Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Hinge is taking Tinder’s place as Gen Z’s favorite dating app | TechCrunch Minute”.
Tinder’S earnings are being snuffed out. Does gen Z want an app that’s designed to be deleted? Match Group which owns Tinder hinge and a bunch of other dating apps, released its first quarter earnings this week and things are not looking great for Tinder, which saw its paying user base shrink for the sixth quarter in a row. Hinge, on the other hand, is seeing major growth. Direct Revenue grew to $ 124 million in q1, a 50 % jump from the year prior hinge now has 1.4 million paying users and in 2023 alone it brought in $ 396 million in Revenue. Maybe this shows jenz is willing to pay for true love, but not so much for a perceived hookup app.
Why is this happening? Well, maybe there’s a culture shift with users seeking out more serious relationships and hinge as the app that’s made to be deleted. Speaking to that need much more than Tinder, which, like I said, is best known as a hookup app. The real issue is how the brand matches up with the business model. Tinder’S core experience is free, so it’s been experimenting with different ways to get gen Z users to Fork over money.
To be clear, however, Tinder is still enormously popular with what match says: are 50 million monthly active users? It has tried inapp purchases like super likes and seeing who likes you, but that model peaked in 2018 and all theart purchases have been declining ever since, as Tinder tries to figure out how to make money, there do seem to be growing pains or even a bit Of an identity crisis, in fact, Tinder has rolled out a high-end membership called Tinder, select that caus cost $ 499 a month, you’re, not mishearing $ 499 per month. This appears to be tenders version of The League, which is also owned by match or Rya. In other words, dating apps that brag about their exclusivity and the dating pool, now I know Tinder isn’t just a hookup app. It also encourages users to date seriously.
In fact, it’s where I met my partner a million years ago, but it’s not defined by dating the way Hing is hookups, have been core to the Tinder brand. Even as it’s been adding safety features like the ability to share your date and focusing on what match calls ecosystem Health, basically making the app less creepy there’s. Definitely a risk Tinder to driveway users as it experiments with different business models.
But it’s way too popular to count out yet a huge thank you to Alex for launching the TC minute. We hope you’ll stick with us as Amanda, and I take over as hosts see you next week. .
