like Bumble and Tinder, it's grown into the third-largest dating app by market share in the US, bringing in roughly $396M in revenue as of 2023. The dating app industry's average customer acquisition cost exceeds $40 per userThis relatively high cost of customer acquisition (according to 2022 data from saturated markets) makes profitable growth increasingly difficult for dating apps, which is why many have pivoted to focusing on their subscription tiers for reliable revenue. Harvard Business ReviewComputer scientists first started trying to optimize dating using computers in the 1950sAlthough early dating sites like Match.com weren't launched until the 1990s, the history of dating apps dates arguably back to the mid-1900s when computer scientists used IBM computers to solve matchmaking and compatibility problems. BloombergComets serve as time capsules of the early solar systemThe frozen objects preserve the molecular composition of the solar system's formation, dating back about 4.6 billion years. Spectral analysis of the gases they release when heated upon approaching the sun in eccentric orbits reveals this composition and helps assess solar system formation models. In Our Time: ScienceSteve Martin was vying for love on 'The Dating Game' before he was selling out arenasIn 1968, the 21-year-old Martin was a writer for the Smothers Brothers, who had a popular variety show. He appeared on “The Dating Game” as one of the bachelors, attempting to impress the twin sister of his childhood crush. (Spoiler: It worked.) Classic TV RewindMonks and peasants once used cobwebs as canvases for paintingThe tradition goes back to the 16th century, when the delicate canvases were hung in churches and cloisters. The difficulty in painting on the cobwebs was intended to illustrate one's devotion to their faith. Atlas ObscuraSudoku was originally called 'Number Place'While there are earlier variations on the game, the modern version appeared in 1979, though it was then called "Number Place." The game was slightly altered and renamed in Japan. SunDevil TimesHuman records of influenza stretch back more than two millenniaAccounts of flu-like illness appear as early as 412 BCE, when Hippocrates described a sudden wave of cough and fever. Centuries of recurring outbreaks culminated in the first clearly documented pandemic in 1580, spreading from Asia into Europe and Africa. OMG Medical HistoryAn archive of Korean filmIf Bong Joon Ho’s 2020 Oscar-winning film Parasite whet your appetite for Korean cinema, check out the Korean Film Archive’s YouTube channel, which has more than a hundred full-length classic films available to stream for free, some dating back as far as 1930. Many of the titles are remastered and feature subtitles in multiple languages. Start with “Mandala” (1981) and “Aimless Bullet” (1961). YouTubeFireflies light up to provide mating signals and warnings to predatorsVariations in the illumination patterns and flight paths while emitting light have been observed across firefly species. Some species instead rely on pheromones if they are primarily active during the day or have lost the ability to illuminate. Science FridayRadioactive elements can generate electricity, sterilize products, and date artifactsSince their discovery in the 1890s, these substances have been incorporated throughout our daily lives, from treating food packaging and improving microbial safety to their presence in smoke detectors and gauges for ice cream aeration. US Nuclear Regulatory CommissionViews on the Nixon pardon softened over time
Americans initially rejected Ford's September 1974 pardon of Nixon—38% approved it versus 53% disapproved—but by 1986, a slim majority (54%) believed it was the right call, showing that public sentiment softened over more than a decade after the controversy.
GallupThe word ‘vacation’ first appeared in ‘The Canterbury Tales’The word—as the Middle English “vacacioun”—can be found in “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” one section from Geoffrey Chaucer’s famous 14th-century text. Until the mid-1800s, the word mostly referred to a time when schools and public buildings were “vacated.” Merriam-WebsterNovels often use perspective as a narrative deviceClassic novels like "The Great Gatsby," "Passing," and "Heart of Darkness" are told from characters' limited perspectives, inviting readers to consider how that narrator might be intentionally or unintentionally crafting the story in a particular way. Big ThinkBefore he had his own show, Pee-wee Herman appeared on 'The Dating Game'Paul Reubens' character Pee-wee Herman would become a sensation with his 1986 children's show "Pee-wee's Playhouse," but in 1979 he appeared as the hilariously naive character on "the Dating Game." It's not clear if the show (or its audience) understood what they were seeing. jomunjrThe remarkable journey of 'Jeopardy'-winner Harvey SilikovitzHarvey Silikovitz first auditioned for to play on "Jeopardy" in 2001. Twenty-four years later, Silikovitz got the rare chance to appear on the show and won a whopping $23,600 cash prize. Read his journey to see how the attorney went from initially hating the game show to becoming a "Jeopardy" champion. The RingerThe matchmakers serving the elite of Silicon ValleyIf members of the wealthy elite want to find romance, they often choose expensive match-making services rather than dating apps. These services can cost $150,000 for each match, and providers are experts in dealing with the unique social dynamics caused by being wealthy and the unusual egos such wealth can bring. This article explores this hidden cultural phenomenon. The San Francisco StandardWho is wellness scammer Belle Gibson?A new Netflix drama series called “Apple Cider Vinegar” tells a story inspired by the real-life scandal of Belle Gibson. Gibson falsely claimed to have healed herself of terminal brain cancer through healthy eating. She built a successful wellness empire without any medical background until journalists eventually found inaccuracies in her story. Discover more about the woman who founded a business on deception, how she got caught, and where she is now. Women's HealthBees evolved from meat-eating wasps that became vegetarianAfter flowering plants first appeared approximately 140 million years ago, some wasp diets would have changed as they consumed pollen-coated insects that would visit these plants. Bees that branched from these wasp species also developed long tongues to slurp nectar and ultraviolet vision to identify flower patterns unseen by humans. Be SmartMachu Picchu, sacred backdrop for your dating app picAnyone who’s been on Tinder or Hinge in the last decade has noticed it: the obligatory Machu Picchu selfie, almost as ubiquitous as those photos of men posing with a fresh-caught fish. How did Machu Picchu, of all places, become a dating-app cliche? This satirical essay from McSweeney’s doesn’t answer that question, but has a great time poking fun at it. McSweeney'sThe strange endurance of consuming blood for healthBlood's importance to humanity is best summarized this way: without it, we die. This importance naturally begets assumptions about its medicinal properties, many of which appear accessible through drinking or eating the fluid connective tissue. This article details the history of blood drinking, from ancient Roman gladiators to modern-day sanguinarians. Atlas ObscuraGLP-1 drugs mimic a natural hormone that triggers appetite-suppressing effectsOzempic, one of the brand names for the drug semaglutide, was originally developed in 2012, to help treat Type 2 diabetes. Among other effects, the drug mimics a naturally produced hormone known as GLP-1, which is released while eating to let our bodies know we are full. Vox
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