Pairs is Japan's top-ranked dating app, with 3.1 million downloads in 2020, according to data tracker App Annie. It is aimed at singles serious about matrimony and tries to make women comfortable about signing up. Men have to pay and show their full real names if they want to start chatting. Women get in free and can use initials. They also choose the places to meet.

They can check you in and deliver orange juice to your hotel room, answer your questions about a missing package, whip up sushi and pack up thousands of subscription boxes. And, perhaps most importantly, they are completely immune to Covid-19. While people have had a hard time in the coronavirus pandemic, robots are having a moment. The Covid-19 pandemic has left millions of Americans unemployed – disproportionately those in the service industries where women and people of color make up the largest share of the labor force. In October, 11 million people were unemployed in the US, compared with about 6 million people who were without a job during the same time last year.

Dallas-based Match operates several dating apps, including Tinder, Hinge and OkCupid, as well as its namesake brand. The company in July completed its separation from IAC/InterActiveCorp., which previously owned a roughly 80% stake. Match released video-chatting features for its apps in the spring as users started avoiding traditional dating spots such as bars and restaurants. The company is now in the beginning stages of developing features such as games and icebreakers to make those one-on-one video calls more engaging--part of a broader strategy to find new ways to generate revenue from its millions of users, according to Chief Financial Officer Gary Swidler. "We've got a lot of users, and I think there's more we can do with them," said Mr. Swidler, who is also Match's chief operating officer.

This article originally appeared on the Motley Fool. Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) reported first-quarter results on May 2. The parent company of Tinder and Match.com Match Group's board of directors authorized a stock buyback program of up to 6 million shares of Match's stock. Our stock has tended to fluctuate fairly meaningfully, and the buyback authorization enables us to take action if the circumstances warrant. This is not a buyback authorization where we plan to go into the market aggressively.