RBC — Aug 29 — Mail.ru, the Russian email service provider
and Internet portal, has acquired a 30% stake in the
Russian dating site Mamba.ru from the Finam Investment Company. Market participants estimate the value
of the deal at $15m. According to experts' opinion, however, Mamba.ru
is running the risk of losing its other major partner Rambler, which
provides the dating service with 25 to 30% of its users. The
client base of Mamba.ru currently amounts to 9.8m people, according to
the company's site, and its revenue topped RUB 300m (approx. USD
12.22m). FULL ARTICLE @ RBC
Month: August 2008
WhiteLabelDating.com On The Track
WLD BLOG — Aug 28 — If you have watched our Partner Testimonial Video, you will see that we have a fantastic relationship with our partners, so, in celebration of this and everyone’s recent success as business is booming, we decided it was about time for a little get together. So off we went to Northampton’s International Raceway, thrashing stock cars around a racetrack! The day included racing Formula 2 stock cars, off-road Capri bangers and the Dell Boy challenge in Reliant Robins.
Mark Brooks: Nothing is more compelling than testimonials, especially in video format. Besides eHarmony, I've yet to see a dating site offer up testimonials in video format. PlentyofFish.com has the most text testimonials of any dating site, followed by ChristianCafe.com. Match has a great testimonials section as well. Courtland Brooks is responsible for MatchmakerSuccess.com for The Right One and Together Dating. (Disclosure: WLD, PlentyofFish and The Right One & Together Dating are clients of Courtland Brooks.
Tsavo, CEO Mike Jones Interview
OPW INTERVIEW — Aug 30 — Mike Jones is now an advisor to Userplane and AOL and is CEO of Tsavo. What is this mysterious Tsavo? Here's my interview with Mike. – Mark Brooks
What's your role at Tsavo and AOL now?
With AOL I function as a Strategic Advisor, facilitating the transition to Sam Wick for daily management of the Userplane business. The majority of my time operationally is setting up Tsavo and finalizing the transition with some of our initial, undisclosed acquisitions.
Tell us more about Tsavo.
Tsavo is focused on building technology facilitating highly-personal and relevant experiences with online content. I would like to see a world where, instead of browsing through 30,000 blog posts a day, there is a system that actively understands and learns my media consumption behavior.
What kind of media are you particularly going to be looking at and serving up to users?
Our current focus is on a wide-reaching publishing network with niche vertical focus. Overall we are viewing it from the standpoint that Tsavo will be a multi URL network across a whole series of verticals.
Is there an official launch date?
No there’s not. Since we’re starting off with a few acquisitions, we have active staff and revenue today; my CTO Nate Thelen and his lead engineer Gabe Harriman and our head of product Mike Macaadan focus primarily on building the relevancy sub-structure. You will begin seeing our acquisition announcements in the next few months, and the relevancy technology begin surfacing in the next six months and beyond.
What kinds of sites and services are you looking to acquire at this stage?
We’re looking for content sites that have strong editorial and original content. We’re looking for a few back-end technologies that relate the semantic web and content aggregation.
Are dating sites within your realm of interest?
Probably not. I don’t believe it will fit initially with our focus on media & relevance. I do have interest and am researching other types of subscription services.
Boomers Spend More Money
RESEARCH BRIEF — Aug 29 — According to TV Land's "Generation BUY: A Close Look at the Boomer Consumer" study, people 40-59 spend more than three times the amount of money per month on spouses ($514) than adults under 40 ($169). With so many purchase decisions to make for the household, these buyers are an important marketing sector even when they are not the prime target. The study also found that 40 and 50-somethings are more open to new brands.
The full article was originally published at Center For Media Research, but is no longer available.
Randodate’s Free SpeedDating Application
NEWS TIP — Aug 30 — Randodate is a new free white label dating application which can be integrated into your existing platform.
Key Features For Webmasters
– 100% free; no usage limits- Added revenue with 50% ad inventory
– Simple integration with your site
– No overhead or bandwidth charges
– Helps drive new traffic to your site
– Ability to manage "post match" actions
Key Features For Users
– Seamless login, no input required
– Secure, safe and fun way to meet new people
– No download or installation required
– Video, voice and text based dating options
Interview With ButterfliesAgain Test Creator, Dr. Block
Note: Interviewed by Steve Geschwer, Psy.D.— Psychologist.
NEWS TIP — Aug 29 — Q: Which other tests do you consider as competition?
JB: Tests developed by Dr. Pepper Schwartz and Dr. Helen Fisher.
Q: Why are Drs. Schwartz and Fisher's tests special?
JB: For starters, both are bright and savvy. Dr. Schwartz, (Perfect Match) is a sociologist and Dr. Fisher (Chemistry) is an anthropologist. I am making a point of this because I am the ONLY clinician.
Q: Why is this important?
JB: Because for the past 30+ years as a practicing psychologist specializing in love and sexuality, I have been in the trenches, working with couples toward the goal of Lasting Love. The countless intimate hours I've spent over those years have been incomparably valuable in understanding the very heart and meaning of lasting love.
Q: Why do you believe this gives you an advantage in creating ButterfliesAgain?
JB: Drs. Fisher and Schwartz are researchers. I am sitting with struggling couples where the truth about love is constantly revealed. I read about couples endlessly. I merge newfound knowledge with my observations in creating software such as Butterflies. My perspective is strictly psychological. Also I believe that the Fisher and Schwartz' tests are based on attraction. I acknowledge the importance of attraction, but I stress having personality factors that fit well together as being the real key.
Q: What else is there that makes your test superior to your two nearest competitors?
JB: 1. My software is more engaging for the I-dating site subscribers, 2. It does not require a long time to complete, 3. The subscribers will relate to the test.
Gayness Is A Sexual Orientation, Not A Political One
LA TIMES — Aug 28 — Manhunt.net is one of the most popular gay websites in the world, with 1m registered members in the U.S. alone and 400,000 unique visitors a month. As its name implies, it's a site where many gay men go to find casual sexual encounters.Two weeks ago, news emerged that Jonathan Crutchley, the co-founder of Manhunt.net, had contributed $2,300 to the presidential campaign of John McCain. Uproar ensued. "I believe McCain will be a better commander in chief than Obama, who also opposes gay marriage," Crutchley wrote on a website that covers the online personal ad industry. That explanation might not please every gay activist, but there are gay people of all races, income levels, occupations, body types and, yes, political beliefs. FULL ARTICLE @ LA TIMES
SpeedDate.com Secures $6 Million
PRESS RELEASE — Aug 28 — SpeedDate.com, the online speed dating service, has secured $6m in Series B funding from Menlo Ventures. SpeedDate will use this funding to further grow its user base, expand operations, and enhance SpeedDate.com's functionality. The site launched in October '07. SpeedDate.com allows singles to meet each other through 3-minute online speed dates using webcams, audio, and instant messaging.
See all posts on SpeedDate
Shaadi Partners With Vodafone
REUTERS — Aug 28 — Online matchmaking services in India have announced tie-ups with telecom service providers, enabling subscribers to view profiles of eligible partners on their mobile phones. Shaadi.com partners with Vodafone and Bharatmatrimony.com with Nokia. In a country with nearly 300m cellphone users, but where only 11m people have access to the Internet, taking matchmaking directly to customers' fingertips makes sense. FULL ARTICLE @ REUTERS
Engage.com’s New Facebook App
ENGAGE BLOG — Aug 28 — Engage.com, the introduction platform, launched a new application on Facebook called AwesomeIntros. It's a fun game that relies on your intuition to introduce people to a person they've never met before. You just vote on the person you think Engage should introduce to the guy or girl in the poll.
The full article was originally published at Engage blog, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: Engage has also jazzed up the site with a new design and logo. What do you think of the new design compared to the old one? Your comments please…
See all posts on Engage