Month: December 2004

Guthy-Renker and PerfectMatch.com Partner to Create Infomercial

Posted on December 7, 2004

BUSINESS WIRE — Dec 7 — PerfectMatch.com today announced a unique partnership with direct-response powerhouse Guthy-Renker. The companies have combined to develop an infomercial starring actress and author Josie Bissett and Dr. Pepper Schwartz. Guthy-Renker is known for delivering award-winning quality products backed by a celebrity. BUSINESS WIRE

Mark Brooks: PerfectMatch touts it’s Duet matching/profiling system. eHarmony, Tickle and True are similarly positioned as direct competitors.  Match, FriendFinder and Yahoo Personals also have profiling sewn into their offerings.

FriendFinder Launches YoungAtHeart.com for Baby Boomer Singles

Posted on December 6, 2004

BUSINESS WIRE — Dec 6 — YoungAtHeart.com is the latest addition to the FriendFinder network, a series of customized destination sites designed to meet the unique cultural, religious, or demographic needs of individual communities. One out of three adults in the US is a Boomer born between 1946 and 1964, representing the largest, most important demographic group in America. BUSINESS WIRE

Mark Brooks: This brings the count to 19 online personals communities. ItalianFriendFinder.com was the last community to be added. FriendFinder seems to fly under the PR radar but is HUGE.

Match.com Europe’s #1 in Online Dating

Posted on December 4, 2004

LONDON — In its first report of pan-European Internet behaviour, independent measurement firm comScore Media Metrix ranked Match.com as the leading online dating site in Europe. According to comScore data, Match.com sites drew nearly four million visitors in October, over 60% more than its closest competitor. #1 Match.com sites 3,960,000 uniques, #2 Ilove.de 2,404,000 uniques, #3 Meetic 2,209,000 uniques, #4 MSN Dating and Personals 1,792,000 uniques, #5 Matchnet 1,310,000 uniques PRNEWSWIRE

Mark Brooks: I just returned from a trip to the UK. The internet, online personals and speed dating seem far more popular since my last visit 2 years ago.

UK Singletons Turn To Web For Dates

Posted on December 4, 2004

YAHOO NEWS UK & IRELAND — Broadband provider PIPEX asked 2,000 men and women what they would be using the Internet for in five years time, and discovered that 9% expected to be looking for love, compared with 6% of women. With 10% of British adults currently living alone, internet dating sites could be hosting almost five million single surfers by 2009. Londoners are the most likely to log on (13%), whereas those in the North will stick to more traditional techniques (just 5% expect to be looking for love online in the next five years).

Mark Brooks: Not virgin territory but still, good territory as the Brits warm up to online dating. The British market is a few steps behind the US market.

3rd Internet Dating Conference to be Held Jan 19-20 in Miami

Posted on December 4, 2004

NEW YORK — Ticonderoga Ventures, Inc. announces the third Internet Dating Conference, to be held on January 19-20, 2005 in Miami at the Wyndham Miami Beach Resort. Internet personals, which includes both online dating and social networking, continues to be one of the fastest growing online businesses.  The 3rd Conference and expo will focus on management, technology and marketing for the industry. Speakers at this event include executives from: Love.com, America Online, Cupid.com, Friendfinder, MingleMatch, True.com, Weblogs Inc, Userplane, Trilibis, Keynote, Market Data Enterprises, ComScore, Hitwise, Relationship Exchange, DatingRev, Spring Street Networks, One Real World, Online Personals Watch, Look Better Online, Did-It.com, SoHo Digital, Trufina and RevShare.

Mark Brooks: I'll be presenting on the most notable OnlinePersonalsWatch listed news in 2004.  See you there.

Proctor & Gamble and MySpace

Posted on December 4, 2004

NEW YORK TIMES — Dec 3rd — PROCTER & GAMBLE, the country’s largest advertiser and an eager pursuer of new marketing methods, has begun an experimental promotion for its Secret Sparkle deodorant using music stars’ personal profiles on a social networking Web site. Under the deal, the MySpace.com home page features a profile of the singer Hilary Duff accompanied by logos for Secret Sparkle, an extension of the Secret brand that went on sale a year and a half ago. Those who view Ms. Duff’s profile can try to win an iPod in the "Secret ‘Discover the Secret Strength of Today’s Hottest Rising Music Stars’ Sweepstakes," and sign up for more information on Secret Sparkle, other Procter & Gamble products or Ms. Duff. The promotion will feature a succession of other artists and their MySpace profiles. NY TIMES

Mark Brooks: Unbelievable. I just checked the Alexa rank for MySpace and nearly fell out my chair. MySpace, underdog ‘underground’ social networking site appears to have more traffic than Friendster now! Friendster vs MySpace

Elfster – Secret Santas Head Online

Posted on December 4, 2004

CONTRA COSTA TIMES — Two years ago, there was Friendster. At the beginning of the year came Catster for cats and Dogster for dogs. Now there's Elfster — to link elves with elves? Sort of. Computer programmer Peter Imburg of Oakland created the Web site to organize high-tech Secret Santa gift exchanges.

The full article was originally published at Contra Costa Times, but is no longer available.

Mark Brooks: It's amazing the breadth of spin-offs and copycats Friendster has inspired. Tired of Friendster? Try http://www.fiendster.com.  fyi… http://www.everyonesconnected.com was one of the few precursors to Friendster and part of Jonathan's (Founder) inspiration set.

October 2004 Comscore Rankings

Posted on December 4, 2004

Reuters — In October, eHarmony had 3.2 million uniques and was the fifth most-visited online dating site behind such providers as Yahoo Personals, which had 6.2 million uniques, and the Match.com, which had almost 5.5 million uniques, according to comScore Media Metrix. 

eHarmony and Friendster Launch Online Personals Matching System

Posted on December 4, 2004

BUSINESS WIRE — Nov. 30 –Friendster and eHarmony announced an exclusive partnership. The companies will jointly launch a co-branded matching service that will combine eHarmony’s patented Compatibility Matching System(TM) with Friendster’s vibrant 13-million member community to help Friendster members find love and long-term relationships.

Mark Brooks: So that’s how Friendster will make money! Nice move. Friendster gets a cut of eHarmony’s premium membership revenues without alienating their avid userbase. Still, MySpace has an even more avid, but slightly younger userbase. I wonder who they’re talking to?