OPW — Aug 25 — I took a look over PlentyofFish this morning to see Markus is listing PlentyofFish as the, "3rd Largest Dating site in the world, larger than all other free dating services combined." Looking at the Hitwise rankings…he’s certainly larger than all the other free dating sites combined at this stage, but for the world? What free dating sites do you know of worldwide? Your comments please. I just came across Amoureux which is big in France and makes it’s money off advertising and mobile usage fees. – Mark Brooks
Month: August 2006
Delightful New Social Network, OurStory
OPW — Aug 25 — A friend referred me to OurStory.com, which allows users to upload a multimedia chronology of their life. The free service allows photos and social networking. The paid service allows video. Thought provoking questions help open up users lives one easy question at a time. "What childhood memory still makes you laugh, even today?" "Describe your circle of friends around the time of your thirtieth birthday." OurStory is a delightful (and viral) social network geared towards the mature ( i.e. non-teens) audience. – Mark Brooks
Instant-Messaging Aggregators
PC MAG — Aug 24 — The five utilities reviewed work with AIM, ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo! IM. When you chat with other users of BlowSearch Secured Messenger 2.1.0, your conversation is encrypted for security. The free, heavily ad- supported version uses 56-bit encryption. The open-source Gaim 1.1.4 handles nine IM systems and multiple accounts on each service. Dozens of plug-ins are available. Instan-t 4.5 serves as a free taste of the company's private IM service. It's online so you can use Instan-t anywhere just by logging in. Instan-t offers multiperson chat and audio/video messaging. Java-based Pexit! 2.5 offers IM aggregation and much more—too much more, as it turns out. Its configuration dialog is daunting, with over a dozen tabs of confusing options. Pexit!'s saving grace is its ability to create a multiperson chat across different IM services. Trillian 3.1 configuration is easy. Audio chat is available. For $25, Trillian Pro adds video conferencing, recording of audio/video chat, and various plug-ins. FULL ARTICLE @ PC MAG
Mark Brooks: I tried Gaim but ended up using the paid version of Trillian for the last two years. Meebo isn't mentioned here but is worth a lookin. I'm using their widget service at http://www.pingmark.com. Instant-t is their direct competitor, but I'd rather trust Meebo, a Sequoia back startup, with my logins. Gizmoproject.com (live on Livejournal.com shortly) offers an alternative to Skype (live on Bebo.com). Userplane is the gold standard for online community instant messaging and audio/video. Userplane was just acquired by AOL.
Sony Pictures Buys Video-Sharing site, Grouper.com
USA TODAY — Aug 23 — Sony Pictures Entertainment announced today that they have acquired video sharing site Grouper.com, for $65 million, in an effort to compete with the online video boom. FULL ARTICLE @ USA TODAY
Mark Brooks: Guba, BitTorrent, YouTube and Revver are competitors.
MySpace Founder Invests in China
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER — Aug 24 — Brad Greenspan founded eUniverse in 1999, which housed dozens of Internet sites including MySpace. He objected to the $580 million sale of MySpace to News Corp. (revenue was skyrocketing, the price tag was too low) and has now trained his sights on China. He's founded BroadWebAsia, which has in turn taken stakes in 20 Chinese Internet companies that focus on entertainment and — like MySpace — social networking. Brad credits the promotional power of the eUniverse sites, in particular its dating sites, for allowing MySpace to overrun Friendster. His China investments so far have ranged from $200,000-$3 million and all have been financed through BroadWebAsia, which employs 15 people in offices in L.A. and Shanghai. He intends to raise $50 million through private equity or the public markets in the U.K. or China and invest in Asian companies outside of China. About 120 million people in China have Internet access, ~10% of the population, so the growth potential is phenomenal.
Microsoft Signs Ad Deal with Facebook
MARKETING VOX — Aug 23 — Using its online advertising platform, Microsoft will provide banner ads and sponsored links to Facebook, starting early fall and running through mid-2009. Microsoft launched adCenter in May to compete with Google and Yahoo. Earlier this month, Google struck a $900 million advertising deal MySpace. (Advertising group IPG took a 0.5 percent stake in Facebook earlier this year.)
The full article was originally published at Marketing Vox, but is no longer available.
Card Based Dating Site Launches in Ireland
GALWAY — Aug 23 — With checkmeout.ie, people log onto the website and fill out a questionnaire. They are then sent out cards with a website address along with a pin number. If they see someone out they like, they can simply hand them the card, which allows them to see their details on-line. They can chat on-line and exchange emails.
Mark Brooks: Why hasn't one of the major services (i.e. Match) partnered with Vistaprint to offer this quaint service. You'd think it would be great for word-of-mouth marketing.
Instant Message Mark Brooks
OPW — Aug 23 — I'm trying out Meebome. Meebo (funded by Sequoia Capital) is a hosted/online alternative to Trillian, which allows users to consolidate their instant messaging accounts into one IM system. AIM, Yahoo IM, MSN Messenger, all in one place. Meebome allows users to add an instant messaging box to their HTML-enabled profile. – Mark Brooks
SingleParents.ie Launches for Irish Audience
OPW — Aug 22 — SingleParents.ie was conceived and developed by web entrepreneurs Kevin Green (a regular at the internet dating convention) and Grainne Barry. Demographic figures in Ireland show an upsurge in the number of single parents. "Separation and divorce are on the upswing in Ireland. 2005 saw a 12.7% increase in divorces over the previous year. While overall divorce rates remain low at 16%, separations are on the increase and there is a fundamental shift towards smaller family sizes and one parent households." comments Greene.
Mark Brooks: By 2008 the majority of family households will be headed by single parents in the USA. This is already true in 15 US states.
Wiki-Based Social Network
TOP HOSTS NEWS — Aug 22 — Michal Frackowiak, a 28-year old Polish Web developer and PhD student launched Wikidot.com, a Wiki-based publishing platform and social network aimed mainly at advanced Internet users, content publishers and broadcasters. "We want to build a social network of users running their own sites. This distinguishes us from most Wiki or blog providers and takes us closer to social services like MySpace.
The full article was originally published at Top Hosts News, but is no longer available.