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.
Hitwise has released their online dating rankings for October. In the United States, there was no change in the order of the top 10. PlentyofFish remained #1 in total site visits. Match came in second, followed by Singlesnet, Yahoo Personals, DateHookup, eHarmony, Adam4Adam, TRUE, SeniorPeopleMeet and BlackPeopleMeet.
Yet abroad, the big mover and shaker was Indian dating site Shaadi. In just a month, Shaadi leapt from #21 to #11 in the U.K. and #16 to #9 in Canada.
Also on the rise: Canadian versions of mainstream U.S. dating sites. While Match.com stayed steady at #4, Match Canada jumped up from #14 to #8 and Yahoo Personals Canada rose from #13 to #10.
October in Canada was not as kind to Christian Mingle and Singlesnet. Both sites plummeted five spots over the course of the month. Christian Mingle dropped from #7 to #12 and Singlesnet fell from #10 to #15.
There was more bad news for Christian Mingle. The site’s parent company, Spark Networks, reported revenue in the third quarter dropped by 21% to $11.1 million. That’s down from $14 million from the same period last year.
Paid subscriptions are also down by 12% from the third quarter of last year. Spark’s number of paying members now stands at around 187,000.
In terms of net income, Spark raised $1 million in the third quarter of 2009. That’s 5 cents a share. In comparison, Spark in the third quarter of 2008 brought in $1.7 million in net income, or 8 cents a share.
In addition to Christian Mingle, Spark also operates several other targeted sites, like BlackSingles and most significantly, their hallmark Jewish dating site, JDate. For more information on Spark’s third quarter results, visit opw1.com.
European dating network Meetic also published an earnings report this week. During the first nine months of 2009, the company was able to consolidate activity at Match International. In turn, Meetic’s revenue grew approximately 21% to 117.2 million Euros. In the third quarter alone, Meetic earned 47.1 million Euro in revenue and acquired 25,000 subscribers. For a more detailed look at Meetic’s recent earnings report, also head over to opw1.com.
Perhaps Spark and Meetic could increase their revenue by focusing on senior singles, a group now totaling 16 million, according to Senior-Dating.org. The site predicts that number will likely double within the next 30 years.
eHarmony’s membership statistics certainly support this prediction. The Detriot Free Press reports that eHarmony saw a 20% increase in users over 60 during the first quarter of 2009, compared with the same time last year. Another interesting statistic -- 40% of seniors now have a computer at home, according to Senior-Dating.org.
Let’s move on from senior singles and talk about Gelato. No, not the dessert. The new site that combines online dating and real-time search. Gelato users create profiles by importing information from their accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Netflix and more. In an interview with Online Personals Watch, Gelato founder Steve Odom explained why he thought his dating site was unique:
“We’ve all heard problems of people fibbing on their profile. Um, and Gelato it’s what you’re actually doing. Its stuff you’re doing at Twitter or Flicker, so it’s more authentic. You get a better idea of, um, who I really am. Instead of thinking about my favorite movies, ah, I can also write about them but also show you what I’ve rented at Netflix. And that tells you more; it gives you a much more richer view of what kind of movies I like.”
Gelato plans to eventually charge for premium memberships, which will include special features like match alerts and profile analytics.
Finally, you have until November 15th to get your nominations in for the 1st ever Internet Dating Industry Awards. Let your voice be heard. Submit your picks for the best dating site, best matchmaker, best dating software provider, most innovative company and more. Awards will be handed out in a special ceremony on Jan. 28 during the 7th Annual Internet Dating Conference in Miami.
This edition of Online Personal Watch’s Weekly News Roundup has been sponsored by Talkster. Talkster, your best option for robust anonymous calling solutions.
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.