Internet Dating Video News Summaries

Internet Dating Video News Summary #35

Hello, and welcome to Online Personals Watch’s Weekly News Roundup. I’m Mark Brooks, and here are the latest headlines from around the industry.

This edition of the weekly news roundup is kindly sponsored by iTelebill.

Match.com is launching a new TV campaign to promote its MatchAffinity relationship service on Thursday, April first. The service will attempt to match committed registrants with other compatible singles. The compatibility is based on the results of an in-depth affinity personality test, which members take upon joining the service.

Online dating app service SNAP Interactive has announced its operating results for the full year of 2009. The full year revenue came in at $3,170,725, which was an increase of just $159k over 2008s results. Most of the revenue was generated from advertisements, premium features placed on various apps, as well as subscription fees to AreYouInterested. They lost $102k in 2009 as compared to a net income loss of $797k in 2008. That’s a nice improvement, but we would like to have seen them grow revenues more this year.

EasyDate recently acquired Allegran’s online dating business. The acquisition increased EasyDate’s current portfolio of dating sites from seven to twelve. EasyDate has also reached a milestone with its Facebook app BeNaughty. BeNaughty boasts an active user base breaching one million.

Facebook dating apps in general saw a massive user drop last month when Facebook turned off its app notifications. Upstart companies such as Zoosk and AreYouInterested took quite a hit as a result. Zoosk went from 6.9 million facebook users to 3.7 million users from March 6th to April 5th and AreYouInterested went from 2.2 million Facebook users to 1.2 million users from March 6th to April 5th according to Allfacebook app statistics.

Dating service GameCrush was forced to shut down only a week after its launch date, due to the overabundance of user requests. The site is a full-fledged social networking platform for gamers that allows visitors to set up profiles, browse profiles, and chat with each other through video and text messaging for a small fee. The service is currently trying to add more servers to meet user demands.

Owner of Executive Dating LLC, Barrie Turner has been arrested for fraud! Turner is alleged to be in connection with the operation of more than 200 websites offering “executive dating” services. Since 2005, more than 100 people have filed consumer complaints accusing Turner of fraud for failing to provide legitimate matchmaking for paid services. Investigators estimate that Executive Dating received more than $1.2M in mailed and wired payments.

Gay matchmaking site myPartner.com is officially on the auction block. The website focuses on serious long term relationships for gay dating and matchmaking. Site spokesperson Patrick Perrine has confirmed that myPartner.com is for sale. Patrick can be reached directly at patrick@mypartner.com for those who are interested.

Be sure to head over to OPW1.com and check out our interview with President of MeetMoi, Alexander Harrington. We also have lovesites.com’s interview with Andrew Conru which you can find posted on the 31st of March.

This edition of Online Personals Watch’s Weekly News Roundup has been sponsored by iTelebill.

iTelebill – The mobile and voice payment specialists for all your online & micro billing payment requirements.

That’s all for this week’s news roundup. Tune in again next week as we bring you the latest and greatest from the world of online dating. No ads, no fluff, just raw news and CEO interviews. I’m Mark Brooks. Thank you.

Internet Dating Video News Summary #18

OPW Weekly News Roundup - Nov 19th, 2009 from Mark Brooks on Vimeo.

Hello, and welcome to Online Personal Watch’s Weekly News Roundup. I’m Mark Brooks, and here are the latest headlines from around the industry.

This edition of the weekly news roundup is kindly sponsored by iovation.

SNAP Interactive, which creates online dating applications for social networks, has released their third quarter results. The company had their seventh consecutive quarter of operational profit. In fact, revenue rose to more than $800,000, as compared to $784,000 the quarter prior.

What’s next for SNAP? According to CNN, SNAP president and CEO Clifford Lerner said “We are aggressively pursuing non-advertising based monetization opportunities, including virtual gifts and subscriptions. We plan to roll out these features to our user base over the next several months."

Here are some fast facts on SNAP: the company currently has 3 million monthly active users. SNAP’s chief dating application, “Are You Interested,” is available at areyouinterested.com, on Facebook and through an iPhone application.

Nielsen has released their European online dating rankings for October. Results indicate C-date is continuing to grow in popularity. The casual dating site maintained its #1 position in Spain with 449,000 unique visitors. However, C-date also grabbed third place in both France and Switzerland after not making the top three in either country in September.

In the U.K., free dating site PlentyofFish stayed on top with a 543,000 unique visitors. FriendsReunitedDating jumped up a spot to #2 with 514,000 unique visitors, while the Match.com Network had 452,000 unique visitors and was able to push DatingDirect out of the top three for October.

Also in European online dating news, Gráinne Barry & Kevin Greene, the team behind popular Irish dating site AnotherFriend.com, have opened up their checkbooks to acquire the U.K. dating site MakeFriendsOnline.com for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 2001, MakeFriendsOnline at times has been ranked among the top dating sites in the U.K.

Barry and Greene already have over 60% percent of the Irish online dating market, thanks to AnotherFriend.com.

In both Europe and North America, the cougar craze is in full swing. It seems there's no shortage of younger men looking to date older women and vice versa. More than 300,000 people have signed up for dating site CougarLife.com since it launched last February. CougarLife is a part of online dating network Avid Life Media, which also runs affairs site Ashley Madison. Avid Life Media president Noel Biderman told the Ottawa Citizen that CougarLife is “poised to make millions. I don't think we've ever launched anything with this much traction this soon." 

At CougarLife, young men slightly outnumber older women 52% to 48%. British online dating service, Parship, recently conducted their own cougar dating study. Their findings showed around 20% of men in their 20s and 30s said they would date an older woman.

All you affiliates out there, this next item is for you. The Affiliate Convention will be held Dec. 3-4 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles. Registration for affiliates is complimentary. This business conference and expo will cover affiliate marketing and advertising methods. The Affiliate Convention is produced by the same company that runs the Internet Dating Conference and Social Networking Conference events.

Finally, is eHarmony responsible for 2% of marriages in the United States? The Advertising Standards Authority is now claiming this percentage may be inaccurate. According to U.K. magazine MarketingWeek, eHarmony said the 2% marriage rate was extrapolated from an online study that drew 7,000 participants. The study was conducted by an independent market research company. However, the Advertising Standards Authority says eHarmony’s 2% figure is misleading, because it suggests a definitive number of marriages based upon a sole online study from several years ago.

That’s all for this week’s news roundup. For more online dating headlines and to read our interview with messmo CEO Brendan O’Kane, go to OPW1.com. There, you’ll also find our newly-compiled list of Twitter accounts from various online dating companies along with an update on open jobs at internet dating companies around the world.

This edition of Online Personal Watch’s Weekly News Roundup has been sponsored by Iovation. Iovation, helping companies expose cybercriminals and fight fraud with device reputation.

Tune in again next week as we bring you the latest and greatest from the world of online dating. No ads, no fluff, just raw news and CEO interviews. I’m Mark Brooks.  Thank you.

Internet Dating News Briefing #6

Online Personals Watch Weekly News Summary, May 11th, 2009 from Mark Brooks on Vimeo.

Welcome to the Monday May 11th Online Personal Watch Weekly News Roundup. I’m Mark Brooks, we're at Kings College in Cambridge, England, and this is what made industry news over the last several days.

Several dating sites have been launched this week, including eHarmony’s new site Compatible Partners. For a limited time, Compatible Partners is offering a free 6 month membership to anyone who joins. SNAP Interactive also announced the beta launch of their stand alone site for Are You Interested, which is currently available through Facebook as well as on the iPhone. MatchMakingInc.com is a new site for single entrepreneurs and business owners who want to meet like-minded singles. They also offer a number of live speed dating events hosted across the country.

Matchmaking website BharatMatrimony plans to grow by about 50% this year and will expand its online matrimony services to a couple of south Asian markets. The online matrimonial site is considering tapping countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, where the institution of marriage is quite similar to that in India. Most of the company’s services and business models that have been successful in India will be replicated in these foreign markets. BharatMatrimony recently launched the religion-based matchmaking services ChristianMatrimony and SikhMatrimony in addition to personalized services for the super-rich and celebrities called EliteMatrimony and BharatMatrimony Privilege.

Rumors have come in from multiple sources now that Userplane, the world’s premier social software provider for online communities, is closing up shop. It’s too small for AOL to consider selling, and apparently not worthwhile for them to continue running. Companies like Toksta and Ekko.tv stand to benefit from the void Userplane will leave. We received a number of comments on this post, including one from Jason Grunstra who stopped by the Userplane offices in Santa Monica this week to find all the doors locked and not a person in sight. Felix from Toksta also commented and invited Userplane members to a 15 day free trial at Toksta as well as a 10% lifetime discount for current Userplane members if they sign up by May 15. All signs point to Userplane being well on its way to gone, but we will keep you informed on any further information that pops up.

In 2007, OkCupid founder Sam Yagan decided to launch a marketing campaign in the form of a website called CrazyBlindDate.com to help drive traffic back to OkCupid. It did not go well in the beginning, but after it launched in New York, Boston and San Francisco, the media began to take notice. By early 2008, OkCupid had doubled its monthly userbase to about 2 million, with just over half a million active daters. CrazyBlindDate has become a dating site in its own right, and matches up singles for short-notice blind dates the same night. Yagan says he will continue to expand the CrazyBlindDate network and has tentative plans to integrate the two sites so users can access the CrazyBlindDate platform from OkCupid.

It's certainly not unusual for people to look for romance online. But should prisoners have the right to do just that? Thousands of them, many who will spend the rest of their lives in prison, have personal ads looking for love. But some family members of victims say that is just not right. Prisoners, themselves, are not allowed access to the Web, so they pay an Internet company to post the ad for them. Women either write directly to the inmate in prison or the company forwards the message. Some sites do include the crime the inmate committed, but not "Hot Prison Pals." Founder, Sam Wagner, said anyone who may be thinking of writing to inmates should do their own homework. The courts have repeatedly ruled that inmates have the right to send and receive mail, but many of the victim’s families feel that someone is put in prison to be punished for a crime, not to make new friends.

And finally, WealthyMen.com made news recently when one of the stars of the reality show “Real Housewives of New Jersey” planned to meet a potential new boyfriend she found using the site. Her date, who goes by the screen name “Guccilove”, sadly stood her up at the restaurant. Wealthy Men is a site for women looking to meet men who make over $100 grand a year. Perhaps she will have better luck next time.

That’s all for this week’s edition of OPW’s Weekly News Roundup. Tune in again next week as we bring you the latest and greatest from the world of online dating. No ads, no fluff, just raw news and CEO interviews served up daily. I’m Mark Brooks, from Kings College Cambridge, good afternoon.

Internet Dating News Briefing #4

Online Personals Watch News Summary #4, April 24th, 2009 from Mark Brooks on Vimeo.

Hello, and welcome to the Friday April 24th edition of Online Personals Watch’s Weekly News Roundup. Dobry den, we’re in Prague today, I’m Mark Brooks, and this is what made industry news this week.

Skyecandy is currently in the beta testing stages of a new speed dating service for the Internet phone provider, Skype. Skyecandy is a free service that matches members for 5 minute speed dates with real people all over the world. The service allows you to choose the number of consecutive dates you would like to have, rate your dates, and add successful matches to your Skype contact list. Users are currently being asked to provide Skyecandy with feedback on their experiences using the service in order to help them improve.

Markus Frind from Plentyoffish recently announced his decision to remove the instant messaging function from his website. Though the feature was popular with many users, Markus felt it was the biggest strategic mistake he’s ever made with the site. Within 4 days of removing instant messaging, Plentyoffish’s UK visits increased by 10% and Australia was up over 15%. Reactions from readers on Markus’ blog are fairly mixed, but most users seem to agree that removing the feature was a good idea.  If you’re thinking about pulling IM, bear this in mind.  I’d expect more traffic to result, initially from removing IM for your site.  Where else are users going to go but your other messaging alternatives.  But will they be happy not using IM?  What will the growth numbers look like in a month?

RSVP, Australia’s largest online dating site, reported a membership increase of 31% for the first quarter of 2009 as compared to the previous quarter. Male membership was up by 30% and female membership by 36%. A recent survey conducted of RSVP’s membership showed that most singles believe it to be far more expensive being on your own than in a relationship. This is yet another example of the global trend of growth in the online dating sector despite the global economic slowdown.

SNAP Interactive recently released their 2008 operating results that show a dramatic 609% increase for the fourth quarter 2008 compared to the same quarter in 2007. Additionally, they closed the year with $3 million in revenues and gross profits up 526% at $2.24 million. Cost of Revenue was up over 1000%, though total operating costs only increased 2.5% to $1.27 million. Though they tried to keep costs down during 2008, it was noted that “expansion and hiring of new programmers became necessary” as the company grew. The operating results were released just two weeks after SNAP announced the launch of their application “Are You Interested” on the iPhone.

According to two nationwide surveys conducted by Chinese dating site hongniang.com, mainland women interested in finding a foreign partner plunged from 42% to 16% over the past year. The global financial downturn is being blamed for this shift in interest away from Western men, who now appear to be financially unstable to Chinese women. Mixed marriages, which reached 400,000 last year, had been on a steady rise in China until the US subprime mortgage crisis started a global financial meltdown. Even though more Chinese women may now be looking for Chinese men as partners, the one-child policy and traditional preference for male children has created a gender imbalance that will leave 32 million men without any hope of marriage, according to a study published by the British Medicine Journal.

Having an affair just became easier with the launch of Ashley Madison’s mobile dating service. Though it is only in the Beta testing phase, several thousand people signed up within the first few hours of it becoming available. The site already boasts over 3.5 million members, but believes that number could reach 20 million with the continued adoption of phones that are capable of hosting the application. With the launch of Ashley Madison Mobile, cheating has become easier and more progressive than ever, allowing users to “Have an Affair. Anywhere.”

A new Christian dating site called JCMatch.com has just been launched, and they are making sure the Christian singles community takes note of their presence. The site offers monthly membership for $6.79 a month, with $1 of that going to their charitable organization, JCMatch.org. Members will vote at the end of each month on which project the money should be donated to. They have also launched an online magazine, A Time to Love, which members will have access to with their subscription to the site.

Things are beginning to look up for iovation, following a rough 2008. The struggles of a key customer forced the company to lay off 24 employees last fall, and new orders have been slow for several months. However, tough economic times usually cause an increase in fraudulent activity, and companies need to protect their bottom line now more than ever before. In 2008, Iovation’s systems stopped 3.5 million fraudulent activities, and surpassed 100 million acceptable devices for authorized transactions. In addition to catching credit card fraud, Iovation’s technology helps catch child predators, online stalkers, and those cheating at online games.

And finally, the site 7orbetter.com claims to take the guesswork out of dating, because size does matter, if you know what I mean. The site provides a way for above average men to meet women who have a greater appreciation for certain parts of their physique. They claim to separate the men from the boys, and let a woman know she will not be disappointed when she meets her match.

That’s all for this week’s edition of OPW’s Weekly News Roundup. Tune in again next week as we bring you the latest and greatest from the world of online dating. No ads, no fluff, just raw news and CEO interviews served up daily. I’m Mark Brooks, nashledanou from Prague.

Internet Dating News Briefing #2

Online Personals Watch News Summary #2, April 10, 2009 from Mark Brooks on Vimeo.

Hello, and welcome to the Friday April 10th 2009 edition of Online Personals Watch’s Weekly News Roundup. Bonjo Kiffinti, we're in sunny Malta today. I’m Mark Brooks, and this is what made industry news this week.

UK newspaper, The Daily Mail recently reported that due to the economic downturn, more and more people are turning to websites offering extramarital affairs as a means of stress relief. MarriedAndLooking is one such site that has seen a 25% increase in membership in the last 6 months. Site founder David Rees stated that since his site launched 8 years ago, infidelity has gone from being a niche market to verging on mainstream. Despite the increase in the numbers of married people looking for affairs, divorce rates are also down during the recession as many people cannot afford to make it on their own, and its cheaper to keep 'em.

A report from consultancy Plus Eight Star Ltd on virtual worlds in Asia has revealed that two Korean and two Japanese companies made over $500 million in 2008 through the sale of virtual goods on their websites. These virtual goods are primarily used to customize the user’s avatar or environment in the virtual world. Meanwhile, Charles Hudson, who runs the Virtual Goods Summit, put the market for virtual goods in the USA at $200 million. That's just 1/25th of the market in Asia, according to the blog, Virtual Goods News.  How much is your dating site making off virtual good today?  Anyone want some nice virtual roses? Your comments please.

According to Jupiter Research, the mobile dating and mobile chatroom market is predicted to grow to as much as $1.4 billion by 2013. Match.com and SNAP Interactive recently launched applications for the iPhone, which will help users find more dates on the go. SNAP’s Facebook platform “Are You Interested” already has more than 13 million users. Keep your eyes on Zoosk, Are You Interested, HotorNot and the Match applications, and lets see what they start doing with virtual currency.

On advertising, The Center for Media Research conducted a study using 30 second TV ads, full-page 4-color magazine ads and Internet banner ads along with eye-tracking software to determine if and how Internet ads were actually seen by respondents. They found that net recall of TV ads was almost twice that of magazine ads.  And the banner ads? Net recall of magazine ads was almost three times that of Internet banners and fully respondants didn't see 63% of the banner ads on the sites that they visited.  Though researchers noted that their sample sizes were relatively small, this warrants some consideration as you decide the best way to market your site. No wonder eHarmony and Match are doing so much offline advertising.

Events. Lock and Key Events seem to be having continued success, despite the state of the economy. These parties, which give women necklaces with small locks and give men necklaces with small keys, provide a great ice breaker and a chance to meet dozens of singles in a short period of time. No scientific or compatibility measures are used to match up the singles. It’s more about the luck of the draw and chemistry, and being outgoing enough to find the person who has your matching lock or key. Once attendees find their match, they turn in their lock and key for a new set, and they get a raffle ticket, which can win them prizes such as spa treatments or airline tickets. Events cost between $20 and $35, and have sprung in about 60 cities across the U.S.A.  Events are a double edged sword.  They can really help you get people talking, but if you do anything less than a fantastic event, well, mediocre events will only end up behind detrimental to your brand and a considerable drain on your time. What I really like about real world events is that you can get free advertising your site on the countless free events calendars online and in local newspapers. Its a very granular advertising approach, but its free, which is great for smaller dating sites scratching to get to critical mass. Meanwhile, virtual events are doing well. SpeedDate.com and Woome.com are continuing to grow consistently.  These sites allow users to take do first dates online by using web cams and instant messaging. Its time we saw the top tier sites offer online speeddating services, again. Match tried it back in 2004. They also offered real world events, but they pulled both soon after Jim Safka came on board and had Match focused on their core business in 2004.  

A new European survey by Parship found that when it comes to love, women are 27% more choosy than men, and Irish women are the fussiest of the bunch. However, British men, were found to be the least fussy. 71% of British men valued  brains, while 71% of zee  French men place d a higher importance on beauty than brains. They also found that 40% of women would not date a man who is unemployed, which is bad news in this economy, and 20% of women now expect their partner to earn more money than they do.

That’s all for this week’s edition of OPW’s Weekly News Roundup. Tune in again next week as we bring you the latest and greatest from the world of online dating. No ads, no fluff, just raw news and CEO interviews served up daily. I’m Mark Brooks, il journata i-taeb, from Malta.