MANHUNTDAILY — Feb 12 — Manhunt has recently won two awards – "Best Adult Hookup Site" from the Cybersocket Awards as well as "Outstanding Adult Web-Site" from the WeHo Awards.
The full article was originally published at ManhuntDaily, but is no longer available.
THE HARVARD CRIMSON — Feb 11 – Sam A. Yagan and the other founders of SparkNotes have struck gold again with OkCupid.com, an online dating site for the younger set.
Q: How did you transition from SparkNotes into the world of online dating sites?
A: The only three things people were paying for online were porno, gambling, and dating. We thought that dating would be a great venue for excitement, and we could definitely come up with a better Web site than Match.com. We made it really fun, and free.
Q: Did you create OkCupid to find some romance for yourself?
A: We were all married, but our employees definitely use it a lot.
Q: How can you afford to do a free dating site?
A: We have 15 employees, while Match.com has about 300. Although we have a fraction of their workers we have an equally good Web site.
Q: How successful is your Web site in relation to other Web sites?
A: We've gotten to be almost as big as Match.com.
The full article was originally published at Harvard Crimson, but is no longer available.
NY TIMES — Feb 12 — Online dating has had a following ever since dating sites popped up around '94, said Mark Brooks, editor of Online Personals Watch. The industry then started leveling off in Feb '05. "Now at a time when money is scarce or uncertain, they don't want to go through it alone," said Dr. Pepper Schwartz of Perfectmatch.com, which had a 51% increase in new members in the Q4 of '08 compared with '07. Speeddate.com's traffic is up 60%. "During recessions people stay at home more, they don't want to pay and go to bars. They're going online to meet each other," said Markus Frind, the CEO of Plentyoffish, a free site, where visits have increased 77% from Dec '07 to Dec '08, and 32% over the last three months. While "marriage" and "children" were always popular key words, Mr. Frind said, during this period last year Plentyoffish.com users mentioned the word "job" in their profiles 5.5% of the time. This year, that number has risen to 7.7%. On BlackPeopleMeet, the percentage of people listing "job" as a criterion when asked 'What are you looking for in a partner?' increased 18% from Jan '08 to Jan '09. Offline romance specialists say they are also seeing a spike in business. From Oct through Dec'08, new membership at The Right One/Together Dating, a dating service with 60 locations across the country, increased ~18% compared with the same period the previous year. The price of membership starts at $1,000. "People are putting down deposits rather than paying in full, which is fine," said CEO, Paul Falzone.
The full article was originally published at New York Times, but is no longer available.
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RESEARCH BRIEF — Feb 12 – According to surveys through 2008 by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, larger percentages of older generations are online now than in the past. While just 26% of 70-75 year olds were online in 2005, 45% of that age group is currently online, and doing more activities online. Email remains the most popular online activity. Generation X (ages 33-44) continues to lead in online shopping. Generation Y (age 18-32) are more likely than their older counterparts to seek entertainment through online videos, online games, virtual worlds and they are also more likely to download music.
The full article was originally published at Center For Media Research, but is no longer available.
HELZERMAN'S ODD BITS — Feb 12 — Manhunt is a social network growing by over 25,000 members per week. The site, now in its seventh year with over two million members, will be sponsoring events around the country in celebration of National Coming Out Day. Here is an interview with Manhunt's CMO. Q: What are you doing for National Coming Out Day?
A: We are encouraging our members to be out, to be proud, and to be themselves.
Q: What do users get with membership?
A: Limited membership is free, paid members receiving access to more features including the ability to see full-size photos, send/receive unlimited e-mails, access the mobile version of Manunt, use advanced search, etc.
The full article was originally published at Helzerman's Odd Bits, but is no longer available.
PR NEWSWIRE — Feb 12 – Date.com, Matchmaker.com and Amor.com have launched Virtual Gifts to its community. Beginning this week, singles can show interest by purchasing online gifts for $1. From a business perspective, this feature will serve as another revenue stream for the company; according to leading analysts, virtual gifts is an estimated $1.5 billion industry.
The full article was originally published at PR Newswire, but is no longer available.
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NIELSEN WIRE — Feb 11 — A Nielsen analysis of ad expenditures by online dating sites shows a significant year-to-year increase since 2003. The top advertiser among online dating sites is eHarmony. Through the first three quarters of 2008, the site spent more than $93m, almost twice as much on advertising as Match.com ($45 million-plus). Chemistry.com placed third with more than $28m in ad expenditures.
The full article was originally published at Adweek, but is no longer available.
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PR WEB — Feb 11 — GetSteady.com has launch its lesbian and gay dating community with the added reassurance of fully verified member photos. Members can earn points redeemable for gift cards from popular stores. Points are earned for photo verification, qualified referrals and subscription. FULL ARTICLE @ PR WEB
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This post also appears on FrequentFlirters
Executives from online dating services throughout the world have formed the Internet Dating Executive Alliance (IDEA).
IDEA’s membership, by invitation only, consists of executives from a veritable who’s who in the international Internet dating world: eHarmony, Match, Plentyoffish, The Right One and Yahoo Personals. 23 of the top 25 U.S. and 17 of the top 20 U.K. dating brands have C level members in IDEA. The Alliance has 226 members and meets twice annually to learn and share thoughts on how to collectively improve the Internet dating industry. The group meetings are at the Miami Internet Dating Conference in January and then at the London Internet Dating Conference in September. Over 45 people attended the last meetup in Miami on January 21st, 2009.
“We’re all in the business of love, and we’re competitors. But how the dating industry behaves and is perceived as a whole affects us all. That’s why IDEA was formed, so that we can meet, talk, learn and share ideas for the betterment of our industry,” said Mark Brooks, editor of OnlinePersonalsWatch.com, and the IDEA group organizer.
IDEA hosts a private online community on Linkedin. Some future initiatives under consideration include an Internet Dating Newswire, the Online Personals Annual Awards, a Scammer Watch Service, and an industry Gold Standard and Credo.
“It’s really been exciting to watch IDEA grow from an ‘idea’ to what it is now. We’re particularly enthused about the establishment of a Gold Standard to be issued to sites that offer impeccable service. This will help consumers immeasurably in making wise selections on which Internet dating sites to patronize,” said Brooks.
About The Internet Dating Executive Alliance (IDEA)
IDEA (www.internetdatingexecutivealliance.com) was formed to help iDating executives talk directly with each other and share their thoughts on how to collectively improve the Internet dating industry. There are 226 members, over half of which are C-level or Founder level executives.
About Online Personals Watch (OPW)
OPW (www.onlinepersonalswatch.com or www.opw1.com for short) is the daily news summary service for the Internet dating industry.