FSB MAGAZINE — June 24 — When Christian Wiklund lauched Skout in 2008, he had no idea he was getting into the dating business. Skout developed a free social network that allowed anyone with a GPS-ready cell phone to view photos uploaded by nearby Skout members, along with their geographic distance. Skout became a dating database that more than 2,000 people browse every day (out of a total of 500,000 members). Skout OUT is a new service that will be in 10,000 bars across the U.S. later this year. Those bars have already installed 42-inch plasma touch-screen computers. The touchscreens will show pictures of Skout users within a mile radius who have agreed to be listed on Skout OUT. Users can send messages to prospective hookups, send a virtual "drink" or the name of the song the jukebox is about to play — dedicated to the object of their affection. FULL ARTICLE @ CNN MONEY
Month: June 2009
Dating From The Dorm Room
BOSTON GLOBE — June 24 – In 2007, eHarmony lowered the minimum age for completing its membership questionnaire from 21 to 18. Mark Brooks, who runs a consulting firm for online dating sites, said interest in online dating among young people has increased over the past few years. “These youngsters started on social networks; they warmed up on Friendster, they drifted to MySpace, then Facebook,’’ he said. “They are used to having a world of choice under their fingertips, and they are more demanding of a good match. And so, according to Brooks, today’s 18-to-22-year-olds are far more likely to look for love online than previous generations were. Most dating sites like eHarmony, Match.com, and the Jewish dating site JDate accept members 18 and older. Others like Universityloveconnection.com and Campushook.com are restricted to people enrolled in school; Studentlove.com requires users to have a “.edu’’ e-mail address to sign up. FULL ARTICLE @ BOSTON GLOBE
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Former CEO Of World Dating Partners Joins WhiteLabelDating.com
WHITE LABEL DATING BLOG — June 23 — Frank Dethridge, former CEO of World Dating Partners, has joined WhiteLabelDating.com as Affiliate Manager. Dethridge will be launching an affiliate system and working closely with WLD partners to help them make the most from the affiliate channel.
Wisconsin Justice Department Sues Great Expectations
ASSOCIATED PRESS — June 23 — The Milwaukee-area office of Great Expectations has violated Wisconsin's no-call law, exaggerated the number of participants' marriages and misrepresented its prices, according to a lawsuit filed by the state Justice Department.
The full article was originally published at Chicago Tribune, but is no longer available.
Virtual Greats Partners With Viximo
PR WEB — June 23 — Virtual Greats, a virtual goods and sales distribution system, and Viximo, which provides content, analytics, and virtual currency solutions to publishers (social networks, dating sites, gaming sites, etc) and content creators (brands, media, digital artists), today announced a partnership deal providing publishers with turnkey virtual goods solutions, including an unrivalled library of branded entertainment, sports and fashion content.
The full article was originally published at eMedia Wire, but is no longer available.
Giving eHarmony An A For Effort
EHARMONY BLOG — June 23 – It is time to acknowledge and recap how eHarmony is giving more value to the subscription dollars.
1. A perceptible reduction in romance scammers.
2. Refunds when the subscriber forgets to turn off autorenew.
3. Empathic customer service representatives, as long as you contact them on the phone and not email.
4. A discussion forum that is free to join, is looked after, and that keeps on adding new community features.
5. At least six free communication weekends in a year.
6. “$9.95 a month” pricing available almost anytime.
7. Three to four Advice articles each week; many of which are entertaining and many of which surprisingly make sense.
8. Match Settings interface change — Google Maps.
The full article was originally published at eHarmony blog, but is no longer available.
Vindicia A Perfect Match For Online Buddies
PRESS RELEASE — June 23 — Online Buddies, an online dating service
for the gay community, has implemented Vindicia on-demand CashBox
billing system for improved subscription management. Both companies
will be at the Internet Dating Conference (iDate) in Los Angeles from
June 24-26. Critical to Online Buddies' business strategy is Vindicia's
support for global payment methods — from credit cards to Boleto
Bancario, a specific payment method in Brazil. Vindicia offers an
integrated, on-demand billing and fraud management solution for online
merchants. FULL ARTICLE @ EARTH TIMES
Five Reasons Why People Send Virtual Gifts
VIRTUAL GOODS INSIDER — June 23 – Last year, Viximo, released its first product in partnership with BigDates Solutions, makers of the Birthday Calendar, one of small number of Verified Applications on Facebook. Viximo’s first product is a drop-in virtual gifting system that allows developers of social networks, apps, and other community based websites to add a virtual gifting based revenue stream to their businesses. When Facebook launched its Gifts program in Feb '07, many predicted that the program would be a dismal failure. During its first year, Facebook Gifts generated an estimated $15m revenue. People are willing to pay for virtual gifts. Women are responsible for 80% of virtual giftings while men are responsible for 20% of virtual giftings. Why are people giving virtual gifts?- Virtual Gifts as Greeting Cards
– Virtual Gifts as Signals
- Virtual Gifts as Accolades - Virtual gifts can be used in the place of ratings as the basis for a reputation system.
- Virtual Gifts as Social Play
- Virtual Gifts as Reciprocation - People give gifts, in part, because they want to elicit a positive response from the recipient, and recipients tend to feel indebted to the giver until they have reciprocated in kind.
FULL ARTICLE @ VIRTUAL GOODS INSIDER
FULL ARTICLE @ VIRTUAL GOODS INSIDER
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This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.
Winners Of 2009 American Business Awards Announced
OPW NEWS — June 23 – eHarmony.com
won “Customer Service Team of the Year” at The 7th Annual American
Business Awards, which were presented last night at a gala ceremony in
New York City. The American
Business Awards are the only national, all-encompassing awards program
honoring great performances in business. For a complete list of the
2009 American Business Award honorees in all categories, visit: www.stevieawards.com/
The Right One Opened A New Office In Chicago
PRESS RELEASE — June 23 – The new Chicago office is The Right One’s fifth office operating in Illinois, with other locations in Downers Grove, Rockford, Normal and Schaumburg. In the fourth quarter of 2008, The Right One and Together Dating showed an 18% increase in new memberships over 2007. Concurrently, the company has opened five new locations and has plans to open four more locations in the near future and the hiring will continue.
The full article was originally published at PR Inside, but is no longer available.
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