While many businesses had difficulty surviving the pandemic, Covid actually had a positive impact on online dating services breaking previous records for user payments. Due to social restrictions, virtual dating became relevant and is now paving the way for the future of online dating.

While social restrictions became our new reality, a multitude of dating sites and dating services saw both rising user numbers and growing demands.

Match Group, one of the biggest online dating companies, had a significantly larger net profit increase during Covid than ever before. Since UK’s first lockdown in late March 2020, Match Group had an average net profit increase each quarter of almost 27% compared to 2019’s numbers. The previous year, the average net profit increase was only at 14%.

Looking at Match Group’s flagship, the popular dating app Tinder, they gained about 600,000 premium subscribers in the third quarter of 2020 breaking previous records.

At Spark Networks, the company behind dating services such as Zoosk, EliteSingles, SilverSingles, Covid had a positive impact as well – at least initially.

“We saw an upswing in activity during the initial stages of the lockdown/pandemic, and the numbers since have ebbed and flowed as measures eased or tightened. Overall, we now see that activity is returning to pre-pandemic levels,” Spark Networks’ spokesperson states.

The same thing happened at ChristianCafe.com.

“We jumped 50% when Covid first hit and averaged a 30% increase during the first year of Covid,” company president Sam Moorcroft says.

Demands for virtual dating features

Not only did Covid affect user numbers, but the pandemic also influenced the demands of online dating service users and worked as a catalyst for taking new functions and features into use.

Some dating apps like Bumble already had a video chat option, but before Covid became a reality, the feature was barely being used. However, only a week after Trump declared a national emergency in the US, the use of Bumble’s video chat rose with 93%.

Soon after Bumble’s success, other online dating services followed up with video chat options and creative substitutes for dating in person. Hinge created their Date From Home video call, PlentyOfFish came up with a live streaming option called LIVE!, and just this past December, Spark Networks launched Zoosk Great Dates.

“The Great Dates feature is aimed to reinvigorate the current video dating trend by enabling singles and their dates to access fun virtual date experiences in exciting global destinations, with the first batch of interactive dates set in Greece, Italy, Japan and France,” Spark Networks’ spokesperson says.

Online dating in the future

Spark Networks have embraced the notion of virtual dating.

“It’s clear that innovative social dating is more than a lockdown phenomenon – it’s the future of meaningful connections,” says their spokesperson.

In general, they are preparing for the future of online dating.

“Technology is changing rapidly, and the introduction of the Metaverse, virtual reality and AI could play a role in the future of dating platforms, so we’ll continue to stay one step ahead,” their spokesperson concludes.