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The article unpacks why unpopular dating apps still dominate despite the appeal of speed dating. It argues that in-person events offer higher bandwidth interactions but can’t scale, while apps win through network effects and profit-extracting oligopoly dynamics.
- Match Group's 25% operating margin rivals Apple's, proving dating apps profit despite widespread user complaints about their effectiveness
- Speed dating packs far more signal into a few minutes of face-to-face interaction than swiping through profiles ever can, yet no app has emerged to replicate that richer, small-scale format
- Network effects explain the gap: apps need huge user bases to offset their low-bandwidth interactions, giving incumbents every incentive to resist features that would make matching more meaningful
- Displacing the current oligopoly would require a new entrant willing to sacrifice short-term profit to prove that richer, higher-bandwidth interactions can scale