Match Group was sued on Wednesday in a proposed class motion claiming that its dating apps Tinder, Hinge and The League are designed to addict users, generating more profit for the corporate, quite than help them establish relationships.
The plaintiffs said Match’s “predatory” business model defrauds those in search of love and scared of missing out with an algorithm that rewards “compulsive use” of its platforms and entices them to pay lots of of dollars a 12 months for subscriptions.
Match employs features “to gamify the platforms to remodel users into gamblers locked in a seek for psychological rewards that Match makes elusive on purpose,” in response to the criticism filed in federal court in San Francisco.
The six plaintiffs — who live in California, Florida, Georgia and Recent York — called this inconsistent with Match’s ad slogan that its apps are “designed to be deleted.”
In an announcement, Match rejected the plaintiffs’ claims.
“This lawsuit is ridiculous and has zero merit,” Match said. “Our business model is just not based on promoting or engagement metrics. We actively strive to get people on dates daily and off our apps. Anyone who states the rest doesn’t understand the aim and mission of our entire industry.”
Match Chief Executive Bernard Kim told analysts on Jan. 31 that the Dallas-based company adopted a “fast-fail mentality” to maneuver on from features that don’t work, and that Tinder and Hinge are using artificial intelligence to enhance users’ experiences.
The lawsuit resembles a slew of litigation accusing Google parent Alphabet, Facebook and Instagram parent Meta Platforms, TikTok parent ByteDance and Snapchat parent Snap of knowingly designing features to addict hundreds of thousands of youngsters to their platforms.
A July 2022 survey by Pew Research Center found that one in 10 American adults who’re married, living with partners, or in committed romantic relationships met their significant others on dating sites or apps.
But when the apps work, many individuals will likely stop using them, reducing revenue for the businesses behind them.
The plaintiffs said Match counteracts this with “advantages” reminiscent of the flexibility to “like” an infinite variety of profiles, but that these often result in “breadcrumbing” or “ghosting” where users receive empty messages that fail to construct relationships.
Wednesday’s lawsuit accuses Match of negligence, and violating several state consumer protection laws.
It seeks unspecified damages for individuals who paid to make use of Tinder, Hinge or The League within the last 4 years. It also seeks latest warnings concerning the risks of addiction and removal of the “designed to be deleted” language.
The case is Oksayan et al v MatchGroup Inc, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 24-00888.