Tinder hopes to reverse its ongoing decline in active users by turning to AI. In the coming quarter, the Match-owned dating app will roll out new AI-powered features for discovery and matching. The addition aims to offer fatigued singles an alternative to the “swipe” that defined the dating app in its earlier days and influenced an entire industry to adopt the gesture as the go-to standard.
In its Q4 earnings release, the company noted that the AI-curated recommendations would deliver more “personalized and engaging matches.” Match Group CFO Gary Swidler told investors on the Q4 earnings call that the AI-driven matching feature will give users “something other than swiping” as a way to meet.
However, he clarified that AI matching would be a complement to swiping, not a replacement.
“We want to see a significant number of people engage with that feature and give it a try … We also want to see improvement in quality matches,” Swidler said. “We want to see that product really deliver for people in terms of enhanced quality matches that will improve the perception of the product, which should help us drive user growth.”
Also mentioned on the call was another AI feature, the AI Photo Finder, which helps users pick out the best profile photos for their dating profiles. It launched last year.
AI-powered additions come at a challenging time for Tinder and the dating app industry as a whole.
Over time, young singles have grown tired of online dating, which they say no longer feels spontaneous and fun and instead seems more like work. Amid safety and privacy concerns, bad behavior from fellow dating app users, and a realization that these apps had presented an illusion of choice when, in reality, their potential for matches was more limited, consumers have been leaving Tinder and others behind.
During the call, the company admitted that Tinder’s global user growth was still in decline.
In October, Tinder’s monthly active users (MAUs) were down 10% year over year, a number that only slightly increased to reach a 9% decline over the next two months.
The app then saw MAUs decline “about 8%” in January, which execs tried to spin as a positive signal.
Tinder’s direct revenue also missed the company’s internal guidance, coming in at $476 million, below the forecast range of $480-$485 million.
“I’d love to see us get back to growth, but I think we have to take the baby steps first. We’ve got to roll out these product initiatives, see them drive improved user trends,” Swidler said of the new products, including the AI discovery and matching features. The company also plans to make its “Friends in Common” feature more broadly accessible.
As part of its attempt at course correction, Match Group named Zillow Group co-founder Spencer Rascoff as its new CEO.
Rascoff spoke bullishly on the potential for AI-powered online dating, saying that he thought that “this Cambrian explosion in AI is going to allow Match Group to have the same kind of business inflection that the shift from desktop to mobile created for our category and other categories around 10 years ago — when mobile exceeded desktop.”
That’s quite the bet.
He pointed to other consumer mobile apps like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat that benefitted from AI features in terms of both engagement and retention, adding, “I see the same potential for us.”
While Match execs may be optimistic, it’s clear that the dating app market is headed for change.
Beyond Tinder’s declines, the company missed estimates in Q4 with earnings of 82 cents per share, below analyst expectations of 84 cents. While it delivered on revenues, bringing in $860 million in the quarter, above estimates, it also represented a 0.7% year-over-year decline. In its Q1 2025 guidance, the company said it planned for revenues of $820 million to $830 million, down 3 to 5% year-over-year, thanks to Tinder’s negative MAU trends.
