Internet Dating Video News Summaries

Internet Dating Video News Summary #25

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 iTeleBill.

Match.com recently launched a new matching channel called My Match. My Match has several innovative features that should assist with complementing their overall search capabilities.

• The Daily 5 feature offers Daily introductions to people based on how likely they are to strike up a conversation with another person.
• The Mutual Match feature serves up daily introductions to people based on their stated preferences and their targeted match’s stated preferences.
• The Singled Out feature seems to be a more hands on service providing introductions made only when match believes there is a high likelihood that 2 people will hit it off.
• and the Like At First Sight feature provides introductions to people who are suspected to be immediately drawn to one another based off of responses to an online quiz regarding first impressions.

Match.com isn’t the only website on the launchpad however! Dating website BlackPeopleMeet.com recently debuted a magazine. The Magazine is free and doesn’t require any membership. It is filled with insightful advice to assist single African-Americans with dating and relationships.

Now for hookups and breakups!

Just in case you missed the post, Match.com unveiled their first work by advertising agency Mother since it was appointed to the account last October. The activity will use the Jack and Jill icons from previous ad campaigns telling their own love stories for the first time!

Love is a big part of online dating. That’s why WhiteLabelDating.com is teaming up with IntroAnalytics to spread more love! WhiteLabelDating.com is offering profile matching technology to all of its partners and brands looking to build online dating sites. The technology matches member profiles based on implicit behavior as they move around the site, rather than relying on user’s preferences or questionnaires.

Oxigen Services also partnered up with World Dating Partners to launch a new Matrimony site in India. The website, MyCupid offers a new alternative twist on “paid for” services with a cool concept called Oxicash. Oxicash should eliminate the need for a bank account or credit card under normal circumstances.

Moving on. Extramarital dating sites like AdultFriendFinder are booming with business lately. The websites owner, FriendFinder Networks is said to have more than 245 million members in over 170 countries. FriendFinder recently set the terms of an IPO filed in December of 2008. Florida-based FriendFinder said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that they plan to sell 20 million shares for $10 to $12 each. FriendFinder Networks commenced with the marketing for a $220M Flotation on the New York Stock exchange. They plan to use the offering proceeds to pay waiver fees and a portion of their debt.

Finally, the iDate2010 Miami conference is just days away! Remember to register online before Jan 22nd if you plan to attend the largest single gathering of online dating CEOs, Matchmakers, and social networking executives!

As a reminder, If you are genuinely interested in selling your company or making a cash purchase, be sure to head over to the iDate’s buyers and sellers session with prices in mind. The private session hosted by me will be held one day prior to iDate at the Miami conference center from 5:45pm to 7pm on Wednesday, January 27th.

That’s all for this week’s news roundup. To check out NBC New York’s interview with head matchmaker for Model Quality Introductions and President of VIP life’s Siggy Flicker and Lisa Clampitt, head over to OPW1.com.

This edition of Online Personal Watch’s Weekly News Roundup has been sponsored by iTeleBill. iTelebill, increase your revenue by adding choice, flexibility and anonymity to your billing options!

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 #16

OPW Weekly News Summary - Nov 5th, 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.

Despite the poor economy, online dating has continued to thrive. This includes related white label businesses. Ross Williams, founder of White Label Dating, even told Britain’s Real Business magazine that the recession “doubled my business.”

Williams in the interview said White Label Dating’s turnover doubled to 25 million pounds in 2009 and that he is expecting an additional 100 percent growth this year.

In the past five months, White Label Dating has unveiled 186 new dating sites, including ones for Borders, Cosmo and Men's Health. With these new launches, White Label Dating now runs more than 2,571 sites worldwide -- 1,138 of which are in the U.K.

Dating Factory, a new option for white label dating solutions, has also seen success. In a statement exclusively to Online Personals Watch, Dating Factory CEO Tanya Fathers, formerly of World Dating Partners, said:

“The DatingFactory.com project was launched during the recession mainly because we identified the online dating market as the one of the most recession-proof areas on the Internet. Our revenue in October has grown. One of the recipes for success for DatingFactory.com  is to focus on high profit non-English countries as well as traditional U.K., USA, and Far East  markets. This gives our partners opportunities to diversify their efforts to create an even more stableRe income during this time of recession.”

Who else is on the upswing during the recession? The mobile dating market is doing ok. Worldwide, it has grown from $330 million in 2007 to $550 million in 2008. Juniper Research predicts revenue will double to $1.3 billion by 2013.

A new mobile plug-in for Apple products is now available from Mamba, Russia’s largest dating service. Mamba.App gives users access to all the basic Mamba services, including search, IM and profile updating. Mamba has over 11 million members, with 80,000 online at any one time.

Moving on, let's have a look at an interesting magazine study of women and online dating. According to new polls from Self Magazine, online dating is currently most popular with middle-aged women.

68% of women over 51 use dating sites, as compared to just 29% of 18-25 year old women. And around 50% of women ages 26-50 use dating sites.

When it comes to looking for sex buddies online, middle-aged women are again leading the pack. 27% of women over 51 are using the Web to initiate intimate encounters, as compared to 12% of 18-25 year olds. 18% of women 26-35, and 21% of females 36 to 50.

Also of note, more than 30% of women aged 26 to 50 have flirted with a stranger online while in a relationship, according to the survey. OnlineBootyCall, Fling and other hookup websites tend to outperform many mainstream online dating sites in terms of the amount of traffic they receive. Last May, Match.com had 5 million unique visitors, while AdultFriendFinder had nearly 24 million and Fling 18 million.

Speaking of intimate encounters, Ashley Madison, a site that helps facilitate extramarital affairs, is beginning to attract more gay and bi-curious members. Of Ashley Madison’s 4.7 million members, more than 143,000 are looking for same-sex encounters. Two-thirds are women seeking women. The remainder are men looking for men.

Finally, there’s still time to submit your nominations for the first annual iDate awards. Categories include best dating site, best software provider, best matchmaker and best affiliate program. The awards will be held on January 28 during the Internet Dating Conference in Miami. To submit your nominations, please visit www.idate2010.com. The nominations and voting, I should note, are heavily weighted towards Internet Dating Executive Alliance members. So, if you're an executive at an internet dating company, please, we're counting on you taking a minute to nominate companies, and vote.

This edition of Online Personal Watch’s Weekly News Roundup has been sponsored by Viximo. Viximo, helping the internet dating industry to get their virtual gifting and virtual currency offerings right first time, profitably.

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 #13

OPW Weekly News Summary October 16th, 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.

Let’s begin by clearing up some confusion. Match.com was NOT hacked this week. What set off this false alarm? It started on Tuesday, when Match.com was down, and at the same time corp.match.com was forwarding to the homepage of GPS site Globe Track Wireless. It kinda looked like they had been hacked. The next day, Match set the record straight. The company had been in the middle of an upgrade, and a human error on their end caused the accidental redirect. The CEO of Hausertech commented on OPW and helped provide additional clarification and assurance. So, Match.com was not hacked.

We have an update on the U.S. online dating rankings from September. According to Hitwise, the top five most-trafficked sites remained, in order, PlentyofFish, Match.com, Singlesnet, Yahoo! Personals and DateHookup.com. eHarmony moved into the #6 position, bumping gay dating site Adam4Adam down a spot.

In the top 25, the biggest jumps were Mate1 and Zoosk. Mate1 moved from #15 to #12, and Zoosk rose from #20 to #17.

Mingle2 had one of the biggest falls, dropping from #16 to #19. Also falling three spots was Dream-Marriage.com, from #19 to #22.

Show me the money. That’s probably what some of FriendFinder’s investors are saying. The company had around 81 million dollars in debt at the parent level as of June 30. It also had approximately 442.1 million dollars in debt in connection with its acquisition of Various.

However, FriendFinder Networks announced this week that it intends to finish its IPO process by year’s end. In a press release, the company said “The primary purpose of this offering is to repay some of our outstanding debt, including certain debt held by our affiliates.”

FriendFinder operates the AdultFriendFinder network, as well as about two dozen other dating and networking sites.

While FriendFinder needs money, virtual goods companies could soon be raking it in. A new study shows total U.S. market size for virtual goods will hit 1 billion dollars this year. That’s nearly double the amount from 2008. The report by Justin Smith, editor of InsideFacebook.com and Charles Hudson of Serious Business, also projects that virtual goods sales will reach 1.6 billion dollars in 2010.

Now for our weekly hook-ups and break-ups segment. No break-ups to report this week, only new couples. One is Match.com and Mother advertising agency. Being the good “Mother” that it is, the agency will be reviewing Match’s entire U.K. advertising plan. Match spent 6 million pounds on TV, outdoor and radio ads last year, according to Nielsen.

High-end publisher Conde Nast also had a high-profile hook-up this week. Conde Nast just launched its new dating site, TrulyMadlyDating.com. The site is now teaming up with Glamour.com and GQ.com. The goal is to bring together Glamour’s fashionistas with the clothing-conscious male readers of GQ.

Last, but not least, White Label Dating has a new feature that addresses concerns over outdated profile photos. Users can now upload a photo directly to a partner’s site using their Webcam. The photo is then stamped with a date.

That’s all for this week’s news roundup. For more headlines and to check out the latest iDate job postings, head over to OnlinePersonalsWatch.com. Then 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.