OPW — Mar 5 — The February Hitwise U.S. dating rankings are out. PlentyofFish beats Singlesnet and is now #1. Yahoo!Personals moves ahead of Match.com to take the #3 position. Date Hookup maintains it's 5th position. eHarmony dropped from #6 to #7 moving Adam4Adam up to #6. Manhunt.net, BlackPeopleMeet and TRUE.com remained at #8, #9, #10 respectively.
Month: March 2009
How to Get Online Subscribers To Purchase Offline Services
MARKETING SHERPA — Mar 4 — Paul Falzone, CEO of International Dating Ventures (IDV), purchased LoveAccess.com in 2008. He planned to use the dating site to produce leads for a high-end matchmaking company, The Right One/TogetherDating. Falzone’s marketing team attracts online subscribers for LoveAccess.com and leads for The Right One/TogetherDating mostly through affiliate/co-registration, paid search and SEO. “What’s important is to identify if this user qualifies for matchmaking,” says Terry Fitzpatrick, COO of IDV. The team needs to know: Does the prospect live near one of the matchmaking offices? Does the prospect earn enough to consider paying the $3,000 matchmaking fees? Is the prospect single? As a rule, the team won’t email online dating subscribers about the matchmaking services unless they have been in the database for 90 days. “We give them 90 days just to find out … is online dating working?", says Falzone. If it’s not, they’re asked if they would be interested in matchmaking. The last step is a contact via phone. The team generates ~15,000+ leads per month for the telemarketing centers. Results: This year, 25% of gross revenue for TRO/TD came from converting online subscribers into offline matchmaking buyers. FULL ARTICLE @ MARKETING SHERPA
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iovation’s Network Surpasses 100 Million Unique Devices
BUSINESS WIRE — Mar 4 — iovation, The Device Reputation
Authority™ for the Internet, announced that their fraud management service has recognized over 100m
unique devices. iovation’s patented
technology helps online businesses determine in milliseconds if a
computer has been associated with a fraud activity. FULL ARTICLE @ BUSINESS WIRE
This posts also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.
The iDate Miami Video Is Up
OPW — Mar 4 — Here's the latest Internet Dating Conference summary video from the
Miami show on January 22-23rd. There's also an exhibitors testimonials
video. Check it out here. – Mark Brooks
Interview With Mark Brooks (Online Personals Watch)
ONLINE DATING MAGAZINE — Mar 3 —
Q: What is Online Personals Watch? Why did you start the service and how would you describe it to our general readership?
A: I was at Friend Finder and my friends were forwarding lots of news pieces to me but I never found time to read it. So I thought wouldn't it be great if there was a website that summarized the news down. I couldn't find it so I decided to start it. OPW is a service to the executives and the press..
Q: Our typical online dater is probably not your primary audience here; could they gain some value though from periodically checking out your site?
A: It's not targeted at them but it’s rather useful information. If they’re considering joining a particular website, then they can look up a particular company and read up on them and see if they really trust that company based on the news and what the executives have said.
Q: You're not only the editor of OPW, you're also the industry’s insider and consultant to dating sites.
A: My consulting company — Courtland Brooks — sits in the middle of the industry. We use OPW to gather information and build good will among the press and executives and people who want to do business with the internet dating industry and within the industry. Courtland Brooks does PR, business development and strategic advisement.
Q: How many clients do you have on your roster?
A: We have capacity for 6 to 12 at any time and right now we have eight.
Q: What are the pros and cons of niche sites compared to general dating sites for daters?
A: Niche dating has made us aware that everybody has a “thing". There are dating sites that look after them on that account too. I think generic sites serve people who want to have more activity. The large sites are generic. The niche sites are generally the smaller sites in the industry.
Q: Do you foresee niche sites overtaking major dating brands like Match or Yahoo, or do you think that niche sites will always be the minority?
A: Categorically niche sites will always be the minority. In short, there are many niche dating sites. I did a study recently that showed that 34% of dating sites in 2006 were niche dating sites, in 2008 43% of them were niche sites and those numbers are based on over 1000 dating sites. There are more niche dating sites springing up because there are more entrepreneurs entering the business.
Q: You seem like a big proponent of technology. What do you see as the most promising trend that user can see in 2009?
A: I would like to think that we're going to see some considerably improvements on personal profiling systems. The second area of improvement is communication. I'm surprised that dating sites haven't offered the ability to connect people via the phone. That seems to be a huge gaping mission for the services.
Q: Is mobile dating popular in any part of the world?
A: USA has been a laggard in terms of scrunching the user experiences onto small phones but that is not going to matter because the USA loves the iPhone. If you look at the likes of India and China, the only way can get online and enjoy those improved information retrieval and communication tools was on the mobile phone. So they got used to and were willing to settle for the compromised experience.
Q: We have now one State that has passed legislation requiring dating sites to disclose whether they conduct background screenings on members. Do you see that trend continuing?
A: I just don't see why people are not willing to provide so much transparency to their identity. I think if you have nothing to hide then why hide? So I think in time we're going to see more improved tools for checking people's reputations. Background checks I think are good for the industry as a differentiator.
FULL ARTICLE @ ONLINE DATING MAGAZINE
Dating Sites For Cheaters
MSNBC — Mar 3 — AshleyMadison.com caters to married people looking to have sex with other married people. Ashley Madison is hardly unique. It competes with other Web sites that do exactly the same thing, such as ADatefinder.com. LonelyCheatingWives.com and MarriedDateClub.com. There are 3.4m profiles on AshleyMadison, 72% of which are male according to Noel Biderman, AM's founder. To Biderman it's all strictly business. "Blessed with that strain of amoral entrepreneurialism in which money-making opportunities must be seized, whether they be cigarettes, sex, or subprime mortgages." FULL ARTICLE @ MSNBC
People Media Partners With AOL Personals
PR WEB — Mar 3 — People Media, an online niche dating service provider, will power six AOL Personals communities focused on African Americans, Jews, Catholics, Single Parents, Seniors and Christians. As part of this partnership, AOL users will be able to register for People Media's online dating communities directly from AOL Personals. FULL ARTICLE @ PR WEB
Skout Introduces Real Time Online Dating
PR NEWSWIRE — Mar 2 — Skout, the mobile location-based dating company, launched Skout OUT, an interactive new dating tool that helps singles find, flirt and connect with other singles in their immediate vicinity. Skout OUT will be available in bars and clubs across the United States beginning in Q2 '09.
The full article was originally published at PR Newswire, but is no longer available.
iDating Game Just Got Hotter
OPW — Mar 1 — With more than a third of Americans over 50 being divorced, widowed, separated or perpetual bachelors, according to a 2006 statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, seniors are increasingly flocking to online dating sites. Members 50 and over comprise 35% of WhileLabelDating.com's overall member database according to WLD's managing director Steve Pammenter. No more friend referrals or waiting on barstools in hopes of finding the on. “What’s happening now is quite unprecedented,” said Mark Brooks, a consultant and editor of Onlinepersonalswatch.com. “Experts are teaming up with dating sites for better understanding on how personalities are compatible.” For Paul Falzone, CEO of The Right One, PhD’s and psychologists lack the personality needed for this industry. “I want people working for me who love people and who really want to help them." According to Jupiter research, the dating industry made $889m in global net. By 2012, their analysts predict $1.9 billion. FULL ARTICLE @ OPW
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UK Expected To Have 15m Singles By 2011
WLD BLOG — Feb 28 — The Show on ITV reported that it’s estimated there will be 15m singles by 2011 in UK making the dating industry’s value over £1 billion.
The full article was originally published at WLD blog, but is no longer available.