HubPeople Masters · September 2026

Dating Industry 2026, with Mark Brooks

These slides were first shown in September at the Global Dating Insights (GDI) conference in London. Alongside a lot of industry news, they contain some really interesting demographic information that I think will help you as you think about your brands, and about how you structure and target your keywords and campaigns.

Thank you very much, Mark, for agreeing to present them to our Masters audience in September.

Michael O'Sullivan
Michael O'SullivanOwner, HubPeople

Use the → button or your arrow keys to go through Mark's 59 slides.

Dating Industry 2026: Trends, Players and Marketing Dynamics, presented by Mark Brooks
Agenda: what we do, the new reality, show me the money, funding and acquisitions, insights, recommendations
What we do: intelligence through GDI and OPW.news, community through the GDI Gathering and LTR.us, growth through Courtland Brooks
OPW and GDI: two ways to follow the dating industry
LTR.us
Courtland Brooks services and clients
The new reality: cold start, payment processing and VAMP at 0.8%, click-to-cancel and age verification, distraction, assertiveness, depression, socialising, needs, stigma and faith. A perfect storm
Show me the money, section introduction
OPW public companies
Match Group annual revenue
Match Group performance in Q2 2026 for Tinder, Hinge and Evergreen and Emerging
Tinder direct revenue
Tinder trended performance
Tinder paying users
Tinder marketing budget up about 28%
Match Group cuts management layers and moves to smaller product teams
Video speed dating
Tinder Double Date
Tinder Events
Tinder Astrology Mode
Hinge direct revenue
Hinge trended performance
Hinge Friend's Take
Bumble revenue
Bumble app paying users and average revenue per paying user
Badoo app and other: paying users and average revenue per paying user
Bumble hires Morgan Stanley to explore a sale
Bumble 2.0, reimagined
Bumble Plans, a new standalone app
ParshipMeet Group revenue
Grindr revenue
Grindr: more ways to connect
Grindr EDGE
Five-year stock performance of the public dating companies
One-year stock performance of the public dating companies
Funding and acquisitions, section introduction
WeRoad raises $58M
Hinge founder raises $18M for Overtone
Match invests $100M in Sniffies
Ditto raises $9.2M
Known raises $9.7M
Insights, section introduction
SSRS survey: public use of dating apps
SSRS survey: the main reasons people use dating apps
SSRS survey: which dating sites and apps people have used
SSRS survey: the effect of dating apps on dating
Online dating market size, 2023 to 2033
Online dating market by region
Financial Times chart: time 15 to 29 year olds spend socialising
Average number of children per woman
Coupling rate and fertility rate
Could digital media be affecting birth rates?
Fertility change relative to the smartphone era
Recommendation: read Dating App, the book by Michael O'Sullivan
Recommendations matrix: switch, restructure, stay lean or stay proprietary, with HubPeople marked
The new reality, revisited: a perfect storm
Recommendations: use influencer marketing, be mindful of behaviour changes, kindle relationships with the press, buy something, be clear what you stand for, join or form a mastermind
Courtland Brooks
Thank you. Mark Brooks, CourtlandBrooks.com
September 2026 · Mark Brooks
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