Month: June 2006

Dating Direct UK Newspaper Deal

Posted on June 2, 2006

Datingdirect_6REVOLUTION MAGAZINE — June 2 — Trinity Mirror will provide Dating Direct content and access to dating services through the online editions of The Daily Mirror, the People and the Daily Record (3.7m subscribers). A World Cup Survival Guide, Dating Toolkit and a Hot Date of The Week will follow.

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

Mark Brooks: Locking up major channels with big name media is a winning strategy for the long term…and for improving conversions in the short term. Users like to see these kinds of alliances. It makes them feel more warm and fuzzy about parting with their pounds. Another A1 distribution deal for Dating Direct. Match has been very strong with this kind of business development distribution deal in the past.

$2m Awarded to Lonely Heart Who Lost $125,000 to Dating Agency

Posted on June 1, 2006

THE GUARDIAN — June 1 — Orly the Matchmaker is a "high-end matchmaking service catering to celebrities, royalties, famous people and all wonderful single men and women out there." Anne Majerik, a 60-year-old widowed social worker saw an ad in an in-flight magazine but the search for romance ended in disillusion and finally court. This week a jury in Los Angeles awarded Ms Majerik $2.1m (£1.1m) in damages. Majerik's lawyer said, "She's developed a niche out there to prey on women who are lonely or divorced." The size of the jury's award is unprecedented. "I hear of high-end matchmaking firms charging tens of thousands of dollars a year," said Mark Brooks, the editor of onlinepersonalswatch.com. "But to pay $100,000-plus, that's just not wise."  Ms Hadida plans to appeal. FULL ARTICLE @ THE GUARDIAN

Mark Brooks: Orly is giving reputable matchmakers a bad name. I can understand $10's of thousands for high-end service, but $100k+. Obscene. Buyer beware. Great Expectations, It's Just Lunch, The Right One/Together Dating, and Table for Six are examples of exemplary, well established, real world services. $2500, ok. $25k, hmm?  $125k, crazy! 

Old-School Network Tries New Ad Model

Posted on June 1, 2006

Cm_logoYAHOO NEWS — May 30 — Classmates (10 years old, 40 million members) will turn users favorites links into advertiser links. e.g. a visitor to a profile listing Shakira as a favorite artist could click on 'Shakira' to hear a song for free, courtesy of RealNetworks' Rhapsody, which sponsors the section. United Online bought Classmates.com for $100 million in October 2004.