Dating apps get a boost as they prepare for "summer of love"

Dating apps — which got a boost when the world locked down — have their hearts set on the pandemic recovery.

What's happening: People are upping their time on apps to broker dates as vaccination rates rise.

• "Users who had opted out during the pandemic [are] starting to come back in," Bumble's Tariq Shaukat told investors yesterday after reporting better-than-expected earnings.
• The number of messages sent on the dating app was 10% above pre-COVID levels, Shaukat said.

Match Group — which owns nearly every major dating site, including its revenue powerhouse Tinder — expects higher sales than it previously forecast, saying the reopening will result in more paying customers.

The bottom line: Dating app companies are bracing for a "summer of love," as Match's CEO Shar Dubey said last week in a letter to shareholders.