Tinder’s AI flirts now, but it has range: “The Game Game” helps users charm dates, but its real edge is tone-savvy tech fit for customer support or hiring.

Although every app category will gain users in 2023, the average smartphone owner will install and open fewer individual apps as consumers settle on their favorites.

Brands test new marketing strategies ahead of Valentine’s Day surge: Spending on the romantic holiday will increase thanks to single and coupled consumers.

The pandemic accelerated the increase in time spent with mobile activities in the US. Most of these gains will stick as people return to a more normal life in 2021.

Dating apps are seeing an influx of new users as many continue to shelter in place. This year, we forecast there will be 26.6 million smartphone dating app users, according to our latest estimates. That’s an 18.4% increase from 2019.

Consumers in the US are planning to spend roughly $196 on Valentine’s Day this year, an increase of 21% over 2019, according to research from the National Retail Federation (NRF).

Facebook Dating launched in the US last week, giving users ages 18 and older access to typical dating app features like specialized profiles and matchmaking algorithms. Though the dating app space is crowded, Facebook has an opportunity to set itself apart by simplifying what's arguably the most vexing aspect of online dating: setting up a profile.

We expect the number of people who own a smartphone and use dating apps to grow 5.3% this year, reaching roughly 25 billion. This figure is much flatter than our previous forecast of 9.8% growth, and just one-sixth of growth in 2016.

eMarketer junior forecasting analyst Nazmul Islam shares our usage numbers for US smartphone dating apps and doesn't dance around the reasons for a slowdown in growth. Watch now.

In this Valentine's Day edition of "Behind the Numbers," we're digging into the data of love: How do people shop and spend on Valentine's Day gifts? How has the internet affected dating? And what are the risks of trying to find romance online?