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Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says

nytimes.com

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Re: Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says

#181

Post by friendzis »

busymom0 wrote: post #14
dvt wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Short answer? They are all trash and the space is ripe for disruption. The best of the bunch is probably Hinge, Bumble, and Coffee Meets Bagel. But like I said, getting a date off these apps is like pulling teeth. I've reverted to asking girls out in person at coffee shops, social gatherings, etc. Even if you get rejected, it at least makes for a good story.

What would you change if you were to build a new dating app to disrupt the market?

Disincentivise shallow profiles. Women Tinder profiles are a very good example of antithesis: there are a few carefully selected pictures. The more involved profiles may feature link to an Instagram (with more carefully-picked pictures) and a few lines that rarely offer anything to construct a personal introductory message.

Turn that around completely. Have users put in effort in being found.

I doubt that would get much attention to "disrupt" the market

Re: Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says

#182

Post by cowabungamann »

1024core wrote: post #67

Back when I was single, I was on a dozen dating sites. It was frustrating as heck to keep getting led on by fake profiles. eHarmony is the worst: they actually sold my email address to spammers. How do I know this? I have my own domain, and use a unique (hard to guess) email address for each site I have to give an email address to. So it was trivial to nail eHarmony as the culprit. Someone has already linked to the O…

what does respectful mean to you?

Re: Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says

#185

Post by DrScump »

1024core wrote: post #67

Back when I was single, I was on a dozen dating sites. It was frustrating as heck to keep getting led on by fake profiles. eHarmony is the worst: they actually sold my email address to spammers. How do I know this? I have my own domain, and use a unique (hard to guess) email address for each site I have to give an email address to. So it was trivial to nail eHarmony as the culprit. Someone has already linked to the O…

This is why I really miss Craigslist personals, where I could put my writing skills and humor to use.

Re: Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says

#186

Post by DrScump »

Stratoscope wrote: post #136
1024core wrote: post #67

Back when I was single, I was on a dozen dating sites. It was frustrating as heck to keep getting led on by fake profiles. eHarmony is the worst: they actually sold my email address to spammers. How do I know this? I have my own domain, and use a unique (hard to guess) email address for each site I have to give an email address to. So it was trivial to nail eHarmony as the culprit. Someone has already linked to the O…

eHarmony is disgusting. Or they were, the one time I tried to use their service ten years ago. My wife and I had been separated for a while and in the divorce process. (We were and remain on friendly terms, but it was definitely over.) I thought I would check out some dating services, and eHarmony sounded like one that wasn't sleazy or weird. So I filled out their lengthy multipage onboarding form, with all kinds of…

I met someone out of area on EH in 2012, and we communicated for a couple of years.

We both quit EH. Many months later, I found them still using her (quite attractive) photo in their advertising.

Re: Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says

#189

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

Stratoscope wrote: post #148
vertex-four wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my market, eHarmony pretty blatantly advertises itself as the morality police type of Christian platform - so this sort of thing is implied.

Yes indeed, and I have no problem with their choice to serve only those who fit with their mission. If they had only been honest and up front about it, and as soon as I said I was "separated" they said "sorry, we're not the dating service for you", it would have been fine! I would have respected that and moved on. But when they actively lied to me by leading me through the entire onboarding process - when they knew f…

The "separated" issue makes sense because on Planet Dating "separated" can mean anything from "The divorce papers have arrived and I haven't updated my status yet" to "I'm still living in the same house as my spouse and we have sex in between rows, but I'm not sure where this is going" to "I didn't mention I was married? Oh. Well. Sorry."

But I suspect incompetence rather than malice. They simply didn't care enough - or weren't self-aware enough - to do a basic sanity check on status before onboarding. Or perhaps decided to add the check later and didn't have the spare braincells required to rearrange the onboarding sequence.

Re: Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says

#190

Post by kkarakk »

torben-friis wrote: post #160
Lewton wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Re 2. They changed it so swiping left on someone who liked you no longer decreases the like counter Also before that if you were out traveling the likes you got while on the road will not show up in your stack when you leave the area where you got them Also if you swipe left on someone and you’re in their stack and they swipe right on you, they’ll show up in the count The rest is still super scummy, but the “rules” o…

I've used tinder in the past, and I remember there were recommendations online to completely delete your account and start from scratch from time to time if you suddenly found yourself unsuccessful, to get around potential shadow bans or just having fallen in a pit of the algorithm. Do you happen to know if that was a valid strategy, and if it still is? I always wondered if it was/is actually possible to completely r…

It is, but you should use a new name/profile pic combo to get around the algorithm re-slotting you into your old position. Ideally you'd only use your first name, a couple of new pics and don't link any other account so they can't track you(if you must - make a new instagram/spotify to link)
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