Month: February 2005

Tech-Savvy Singles Find Online Personals Nothing Like Real Thing

Posted on February 13, 2005

Marycom_logo SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS — Feb 13 — Nearly all of the 1,650 new Bay Area members who joined Table for Six in 2004 were singles who stopped fishing online, said owner Julie Paiva. "A big reason why someone does online dating is to expand their social life,'' said Paiva. "But they find out what they're mostly doing is spending time in front of a computer screen."  Cali, for one, paid for memberships at five sites before pulling the plug. “If you're serious about finding someone, you have to spend money and stick around to make the effort,'' she said.  In 2000, when eHarmony homed in on the population of serious daters — armed with a 436-question personality test — many of its competitors laughed.  EHarmony's algorithms for romance struck a chord; boasts a membership of 6.5 million, up from 1 million in 2003. Yahoo Personals, True, PerfectMatch.com and Tickle followed suit with their own love alchemy tests. At ColorCupid members are matched based on color preference tests.  Mary.com launched this month offering compatibility testing,  background checks and certified photos taken by its photographers to ensure people look like their photos.

The full article was originally published at Mercury News, but is no longer available.

Mark Brooks: Mary.com, what a great name!

Online Dating Losing Steam, But Not for Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 13, 2005

WASHINGTON POST — Feb 12 — Hopeful singles still flock to online dating services such as Match.com, owned by InterActiveCorp — the company reported a 9% increase in paid subscribers in Q3 2004 over Q3 2003.  Revenue was up 3%, to $49.7 million, but operating income was off 37%, at $2.8 million. The drop was due to higher marketing costs and other expenses needed to attract customers.  Jupiter Research forecasts that the online dating market will increase 9% in 2005 to $516 million.

eHarmony Celebrates Marriages

Posted on February 13, 2005

PRNEWSWIRE — Feb 11 — eHarmony today announced it will send exclusive wedding gifts to couples who meet and marry through eHarmony.  The first gift will be a Heart Bowl from Tiffany & Co.

Mark Brooks: Nice touch.  Match.com just announced their new site featuring successful singles at success.match.com.

People Behaving Badly

Posted on February 13, 2005

METRO SANTA CRUZ — Feb 11 — John claims to have dated more than 200 women from various dating websites over the past five years in his earnest search for a wife. “I will usually e-mail about 10 listings on a website. Of those, maybe three or four will reply. You’ve got to be careful with terminology, differentiating between a coffee date and a first date. About 50% of first dates have led to second or third dates.” FULL ARTICLE @ METROACTIVE

Video Clips Aim to Steer Cupid’s Arrows

Posted on February 13, 2005

ASSOCIATED PRESS — Feb 12 — After exchanging instant messages and digital photos through an online dating site, he flew to Houston to meet what he hoped would be a beautiful soul mate. What he found was a flabby misanthrope with an apparent drinking problem. "I decided right then that I needed more information before I'd go on another date with someone I met online."  New policy: He'll only date women who post videos or use Web cameras in virtual chat rooms.  Videos are gaining popularity among the estimated 20 million Americans who visit online dating sites each month. Nearly one in four U.S. singles have used online dating services, according to Date.com.  Only 10% of 2.8 million active users at True.com post videos, but the percentage is rising quickly and online profiles with video get more hits than those without.  "Online daters go on a lot of first dates but not many seconds," Compagno said. "More information almost always is better."  PerfectMatch.com (1.5 million-members) doesn't allow videos. Nor does eHarmony.com. It didn't accept photos until 2001 and will probably never accept videos, said senior VP Marylyn Warren. "Chemistry fogs your brain a little bit," Warren said. "If you see someone who is drop-dead handsome or beautiful, you might forget that she cheated her way through school or he tells lies or does the kind of things that break up a marriage. We need to get at the true character of a person without emphasis on photos and videos."

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

Mark Brooks: Great chemistry is hugely multifaceted, at the core of great relationships, and nigh impossible to predict.  Personality profiling distinguishes someone as a great potential friend.  The rest is up to chemistry.  Your comments please…

Looking For Love in Cyber Places

Posted on February 13, 2005

BANKRATE — Feb 11 — Internet dating is by far the most common, and least expensive, matchmaking method. There's something for everyone, from AmericanSingles.com, Match.com and Yahoo! Personals to the more specialized.  With fees starting at $10,000, single men can use Selective Search and receive the "white glove treatment." Staff members are all former corporate recruiters and the company uses the same executive-search model as headhunters to find women to introduce to the men. "If you think about a traditional dating service, it's flawed in the sense that it's such a limited pool to pick from," says Adler.

Mark Brooks: See the future.  Well heeled singles will shell out more money for higher end services online. 

Looking For Love in Cyber Places

Posted on February 13, 2005

BANKRATE — Feb 11 — Internet dating is by far the most common, and least expensive, matchmaking method. There's something for everyone, from AmericanSingles.com, Match.com and Yahoo! Personals to the more specialized.  With fees starting at $10,000, single men can use Selective Search and receive the "white glove treatment." Staff members are all former corporate recruiters and the company uses the same executive-search model as headhunters to find women to introduce to the men. "If you think about a traditional dating service, it's flawed in the sense that it's such a limited pool to pick from," says Adler.

Mark Brooks: See the future.  Well heeled singles will shell out more money for higher end services online. 

HIV-Positive Love at POZ.com

Posted on February 13, 2005

PRNEWSWIRE — Feb 11 — America’s leading AIDS publication will launch POZ Personals, a free online "dating-plus" site for PWAs.  Launched in 1994, POZ is an award-winning national magazine with a monthly readership of 100,000.   www.poz.com 

HIV-Positive Love at POZ.com

Posted on February 13, 2005

PRNEWSWIRE — Feb 11 — America’s leading AIDS publication will launch POZ Personals, a free online "dating-plus" site for PWAs.  Launched in 1994, POZ is an award-winning national magazine with a monthly readership of 100,000.   www.poz.com 

Still Single In The City

Posted on February 13, 2005

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR — Feb 9 — Some believe that because of the sheer number of people, large cities are the perfect place to meet someone special. But finding love can actually be harder in urban areas, according to a study conducted by Edward O. Laumann, professor of sociology at the University of Chicago.  Part of the challenge is that people move around more – often for jobs – so the social networks are more fragmented than in smaller towns. Becoming part of a desirable group isn’t as easy.  Chicagoans are twice as likely to meet their significant others through friends or family members as at a bar.  By the time men reach 40, they typically are interested in women who are eight years their junior.  Men outnumber women in every age group through the 35-to-39 age group.  "The majority of our members are in larger cities," explains Kristin Kelly of match.com. People who live in smaller areas must often widen their nets to a 50- or 100-mile radius.  FULL ARTICLE AT CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR