Tanishka Dubey
Chennai, 23 August
Popular dating apps Bumble and Tinder are losing popularity among young Indian adults due to a rise in fake accounts.
Bumble and Tinder saw a decline of 4% in monthly downloads which stand at 6 lakh and 7 lakh respectively in August 2024. The decline can be attributed to rising fake accounts which have driven users towards alternative platforms.
New-age dating apps like Happn, Hinge, and others make up 30% of the total 176 million users. “Finding fake accounts is challenging as these are often the most active profiles on the app, and this has become a problem for us.” said a senior user researcher at Bumble, who does not want to be named “Fake accounts make 10-15% of monthly average downloads.”
As for Tinder, for every 10 users, 2 are fake accounts which means about 1 lakh out of 7 lakh monthly average users are fake, according to App Tweaks. To deal with the rise in fake accounts, Bumble and Tinder are planning to employ AI photo detectors to identify fake AI generated profiles.
“We are experimenting with profiles abroad, however, the process has not begun in India as the Indian market poses scaling challenges”, said the senior user research at Bumble. These programs can spot fake accounts and scams by checking photos, personal information, and how people behave on the app.
Data Source- https://www.apptweak.com/en
Dating apps now use smart computer programs to protect users, said a 2024 report by Reuters.
Other dating startup’s like Shink have introduced “flags” to recognize fake accounts. “We’ve introduced ‘red flags’ and ‘green flags’ options. Profiles that get many red flags will be manually checked by our team.” said Melroy Dmello, Founder of Shink. It’s ironic that we need more human involvement to catch AI-generated profile pictures
Other strategies for authentication include face matching technologies, which compare profile pictures with other photos to confirm the person’s identity.
New- age startup’s have received positive responses from users .Happn and Hinge have seen significant growth with monthly average downloads increasing by 58% and 28% respectively, of the total market share.
Happn has gained popularity among college students, who have been crucial in spreading the word, said a senior marketing executive at Happn, who does not want to be named. “We are experimenting with our AI feature in profiles abroad, however, the process has not begun in India as the Indian market poses scaling challenges”, said the senior user research at Bumble
The surge of fake accounts on dating apps challenges companies to maintain user trust. Dating apps allows user to upload personal information including contact details and photos, the rise in fraudulent accounts makes it difficult for businesses to retain user confidence.