NEW HOPE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Meet Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: MEET), a leading provider of interactive dating solutions, has announced the release of Blind Date, a new interactive game rolled out to The Meet Group’s MeetMe, Skout, and Tagged mobile applications, as well as Match Group’s Plenty of Fish (NASDAQ: MTCH). The new feature, an addition to the already-popular NextDate dating game, will provide millions of online daters the opportunity to meet and date users through a timed video chat that is based on personality rather than appearance.
The latest feature, which offers a digital twist on a traditional “blind date,” gives the streaming host the ability to hear the contestant, not see them, and as the timed virtual date progresses, the contestant’s video becomes less blurred. The contestant is only revealed when the round approaches the end, or after the host chooses to “date” them. Blind Date can be toggled on and off in the NextDate settings.
"A recent survey of MeetMe users found that 91% of members wish that dating was more focused on personality, and 77% would chat with someone before seeing what they looked like,” said Geoff Cook, CEO of The Meet Group. “We are seeing that our members value personality over attractiveness, and with Blind Date, they are given the opportunity to chat first and gain a sense of who they are connecting with. When people make the first impression on Blind Date with their personality and not their face, matching has increased by 65%. Before we launched Blind Date, we saw 23% of dating games resulted in a match, but with Blind Date enabled, we see 38% of members choose to date each other. Personality is a powerful attractor, which we believe leads to more substantive and meaningful connections."
Blind Date is expected to increase user engagement over time. According to recent insights provided by Plenty of Fish, 65% of United States-based Plenty of Fish members believe that social distancing and self isolation have made them more open to blind dates than ever before. Ninety-percent of online daters feel that chemistry, not attractiveness, is more important to long-term relationship success -- an overwhelming 93% want someone to fall in love with them for who they are, and not what they look like.
“The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way people date and our insights show that not only are our members exploring new features like video, but that they desire more meaningful connections,” said Plenty of Fish CEO, Malgosia Green. “With Blind Date, our members can enjoy a low pressure dating experience where chemistry is king.”
Since the start of the pandemic, an average of more than 100,000 NextDate dating games have been played every day on its family of mobile apps, and more are expected in response to Blind Date.
About The Meet Group
The Meet Group (NASDAQ: MEET) is a leading provider of interactive dating solutions designed to meet the universal need for human connection. Our ecosystem of dating apps enables users around the world to interact through one-to-many livestreaming broadcasts and text-based conversations. Our top apps, MeetMe©, LOVOO©, Skout©, Tagged© and Growlr©, deliver live interactions and meaningful connections to millions of users daily. Headquartered in New Hope, PA, we have offices in Philadelphia, San Francisco, Dresden and Berlin. The Meet Group is committed to safety. You can find a description of current safety practices here: https://www.themeetgroup.com/safety-practices/. For more information, visit themeetgroup.com, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.
About Plenty of Fish
Plenty of Fish, a Match Group (NASDAQ: MTCH) company, is one of the largest global online dating companies and is available in 11 languages and more than 20 countries. Unlike many dating offerings today, Plenty of Fish offers a less prescriptive, low-pressure user experience that allows singles to discover what they’re looking for.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including whether personality matches will lead to more substantive and meaningful connections, whether Blind Date will increase user engagement over time, and whether more users will play NextDate dating games in response to Blind Date. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained herein are forward-looking statements. The words “believe,” “may,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “should,” “plan,” “could,” “target,” “potential,” “project,” “outlook,” “is likely,” “expect” and similar expressions, as they relate to us, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from those in the forward-looking statements include the risk that our applications will not function easily or otherwise as anticipated, the risk that we will not launch additional features and upgrades as anticipated, the risk that unanticipated events affect the functionality of our applications with popular mobile operating systems, any changes in such operating systems that degrade our mobile applications’ functionality and other unexpected issues which could adversely affect usage on mobile devices. Further information on our risk factors is contained in our filings with the SEC, including the Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 filed with the SEC on March 12, 2020 and the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 filed with the SEC on May 6, 2020. Any forward-looking statement made by us herein speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.
