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.