REUTERS — June 12 – Online dating network Zoosk has raised $6m in a third round. The company raised $4m in a second round last June.
The full article was originally published at Reuters, but is no longer available.
Month: June 2009
IAC – The iPhone Is Our Crystal Ball
CNET NEWS — June 11 – IAC's CEO, Barry Diller, doesn't believe that the poor economy will make it more difficult to get people to pay for things online. While much of the "new IAC" relies on advertising revenue, Diller declared that strictly relying on advertising as a business model is not sustainable. "I absolutely believe that the Internet is passing from its free phase into a paid system. "Look at the iPhone, Diller said, "and the wild success of its App Store." "The iPhone is a great example of what's going to happen," he pointed out. "One of the greatest barriers to buying things is the steps that it takes." FULL ARTICLE @ CNET NEWS
Mark Brooks: The iPhone is a game changer. Use rs of iPhones monetize FAR better, and access information on the internet and (dating) apps more than on any other phone. Overall the idating market is doing well despite the down economy, but the highest growth numbers, in terms of uniques, are being found at the fr ee end of the idating spectrum. Case in point see the Compete graphs for, Plentyoffish, OKCupid, DateHookup. Interestingly, a number of the free sites that I reported on, in this TechCrunch article, are flagging. Namely MatchDoctor, Mingle2, and Webdate. IAC's free dating site DownToEarth peaked in March and is headed decidedely South, according to Compete.com. (Full Disclosure: Plentyoffish and Webdate are long term clients of Courtland Brooks)
UAE Reports High Website Censorship
THE NATIONAL — June 11 — Internet users in the UAE reported the fifth highest rate of website censorship out of nearly 200 countries, according to a new project mapping global online restrictions at home and in the workplace. The statistics showed that 382 different web pages were flagged as “inaccessible” by UAE users. The websites that were found by UAE users to have been filtered ranged from pornography and dating websites to religious pages. As of yesterday, users in China recorded the most blocked websites with 802, followed by the US with 546, Saudi Arabia with 465 and Germany with 423 reports.The full article was originally published at The National, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: I was interested in spending some time in Dubai, but two things made it a showstopper for me. No VOIP, and many dating sites are blocked. So I can’t use my telephone, and I can’t see my clients sites. Ah well. So much for the Dubai utopia.
