Month: February 2005

Old-school dating service for the cyber-averse

Posted on February 19, 2005

MIAMI HERALD — Feb 14 — It’s Just Lunch has stuck in there, and today claims a presence in 75 cities.  $1,500 annual membership for 14 lunch dates. An hourlong face-to-face interview follows.  Discretion is built into the system. Pannucci works with about 50 restaurants, where she has an understanding with the maitre d’: No one is to utter, ‘It’s Just Lunch.’  After the date, Pannucci’s staff calls clients to get feedback about whether it was a good setup. ”That’s what separates us from all the other services out there: the personal touch,” she said.  She advertises in the Miami New Times and seven airline magazines, and is listed in the Yellow Pages. Members who enroll a friend get an extra first date. She currently has a total of 1,000 members, she said.

Mark Brooks: $1500 a year to meet singles who are screened and really serious about not being single…and can afford $1500.   

Married vs Single

Posted on February 19, 2005

FORBES — Feb 14 — Marital status of the U.S. population; 53.5% married, 28.6% never married, 11.7% divorced or separated, 6.2% widowed (US Census 2003). Living arrangements of U.S. households; 28.2% married without children, 23.3% married with children, 16.4% other family households i.e. unmarried parents, 15.2% women living alone, 11.2% men living alone, 5.6% unmarried/unrelated roomates (US Census 2003).  Married adults are less likely to smoke, drink heavily or be physically inactive.  However, married men are more likely to be overweight or obese than other men (Center for Disease Control and Prevention's report "Marital Status and Health: U.S. 1999-2002).  Median annual adult income in U.S., married $27,605, single $17,057 (US CENSUS BUREAU 2004).  The probability of a first marriage ending in separation or divorce within five years is 20%.  After 10 years 33%.  The probability of a premarital cohabitation breaking up within five years is 49%.  After ten years it's 62% likely  (Center for Disease Control's National Center for Health Statistics 2002).  Several studies suggest married people live longer, but is has yet to be proven decisively.  An unusually high proportion of – about 15% – of female centenarians never married.

Finding Love Online

Posted on February 19, 2005

BERKSHIRE EAGLE — Feb 14 — The stigma attached to online dating has waned, many say, although it is still approached with caution. Some say interest in it has diminished as well, as more singles return to the old-fashioned face-to-face dating scene.  Still, within 30 miles of Pittsfield, Match.com, a high-profile dating service, has 34 screen pages of men seeking women and 34 pages of women seeking men.

Mark Brooks: People are starting to be surprised when their friends ‘aren’t’ using online personals. 

Online Dating Good For Romance

Posted on February 19, 2005

BBC — Feb 14 — Bath University psychologist, Jeff Gavin, surveyed 229 online daters.  He told BBC News that 4% were already married.  UK-based internet dating agencies have an estimated six million subscribers.  only 9% of chatroom users chose to converse via a webcam, most "shying away" in favour of "text-based relationships."  Almost one in five of those interviewed had started a relationship lasting more than a year via a dating website.  Male website customers tended to be "more committed" than female ones, as subsequent chatroom conversations gave them a way to express their feelings which did not normally exist.  FULL ARTICLE @ BBC NEWS

Jambo Launches WiFi Social Software

Posted on February 18, 2005

BUSINESS WIRE — Feb 13 — Jambo Networks announced a service that enables people with common interests and WiFi-enabled devices to meet each other when nearby.   "Jambo takes advantage of a little-known ‘ad hoc mode’ in WiFi cards, which allows people to use their devices to directly communicate with each other, whether they are in a WiFi-enabled area or not, so Jambo keeps searching for personal matches, whenever a laptop or other portable device is active — even on an airplane at 30,000 feet," said co-CEO Jim Young.  Travelers will be able to communicate with any other Jambo member throughout the La Guardia airport in a few weeks.

Mark Brooks: Proximity based wireless services hold great promise for the online personals services of the future.  (Check out the Mobile/Wireless internet dating conference) 

Online Personals Sites Customer Experience Ranking

Posted on February 18, 2005

BUSINESS WIRE — Feb 14 — Yahoo! Personals, Match.com and True.com provided the best search functionality and dating information, earning the highest customer experience rankings. Yahoo! Personals, AmericanSingles and eHarmony ranked highest among prospective customers.  The Keynote Customer Experience Rankings are based on research with 2,000 customers and 2,000 prospective customers using American Singles, Black Planet, eHarmony, Friend Finder, Friendster, Lavalife, Match.com, PerfectMatch, Tickle, True and Yahoo! Personals.  "Consumer satisfaction with online dating sites is considerably lower than satisfaction levels seen with other online services. However, these diminished satisfaction levels are driven primarily by the personal expectations of the customer and their interaction with other members," said Dr. Bonny Brown. The best sites were well organized and easy to use.  Poorer sites were cluttered with ads or heavy text.  83% of start at a search engine. A clear advantage for Yahoo! Personals; 40% started at Yahoo.  eHarmony was the most common destination for Google searchers.  50% of customers expressed interest in personality tests, 50% in physical attraction testing. 45% interested in background checks.  30% of online dating service customers in the study were married or living with a significant other/partner!  Tickle is considered the "fun" site; 73% described the site that way. Yahoo! Personals is considered the "friendly" site (76%), and True is the "safe" site (69%).

Mark Brooks: How did Keynote end up with a sample set containing 30% non-singles?

True Ranks Among Top for Customer Satisfaction

Posted on February 17, 2005

PRNEWSWIRE — Feb 14 — True.com today was named one of the top three dating sites for customer experience in an in-depth study conducted by Keynote Systems. True was chosen by 69% of study participants as the "safe" site.  The resulting rankings are based on research with 2,000 customers and 2,000 prospective customers.  61% were concerned that other members were misrepresenting themselves and 45% expressed a desire to have access to background checks on other members. 50% of study participants also vocalized an interest in personality tests.

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

Posted on February 17, 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!?!

Online Dating Rekindling Love

Posted on February 16, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE — Feb 14 — "A lot of services said, 'Hey, put in your $25, pull the handle and get your partner,' " said Joe Cohen, chief operating officer for Match.com, a leading online personals site. "It's not that simple. "People were turned off because expectations were raised so high," he added. "Web sites could only under-deliver."  To revitalize the industry, some dating Web sites are refocusing on users who want serious relationships.  "This market is saturated," said Nate Elliot, an analyst for Jupiter Research. "You have all the online dating sites you're ever going to need." Lorna Borenstein, vice president and general manager of Yahoo Personals, said her business hasn't slowed, as some other companies' has. She attributes the continued growth to Yahoo's giant reach and several new features in the personals area.  FULL ARTICLE @ YAHOO

Mark Brooks: New/startup online personals companies should either shoot for a very targeted niche, or secure $5 million+ of marketing funding.

Love Growing Strong On Web

Posted on February 14, 2005

USA TODAY — Feb 14 — The industry has grown so fast that Hitwise foresees a shakeout. Says Mark Brooks, who runs Online Personals Watch, "I think we're moving into the first stages of maturity."  So companies are trying, like the most desperate bachelor in the bar, to stand out. Those who market love on the Internet are increasingly wooing customers by giving personality and compatibility tests.  For the strongest players, the cyberspace dating game remains lucrative. In December, for instance, eHarmony attracted $110 million from two venture-capital firms. "What kind of metrics must eHarmony have shown the VCs to get $110 million?" asks Brooks.  JupiterResearch says online-dating revenue hit $473 million in 2004, up from $396 million in 2003. <On background checks>…"That's a solution looking for a problem," complains Jim Safka, the new CEO of rival Match.com. But some competitors grudgingly admire the marketing strategy. "It was brilliant," says Nelson Rodriguez, CEO of LoveAccess.com. "You try to legislate into law your business model."  True's CEO Herb Vest warns: "If a person is married or a criminal, they best go somewhere else." True says it intends to prosecute married people who masquerade as singles.  "We don't think of ourselves as an online-dating service," says Greg Forgatch, CEO of eHarmony. "We're all about helping people get married and get married well."  Yahoo has launched Personals Premier, a $35-a-month service with advanced searching and matchmaking and a personality test. IMatchup.com has unveiled a handwriting-analysis feature.  Niche sites proliferate.  "I'm not promoting Cupid.com anymore; I'm pitching DesMoines.Cupid.com," says Cupid.com CEO Eric Straus.