Swiping right: How couples meet has changed a lot since the '90s

1/21/21 7:00PM

Bumble, the dating app which has focused on the experience of women on its platform, has filed with the SEC for an IPO which could value the company at more than $6bn. Bumble is just the latest dating app to have grown and matured into a substantial business, with revenues of $417m for the first nine months of last year.

As the chart above shows, it is no surprise that dating apps and platforms are becoming significant businesses when the majority of new couples are meeting online — according to data from the studies "How Couples Meet and Stay Together" from Stanford University.

Of heterosexual couples who met in 1995, roughly one-third met through friends, but by 2017 that number had fallen to just 20%, while almost 40% of couples met online. In same-sex couples, the number that met online is even higher at 65%.

Interestingly, meeting in a bar or restaurant was the only other medium that became a better matchmaker over the study period, with 27% of heterosexual couples meeting that way in 2017, up from 19% in 1995. Looking for love? Go to a bar and then go on a dating app while you're there.

J. Edward Moreno11/4/25

Starbucks sells control of China business for $4 billion

Starbucks disclosed on Monday evening in a regulatory filing that it will sell control of its ailing China business to Boyu Capital for about $4 billion.

Under the agreement, Boyu will own a 60% stake in the China segment, which will become a joint venture between Boyu and Starbucks. The coffee chain will retain a 40% interest in the entity and will continue to own and license the brand and intellectual property.

Bloomberg reported earlier this year that the company was looking to sell its China segment. The American coffee giant has struggled to succeed in China, its second-largest market after the US.

Tom Jones

10/6/25

OPEC and others are boosting oil production as the race to catch up with the US goes on

This month’s 137,000-barrel-a-day boost is a little more modest than some expected.

Millie Giles

RED FLAG, GREEN FLAG

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China, the world’s largest carbon polluter, has pledged to cut emissions for the first time

President Xi Jinping has announced that China is aiming to slash carbon emissions by up to 10% in the next decade.

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Claire Yubin Oh9/19/25

John Wayne Airport in Orange County tops the list of North America’s favorite airports

Despite a record year of passenger numbers, flight cancellations, and delays, a new survey has revealed that flyers have been increasingly satisfied about their experiences in North American airports.

According to this year’s North America Airport Satisfaction Study from data analysts at J.D. Power, overall passenger satisfaction scores were up 10 points (on a 1,000-point scale), largely from “improvements in food, beverage and retail and ease of travel through the airport.” The annual survey measures overall traveler satisfaction across the region’s airports in seven categories (in order of importance): ease of travel, level of trust, terminal facilities, airport staff, airport departure experience, food and retail, and airport arrival experience.

Here are the region’s favorites:

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More than 40% of American adults now report being online “almost constantly”

While a new survey showed Japan has the greatest share of perpetually online people, there was a significant number reporting not using the internet at all.

Swiping right: How couples meet has changed a lot since the '90s

More World

Starbucks sells control of China business for $4 billion

John Wayne Airport in Orange County tops the list of North America’s favorite airports

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