Month: February 2005

Lycos Launches Dating Search

Posted on February 23, 2005

PRNEWSWIRE — Feb 23 — Lycos Dating Search http://www.datingsearch.lycos.com allows users to browse results from iMatchup.com, LoveAccess, Matchmaker, Tickle and True all in one place.  "Rather than searching on many different dating sites, online date seekers can now quickly narrow the available field of prospective matches on Lycos Dating Search.  We also reintroduced Lycos the dog and the familiar 'Go Get It' slogan," said Adam Soroca, GM Search Services.  50% of online daters evaluate more than one dating site during any given month. 

Mark Brooks: From an end user perspective this is a great service.  But, does Lycos Dating Search commoditize the online dating sites involved?  If many more sites jump on this bandwagon Lycos will be on to an extremely good thing. 

College; Internet Dating Expedites Meeting Process

Posted on February 23, 2005

SACRAMENTO STATE — Feb 23 — Online personals have become an alternative for college students looking for a more objective way to find dates.  Everybody should be familiar with the phrase “you get what you pay for.” Internet dating is no exception to this rule.

The Story of Money, Love and Friendster

Posted on February 22, 2005

ABS-CBN NEWS — Feb 22 — Friendster endured three CEO's during 2004 and has seen a spate of senior executives depart in recent weeks.  New CEO Scott Sassa "has figured out how to make a business of this," said John Doerr (VC Google, Amazon). Doerr said they would announce a partnership deal in February and "reach profitability within the next 90 days."  Friendster has 16 million registered users, MySpace has 7.6 million.  5x people visited MySpace as Friendster in December and they spent far more time there (Friendster – 17 mins, MySpace – 78 mins) according to Nielsen/NetRatings.  According to MediaMetrix, MySpace logged 2 billion+ page views last month compared to 152 million page views at Friendster.  "Unique visitors and page views drive revenues, not registered users," said MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe. MySpace now hosts sites for 110,000 musicians. Users IM, play games, contribute to blogs or browse events.  Geoffrey Yang, VC with Redpoint Ventures, said he is days away from investing in MySpace; "these guys in a sense are trying to be an MTV for the Internet."  Marissa Mayer, who manages Orkut, acknowledged that it and Friendster have "similar capabilities and similar limitations." 

Mark Brooks: Friendster has been out-Friendstered.  What has Scott Sassa got up his sleeve?  Your comments please?

Match.com; Senior Singles

Posted on February 20, 2005

WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL — Feb 20 — You were dating when Paul McCartney was a young rocker. Now you’re dating again and he’s an icon, which is what you are when you’re 62 and still get to rock the halftime show at the Super Bowl.  Match.com reports that memberships for ages 50 and over boomed by 322% from 2000 to 2003 and that about 10% of their total members are over 50. Older singles told a Match.com survey that intelligence is the most important personal characteristic, followed by fidelity, confidence and humor. 

Mark Brooks: SeniorFriendFinder is the category leader.  Spark Networks runs SilverSingles

Online Community Under Question; Pioneer Blogger Quits After 11 Years

Posted on February 20, 2005

SFGATE — Feb 20 — For 11 years, father of blogging, Justin Hall documented his life online at www.links.net.  Then he released a short film, "Dark Night."  Hall speaks directly into the camera.  He is visibly upset, crying at several points.  "What if intimacy happens in quiet moments?" he said. "I think the Web makes me not alone and I feed it my intimacies, and the Web is my constant connection to something larger than myself … but what if something you do, something you practice like religion as a dialogue with the divine, drives people away from you?"  Hall’s dramatic statement fits the scale of his endeavor.  He was one of the most committed advocates for the bonding powers of interactive, web-based writings. But now, his sudden expression of doubt over the Internet’s ability to foster intimacy marks a huge change in attitude from the one expressed in work over the past decade and shows that his philosophy may be evolving with the medium in which he works."  FULL ARTICLE @ SFGATE

Mark Brooks: This seemed a little off topic for OPW at first glance, but there’s a very powerful and important message here…  Online ‘community’ is a facade.  Community only comes into a truly fulfilling existence when people actually meet in the real world.  The promise of online personals sites > to put compatible people in front of each other, in the real world.  Your comments please…

MySpace Spammer Arrested

Posted on February 20, 2005

LA TIMES — Feb 19 — Spimmer arrested for broadcasting 1.5 million instant messenger ads on MySpace.com for pornography and cheap mortgages.  Federal prosecutors said it was the first criminal case involving this new form of spam — known as "spim."  Anthony Greco, 18, was arrested at LAX, where prosecutors lured him from his upstate New York home for a bogus meeting with MySpace president.  Greco had threatened to tell other spammers how he sent the unsolicited instant messages to MySpace users if he wasn’t given an exclusive marketing contract with MySpace, which has 9 million users.  about 1% of traffic on AOL Instant Messenger is spim.  Greco, faces 18 years in prison if convicted.  He was released under a $25,000 bond.

Willing to Buy a Little Help in Finding Love

Posted on February 20, 2005

TORONTO STAR — Feb 19 — It’s Just Lunch is a growing operation with annual revenue of more than $30 million, 70-odd franchises, and plans to expand all over the world.  Websites like match.com and lavalife are reportedly runaway successes and business darlings.  Tory Howat started Equal Chemistry in 2004 after deciding to turn her knack of knowing who would love whom into a business. The focus of her business is fitness: those people who are serious about sport and training (therefore have something in common right away).  FULL ARTICLE @ THE STAR

Mark Brooks: Many predicted the demis of traditional dating services with the rise of online personals.  Both seem to be faring well. 

A Date With Faith

Posted on February 20, 2005

HOUSTON CHRONICLE — Feb 18 — Thanks to everything from faith-based Internet dating sites to 1,000-member singles groups within congregations, spiritually minded solos across the country are looking to religion for love.  "It's not always so easy when you're single, so it gives them some common ground," said Diana Howard who estimates she has about 2,200 people on her Jewish Community Center singles mailing list. Faith is also an important factor for online daters at Soulmatch. Since launching in mid-2004, the site has picked up 100,000 users president Sujay Jhaveri.

Mark Brooks: Faith based sites represent one of the strongest online personals verticals.  Bigchurch, JDate, ChristianMingle and ChristianCafe.com are the market leaders.

Meet a Real-Life Hitch

Posted on February 20, 2005

USA TODAY — Feb 17 — Charges run the gamut – $45 for an e-mail, up to $250 for a phone consultation and as much as $1,500 for face-to-face meetings over a period of time.  Some will shadow a date and film the encounters to show their clients where they erred. Others take the Hitch approach and will even tutor on-the-spot with clever comebacks as they go to the grocery store or on errands with their clients.  David Wygant, for $10,000, will even move in for the weekend and provide 24/7 access to his wisdom for the next three months.  Dating gurus say well-educated professionals who are accomplished in the workplace but haven’t found the same rewards in their personal lives seem to be the most in need of advice.

Mark Brooks: And why not.  Choosing the right ‘one’ is the most important decision a person can make.  Pays to make a good decision.  Costly to make a bad decision.  Online personals companies are leaving money on the table, it would appear.  In time we’ll see more and more premium service emerge as online personals customers demand more and more.  eHarmony charges $50 a month.  Tip of the iceberg!

Japanese Alleged Offenses Tied to Online Dating Fell 9.2% in 2004

Posted on February 20, 2005

KYODO NEWS — Feb 17 — Alleged Japanese offenses related to online dating fell 9.2% in 2004 from the previous year to 1,582, while the number of victims younger than 18 in these cases dropped 15.1% to 1,085, reported the National Police Agency.  The declines were partly attributed to the introduction of a new law in September 2003 that bans online dating websites for soliciting sex involving minors.  The report showed that 96% of the victims accessed dating sites via mobile phones.  Warnings were issued to 47 website operators; cited for violations such as failing to stipulate that the sites were intended for adults. Prefectural authorities did not order any website operator to change their content. 

The full article was originally published at Yahoo Asia, but is no longer available.

Mark Brooks: 96% of the victims accessed the dating sites via mobile phones!?!