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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

#31

Post by onemoresoop »

stickfigure wrote: post #19
tyingq wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's an arms race. https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/google/google-chrome-i...

I wouldn't use the term 'arms race' because that implies each side can continue to escalate. A better way of looking at it is that there are bugs that leak information in browsers, and sites like the NYT are spending developer effort to discover those bugs and publish them (in the form of javascript) so that browser developers can fix them. The browser developers will eventually win this one.

Whats the incentive to publish them? Isnt it in NYT’s best interest to be able to detect incognito mode?

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

#32

Post by bitexploder »

bigwavedave wrote: post #27
chongli wrote: post #20

I think it's a fatal flaw in the dating site business model, to be honest. Their incentive is for you to stay on the site for as long as possible. If you could find a relationship quickly and then they would leave the site quickly. This would reduce the amount of ad and subscription revenue, in addition to reducing the size of the pool of "potential matches", discouraging those who have more trouble finding someone.

Ah yes, the only profession aside from medicine that exists to eradicate itself.

I work in information security and we have effectively consulted ourselves out of a job and were happy to do it. Some customers only need our help for a while, others need it for much longer :)

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

#33

Post by warent »

bigwavedave wrote: post #27
chongli wrote: post #20

I think it's a fatal flaw in the dating site business model, to be honest. Their incentive is for you to stay on the site for as long as possible. If you could find a relationship quickly and then they would leave the site quickly. This would reduce the amount of ad and subscription revenue, in addition to reducing the size of the pool of "potential matches", discouraging those who have more trouble finding someone.

Ah yes, the only profession aside from medicine that exists to eradicate itself.

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic. I'm inferring a tone of sarcasm from your comment but I'm not sure what you're really trying to communicate here.

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

#34

Post by Mountain_Skies »

echelon wrote: post #22
smt88 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree and will add that all dating apps do things like this. They prey on lonely people using false hope. Tinder even introduced paid “boosts” (pay to be shown to users who otherwise might never see you), which is identical to a slot machine.

OkCupid charges more for your membership the older you are. By the time you're in your 30s the rate is outright highway robbery.

There used to be a loophole where you could change your age and gender to be an 18 year old woman, pay the lowest (pretty much token) rate, and then switch back to your actual age and, if necessary, gender. Now I think it looks at your history of age and gender changes, finds the combo with the highest rate, and charges that group's amount.

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

#35

Post by Glyptodon »

RandomBacon wrote: post #5

Unrelated, but I'm thinking about using one or more dating sites. Which ones do people here use, and what are your thoughts/observations?

Met current long term GF (~1.5 yrs) on CMB. It didn't have a ton of matches/users in my area but those it did have were more into dating with an eye towards finding a long term relationship.

Besides that I found it pretty easy to consistently get a date or two a week with Tinder, but it was a chore in terms of time spent to do so. It also resulted in a lot of not quite right matches that I felt mixed about, like people who were amazing but didn't really have compatible (with me) life directions/goals.

Bumble was the most useless dating site I tried. Everything seemed to be more about image and posturing than actually dating.

At the time okCupid was in the midst of changing from a decent site for people who still used desktops and web browsers and liked longform text to a bad version of tinder, which I assume it is now.

Assume things have changed a bit by now so of course YMMV.

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

#36

Post by warent »

SapporoChris wrote: post #28
busymom0 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The worst part is that match owns pretty much all other dating apps- tinder, Okcupid, pof etc.

I successfully used Okcupid and I have been dating someone local. I am confident my current relationship is not a scam. The fake accounts were rather obvious, extremely attractive women that would message, or send a like without having looked at profile. Many of the fake accounts were obviously not suitable matches. For example, the profile (if filled out) is seeking someone in country X, but they've contacted my in…

In this case it's very easy to protect the vulnerable. It's called "dont implement fraudulent business practices." This, by the way, also affects people who aren't particularly vulnerable because people should, ideally, be permitted a level of trust in a business without being completely naive.

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

#37

Post by Deimorz »

onemoresoop wrote: post #31
stickfigure wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't use the term 'arms race' because that implies each side can continue to escalate. A better way of looking at it is that there are bugs that leak information in browsers, and sites like the NYT are spending developer effort to discover those bugs and publish them (in the form of javascript) so that browser developers can fix them. The browser developers will eventually win this one.

Whats the incentive to publish them? Isnt it in NYT’s best interest to be able to detect incognito mode?

They're not intentionally publishing them, but they effectively have to because the detection uses Javascript, and you can view that JS and figure out what it's checking for.

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

#38

Post by taneq »

bigwavedave wrote: post #27
chongli wrote: post #20

I think it's a fatal flaw in the dating site business model, to be honest. Their incentive is for you to stay on the site for as long as possible. If you could find a relationship quickly and then they would leave the site quickly. This would reduce the amount of ad and subscription revenue, in addition to reducing the size of the pool of "potential matches", discouraging those who have more trouble finding someone.

Ah yes, the only profession aside from medicine that exists to eradicate itself.

The goal of any consultancy should be to get your clients to the point where they no longer need you.

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

#39

Post by noitsnot »

chongli wrote: post #20

I think it's a fatal flaw in the dating site business model, to be honest. Their incentive is for you to stay on the site for as long as possible. If you could find a relationship quickly and then they would leave the site quickly. This would reduce the amount of ad and subscription revenue, in addition to reducing the size of the pool of "potential matches", discouraging those who have more trouble finding someone.

The interesting thing is this is Hinge's business model but they have the problem of abandoned accounts sitting there instead of people deleting them for whatever reason.

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

#40

Post by trevor-e »

chongli wrote: post #20

I think it's a fatal flaw in the dating site business model, to be honest. Their incentive is for you to stay on the site for as long as possible. If you could find a relationship quickly and then they would leave the site quickly. This would reduce the amount of ad and subscription revenue, in addition to reducing the size of the pool of "potential matches", discouraging those who have more trouble finding someone.

This is not unique to the dating industry, other industries get by just fine without resorting to outright fraud.
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