Archer: Match Group’s Innovative Gay Dating App Gains Traction
A Fresh Take on Online Dating for Gay, Bi, and Queer Men
In June of last year, Archer, the first app designed specifically for gay, bi, and queer men by online dating giant Match Group, made its debut in New York. Since then, the app has been downloaded over 685,000 times, as reported by market intelligence firm Sensor Tower. Archer completed its nationwide rollout in the United States in October.
Navigating a Challenging Market
Despite the current downturn faced by Match and other online dating companies, Archer’s growth is noteworthy. However, the app still has a long way to go to catch up with established competitors like Grindr, which boasts over 10 million downloads in the past year and a total of 87 million worldwide installs, and Scruff, with more than 17 million all-time mobile app installs.
Prioritizing Safety and User Experience
Archer differentiates itself by focusing on providing a safe space for users, implementing various safety measures to prevent unwanted behavior. These include AI integration in the chat feature to auto-blur potential nudity and selfie verification to prevent matches from using blank or headless profile pictures.
“We recognize that there is bad behavior on gay dating apps,” Michael Kaye, Director of Brand Marketing and Communications at Archer, told The Zero Byte. “There’s a lot of body shaming, and there’s a lot of racism. And we’re hoping that by requiring every person to verify [their selfie], this will help contribute to a lower rate of bad behavior because there’s really nothing to hide behind.”
Catering to Diverse User Preferences
Archer offers two different layouts to cater to casual and serious daters: Dating Mode, a linear layout for users to like one match at a time, and Hookup Mode, where users can see multiple profiles at once that feature their activity status and whether they’re looking for something casual. According to the company’s findings, 66% of its users are looking for dates and relationships, while 49% are on Archer for both dates and hookups.
Unique Social Features and Future Plans
Archer stands out with its array of social features, such as the ability to follow users, add interest tags to profiles, and the recently launched Emoji Reactions feature. Knowing that 74% of Archer users are looking for friendships, the app plans to prioritize community-building features, like the ability to find users by entering tags in the search bar and testing capabilities that facilitate offline activities.
The app is also exploring potential new AI integrations, with Kaye teasing, “We’re going to continue to explore how we can integrate AI further into the app and create a much more enhanced premium experience for our users … Match Group recently partnered with OpenAI at the beginning of this year, and I am sure we will be working with that soon.”
As Match increases its investment in AI, planning to spend around $20 million to $30 million on the technology in 2024, Archer is poised to benefit from these advancements. With its fresh approach to gay online dating and commitment to user safety and experience, Archer is well-positioned to continue its upward trajectory in the competitive world of online dating.
3 Comments
Guess Archer found the secret sauce in a slowing market—500k installs say it loud and clear!
Archer’s breaking hearts and records, who knew a slowdown could look this good?
Who said love is dead? Archer’s half a million downloads beg to differ!