Month: May 2006

China iDate2006 Overview

Posted on May 22, 2006

CinaThe Asian internet dating convention was held in Beijing, China last week. Here’s the pics. Notable dating site presenters included the CEO’s of leading social networking site YeeYoo, and dating sites Baihe, SinoFriends, Bharat Matrimony, Love21. Also speaking were payment services companies 99Bill, and YeePay, along with innovative mobile applications company Pingco. The final executive panel agreed that for 2005 Asian online dating market stood at $50 million to $200 million US depending on whether or not mobile flirt applications were included. This is up from estimates of $40 to $100 million for 2004. Asian market analyst iResearch will present firmer numbers later this year. In short, the Chinese market is hot, but is somewhat limited by lack of trust in, and availability of, online billing mechanisms. Mobile billing is capped by China Telecom at 10 to 20 Yuan a month (8 Yuan per US$). Next years Asian internet dating convention will most likely be in Tokyo in May 2007 and will cover mobile dating. – Mark Brooks

AOL Introduces Video Social Networking Site

Posted on May 22, 2006

Aol_videoTECH WEB NEWS — May 16 — AOL quietly rolled out a video social networking community on Monday; AOL UnCut. No one under 18 years of age can use the service. AOL will offer mobile device uploads to the site from with help from VideoEgg's video publishing technology. FULL ARTICLE @ SMALL BUSINESS PIPELINE

Spark Relaunches BlackSinglesConnection as BlackSingles

Posted on May 22, 2006

African_singlesPR NEWSWIRE — May 16 — The new BlackSingles launches with over 250,000 active members and enhanced searching capabilities. Spark Networks operates ~25 online personals communities focused on religious, ethnic or special interest groups – JDate, AmericanSingles, Relationships, PrimeSingles.

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

Top 15 Social Networking Sites

Posted on May 22, 2006

COURIER POST ONLINE — May 16 — 1. MySpace 75.6% market share, 2. TheFaceBook 8.3%, 3. Xanga 7.3%, 4. MSN Spaces 1.8%, 5. Yahoo! 360 1.4%, 6. hi5 1.4%, 7. Tagged 1.3%, 8. Sconex 1.1%, 9. Bebo 0.7%, 10. Friendster 0.6%, 11. TagWorld 0.2%, 12. CrushSpot 0.2%, 13. Bolt 0.1%, 14. XuQa 0.1%, 15. VidLife 0.1%.

MyYearbook Growing Fast

Posted on May 22, 2006

MyyaerbookASBURY PARK PRESS — May 16 — MyYearbook was launched in 2005 by a brother and sister, ages 17 and 16. Within a week of their start date ~200 people from their school joined. They are adding ~4,000 members a day from all over the world and have 700,000+ users. In February, comScore Media Metrix reported myYearbook was growing ~43% a month in the 12-24 age group. MyYearbook's membership drive consists of word-of-mouth marketing and an affiliate program that allows users to refer new members for $1 for each registrant referred. In April an investor purchased a 10% stake for $1.5 million.

Mark Brooks: Piczo and Hi5 are also strong in the teen market.

Security Secrets and Strategies

Posted on May 17, 2006

Bodypic120805b_3THE MBO — May 15 — The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), announced the beginning of a national awareness campaign titled, "Help Keep Kids Connected and Protected" to educate teachers and parents about safe online practices for teens using social networking sites or online communities.

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

eHarmony Hires CMO

Posted on May 17, 2006

Eharmony_6_2ADWEEK — May 15 — eHarmony has tapped Philip Armstrong former Ditech marketing executive as its first chief marketing officer. Armstrong said his arrival would not signal agency changes. eHarmony uses independent direct-response specialist Donat/Wald for TV and radio ads, Omnicom Group’s Tribal DDB, for online efforts and Ocean Media for buying and planning duties and spent $60 million+ on advertising in 2005, per TNS Media Intelligence.

MySpace Will Sell Videos

Posted on May 16, 2006

Myspace_19Myspace will start selling episodes of its Fox TV series 24 on MySpace.com starting next week for $1.99 per download. The online video market is expected to reach $1.7 billion in revenue by 2010, according to research firm IDC.

Mark Brooks: Youtube is stealing some of Myspace’s thunder. Nice move Myspace. 24 is a GREAT show btw! I always watch it on DVD to avoid the pesky ads every 5 mins at the end of each episode.

CollectiveX Serves Organized Groups

Posted on May 16, 2006

 CasesBUSINESS WIRE –May 15 — New service combines secure communications and social networking for organized groups such as alumni associations and non-profits.

Mark Brooks: Cool, I wondered when a social network would spring up to serve groups more effectively. I've been using http://www.goclubexe.com for a few years now for my club http://www.ace-club.com.

MySpace’s Meteoric Growth Might be its Own Undoing

Posted on May 15, 2006

Myspace_19STAR TELEGRAM — May 14 — "It got too fake," 18 year old Summer Stoker said. "You have all these people saying they want to be your friend. It's just a waste of time." MySpace is the third most-visited Web site in the country after Yahoo and Google, according to Alexa. Some say MySpace's fast growth is destroying the site's sense of community, and a host of competitors hope to take advantage of the possible fallout. Why did Friendster fizzle? Friendster was slow to respond to what users wanted, such as the ability to incorporate media into their profile. Friendzy.com was an all-purpose social-networking site that attracted more than 50,000 members in six months. "We poured $600,000 into Friendzy without having a completed business plan," Chang said. "I was a little naive." Of the many networks still striving for a future, three appear to have arisen as potentially sustainable businesses. MySpace, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Mark Brooks: …and Bebo, and hi5, and Piczo.  Ryze is doing ok.