OPW — Aug 28 — Yahoo! Personals has settled Robert Anthony vs Yahoo Inc. (reported on by AP, and Reuters in Nov. '06). This is the date baiting case, you might recall, which Yahoo! Personals has vigorously denied from day one. Rather than draw things out, Yahoo has settled. In short: "Yahoo! does not believe it has done anything wrong and continues to deny all claims and allegations of wrongdoing asserted in the case, but came to an agreement with the Plaintiff to ensure it could focus on key priorities for the company."
Here's Yahoo!'s Statement and Settlement: Yahoo! denies the claims in the suit but agreed to pursue a settlement to avoid long litigation that likely would have interrupted our focus: building a great dating service. Our efforts to ensure a safe and secure environment are rigorous and are constantly improving:
- We set high standards through a code of conduct to which customers must agree and which requires that they be truthful;
- We invest in customer service and technology tools that help us identify and reject false profiles;
- We review all profile elements; and
- We review all complaints and respond to identified problems.
(a) Yahoo! will maintain the "Report a Complaint" link on the profile detail pages.
(b) Profiles that have been inactive for a period of 120 days will be rendered unsearchable.
(c) When a user cancels their subscription, a screen will be presented giving them the option to delete the profile, render it unsearchable or keep the profile active. If the user makes no selection, the profile will automatically be deactivated.
(d) Yahoo! will maintain mechanisms to detect duplicate photos, abusive language and the revealing of improper personal information.
(e) Additional Terms of Service will be updated to inform users that that they may see profiles or other content which they feel were created by third parties, contrary to obligations in the applicable terms of services, guidelines and code of conduct, for purposes other than dating, including spam and commercial profiles.
(f) Yahoo! will modify its Additional Terms of Service to include disclosures regarding searchable Yahoo!-created test profiles that may be used when necessary to ensure service quality. The modifications will disclose how searchable test profiles, if any, are designated so that they are readily identifiable to users.
Mark Brooks: All internet dating sites are susceptible to cheats. The upper echelon sites put many measures in place to filter out the negative elements. Yahoo is also awarding up to $35 back to paid subscribers (from 10/1/04-8/3/07) who submit a claims form. All such members are being emailed. Here's a copy of the settlement.
As a former power user of Yahoo! Personals and many other dating sites, (I am now engaged thanks to online personals,) it was clear to me that the fact that Yahoo! did not distinguish between paying subscribers and non-paying members was a detriment to it’s user base.
I cannot say if any of the profiles were fake. However, I do know that I found out after writing to dozens of women, that these women (who were not paying members) had no way to reply, and thus were really of no use to me. I soon learned to include my email address in my initial letter, a clear violation of Yahoo!’s policies, but a method which showed my success rate soar.
Sure, having all those choices of women made Yahoo! Personals appear better and probably resulted in my becoming a member initially, but the lack of responses caused me to quit. It was only after I figured out how to get around the system that I returned a second time and then found much greater success.
It seems that all of the online dating companies would be better off if they concentrated more on long-term revenues led by word-of-mouth success stories rather than on short-term financial success and ultimately word-of-mouth failure stories.
Glenn Millar
Marketing Manager and Online Personals Success Story
As a former power user of Yahoo! Personals and many other dating sites, (I am now engaged thanks to online personals,) it was clear to me that the fact that Yahoo! did not distinguish between paying subscribers and non-paying members was a detriment to it’s user base.
I cannot say if any of the profiles were fake. However, I do know that I found out after writing to dozens of women, that these women (who were not paying members) had no way to reply, and thus were really of no use to me. I soon learned to include my email address in my initial letter, a clear violation of Yahoo!’s policies, but a method which showed my success rate soar.
Sure, having all those choices of women made Yahoo! Personals appear better and probably resulted in my becoming a member initially, but the lack of responses caused me to quit. It was only after I figured out how to get around the system that I returned a second time and then found much greater success.
It seems that all of the online dating companies would be better off if they concentrated more on long-term revenues led by word-of-mouth success stories rather than on short-term financial success and ultimately word-of-mouth failure stories.
Glenn Millar
Marketing Manager and Online Personals Success Story
This class action suit is a sad, sad comment on American life. Rather than just learing a lesson he should have learned when he was a teenager Mr. Anthony has to sue. AND LAYWERS TOOK THE CASE. Does this mean that anybody who discovers theat sex sells can sue. When I buy a sports car that was advertised with a sexy model and I dont end up with a sexey model when I drve it can I sue?
This class action suit is a sad, sad comment on American life. Rather than just learing a lesson he should have learned when he was a teenager Mr. Anthony has to sue. AND LAYWERS TOOK THE CASE. Does this mean that anybody who discovers theat sex sells can sue. When I buy a sports car that was advertised with a sexy model and I dont end up with a sexey model when I drve it can I sue?
Thank you Glenn Miller! I also wrote to dozens of women over the past 3-5 years. I finally know why NOBODY EVER RESPONDED (with a few exceptions). I just put my email address in (cryptically so yahoo woldn’t block it), and the woman emailed me on try #1.
This practice by Yahoo has undoubtedly caused untold destruction to the self-confidence of countless men, including myself.
Thank you Glenn Miller! I also wrote to dozens of women over the past 3-5 years. I finally know why NOBODY EVER RESPONDED (with a few exceptions). I just put my email address in (cryptically so yahoo woldn’t block it), and the woman emailed me on try #1.
This practice by Yahoo has undoubtedly caused untold destruction to the self-confidence of countless men, including myself.
I got my check yesterday!
I got my check yesterday!