Down has been innovating in the dating app space since before they were mainstream. We launched in 2013 on Facebook and have worked for the last eleven years to create a safe and fun platform where daters can share, explore, and find unforgettable experiences.
Our top priority is the success & safety of our members in the Down community. All Down members have downloaded the app in search of a safe, fun, sex-positive experience. We have never, nor will we ever, hire people or deploy bots to communicate with our community dishonestly. Period. Our safety team actively works 24/7 to combat any fake accounts or safety issues. It is also against company policy for any of our employees to access user data for any personal reasons. We have a vision for a safe, sex-positive dating app for all to explore their desires, so the welfare of members comes first.
For the past few months, we’ve been a top 5 dating app in the US on iOS in terms of downloads. With greater success comes greater challenges, including from malicious users creating fake profiles. In July, we received notice from Apple regarding negative user reviews about suspicious profiles affecting the user experience on our app. We took this feedback to heart and increased our resolve to create a safer and more enjoyable environment for everyone. Since then, we have made substantial changes, focusing not only on addressing these concerns but also on improving our service beyond expectations.
We are proud to share that have made huge strides toward those goals.
First, we reduced instances of matching with “bad actors”, people who try to abuse our app, by over 70%.
Even more importantly, we’ve reduced chat messages that violate our policies by more than 75%, thus reducing user exposure to misleading messages from bad actors.
We invested all of Q3 to address the reviews issue that Apple mentioned. Despite that, our app was removed from the App Store today, so only existing users can access it. We will work tirelessly to partner with Apple to restore our app so more open-minded singles can join our community of more than 15 million.
Here’s what we’ve achieved in Q3 to enhance safety and reduce the presence of bad actors:
- Expanded Safety Team Coverage ➡️ We doubled the size of our team of manual reviewers, who are responsible for identifying suspicious profiles and eliminating bad actors on our app. Our safety team operates 24/7, with doubled coverage during peak hours to ensure profiles are reviewed swiftly and thoroughly.
- New Photo Verification System ➡️ To combat fake profiles, we introduced a more robust photo verification process. Users must now verify their identities with a live photo, and this step is required for all new female profiles (which is the primary profile gender of scammers). We increased the percentage of females being verified by six times in the last quarter. This change has already led to a drastic reduction in bad actors, particularly those who exploit female profiles. We’re currently testing this feature for male users as well and plan to fully roll it out once a key bug is resolved.
- Revamped Bad Actor Detection ➡️ We reassigned two Product Managers and two Engineers to focus entirely on strengthening how we detect and handle bad actors. This dedication has transformed our approach, making it easier to identify and remove suspicious users quickly. Specifically, we reduced time-to-review reported users and suspicious behavior by 40%+.
- Enhanced Customer Support ➡️ We significantly boosted our customer support team to provide faster, more personalized responses to user concerns. Every review now receives a customized, timely reply (< 24h) that directly addresses the issues raised. We also increased our customer support response rate to 100%, even for scammers and other bad actors as they were often the ones leaving bad reviews, providing all users with transparency about why they were banned.
- Data-Driven Improvements ➡️ We’ve built an internal dashboard to track key metrics related to safety and user experience. This includes the percentage of negative reviews mentioning bad actors.
Our efforts have shown real progress, and we remain laser-focused on improving the app for our users. It’s a constant battle to prevent, detect, and minimize damage from bad actors creating fake profiles, but we’re up to the task. Just like our app enables users to express their honest selves and intentions, we are honest with them: we never create fake profiles and do our best to eliminate them from our app.
We want to thank our users for their feedback, patience, and continued support as we navigate this brief disruption. Rest assured, we are working tirelessly to get back on the App Store and provide the best possible experience for our community.