CNN – May 17 - A Pew Research Center report this year noted a surge in
women between the ages of 30 and 44 making more money than their
husbands. Women made more money than men in 22% of married couples
surveyed in 2007, compared with 4% in 1970. Women represent ~ 60% of
students holding advanced degrees in areas such as medicine, law,
business and graduate programs, the U.S. Census reported in April. FULL ARTICLE @ CNN
Month: May 2010
SpeedDate.com Launched On iPad
PRESS RELEASE – May 14 – SpeedDate.com, the speed dating site, today announced the first dating app for the Apple iPad. SpeedDate for the iPad allows singles to browse photos and profiles, search for matches and connect while on the go. FULL ARTICLE @ EARTH TIMES
Spark Networks’ Q1 2010 Financial Results
MARKET WIRE – May 14 - Revenue for the Q1' 10 was $10.5M, a decrease of 12% compared to $12.0M for the Q1'09. Q1' 10 revenue for Jewish Networks was $7.1M, a decrease of 7%, for General Market Networks was $370,000, a decrease of 61%, for Other Affinity Networks was $3.0 M, a decrease of 10%, for Offline & Other Businesses was $113,000, a decrease of 47%. Average paying subscribers for Jewish Networks were 93,235, Other Affinity Networks has 68,124 subscribers and General Market Networks has 7,813 subscribers.
The full article was originally published at Market Watch, but is no longer available.
The Twitter Me Is Not The Real Me
LA TIMES – May 14 - Some psychologists and sociologists who have studied usage habits on Twitter, Facebook and dating sites say there's little correlation between how people act on the Internet and how they are in person. "I don't think that you could have any type of accurate personality analysis based on what people are writing in their Twitter streams. Probably the same case goes for Facebook statuses as well," said John Grohol, an online mental health expert and founder of PsychCentral.com. "It could be the opposite. It could be that the shyest person is the person who tweets the most," Grohol said. Online, people tend to exaggerate their personas because they have much more time to revise and calculate the content they present than in spontaneous face-to-face interactions. FULL ARTICLE @ LA TIMES
Hannity Debates Founder Of AshleyMadison.com
FOX NEWS – May 13 - Unlike Match.com or Eharmony.com or Hannidate on Hannity.com, AshleyMadison.com isn't just another dating Web site for singles. It is a dating Web site for married people. Now not only do they actually encourage cheating on your spouse, the company proudly acts as the vehicle to help make that happen. Here is the interview with founder and CEO of AshleyMadison.com Noel Biderman.
Q: You think it's good for people to have affairs?
A: I think if they are totally unhappy with their relationship and that is the avenue they need to pursue to preserve their marriage, absolutely. That's what they should do.
Q: Why would you not have a conscience bother you that this might hurt people's marriages?
A: I'm at the cutting-edge of what society needs. It's important to create a platform for these people because having them utilize a single dating site and meet an unsuspecting single, that's inappropriate. Having an affair in the workplace and risk you losing your job, that's inappropriate. What is so wrong with people having a social network of their own?
Q: You're rationalizing your contribution to the potential break up of marriages which will not only affect the two people involved, but also the children. Do you want to look the young kids in the eye when his parents get a divorce?
A: It's the same argument you can make and say, "Oh, divorce attorneys are profiting from divorce, and we should get rid of divorce attorneys."
The full article was originally published at Fox News, but is no longer available.
Dating.com Sells For $1.75M
TECH CRUNCH – May 13 – Someone has purchased the domain Dating.com
for $1,750,000 at the DOMAINFest auction. Today’s auction racked up
$2.4M in sales. Dating.com was sold by domain firm Oversee.net, via its
SnapNames unit. FULL ARTICLE @ TECH CRUNCH
Hitwise iDating Rankings Update
OPW – May 13 – The Experian Hitwise rankings are in for April 2010. PlentyofFish.com, Singlesnet, Match.com maintained their #1, #2, #3 spot respectively. Zoosk moved ahead of Yahoo! Personals and is now at #4. Adam4Adam, SeniorPeopleMeet and DateHookup are at #6, #7 and #8. Mate1 moved up from #15 to #9, bumping down eHarmony to #12. CougarLife.com Accuses Google Of Sexism
NATIONAL POST – May 13 – Claudia Opdenkelder, founder of cougarlife.com, says she was informed that Google is classifying ads promoting the concept of “cougar dating” as unsafe for family audiences. At the same time, ads for “sugar daddy” websites, such as arrangementseekers.com, a forum for older men and younger women to meet and which sports the slogan, “Get the arrangement you want…without the commitment,” continue to be labeled “family safe” by Google, according to Cougar Life’s parent company Avid Life Media. CougarLife, which has signed up more than half a million members since its launch last year, bills itself as “the premier online dating service that pairs women in their prime with younger men and ends the double standard.” FULL ARTICLE @ NATIONAL POST
ChristianCafe.com Goes Mobile With iPhone App
CHRISTIAN NEWSWIRE – May 13 - ChristianCafe.com, a Christian-owned online dating site, launched an iPhone app. iPhone users can view profiles and send and receive email directly from the app. New members can try the service free for ten days. FULL ARTICLE @ CHRISTIAN NEWSWIRE
Mark Brooks: You can see screen caps and a demo here. Users can easily search and message while on the go. iPhone users monetize better than on other platforms i.e. Blackberry, WAP phones.
A Dating Site For Apple Fans Only
WSJ – May 7 – Currently available in beta, Cupidtino.com is described as “a new dating site created for fans of Apple products by fans of Apple products! Why? Diehard Mac & Apple fans often have a lot in common — personalities, creative professions, a similar sense of style and aesthetics, taste, and of course a love for technology.” To register for the beta, users must first check off which Apple products they own, from a list that includes iPod, MacBook, iPhone and iPad. Instead of the usual dating site background questions. “I think, in this case, it’s okay that they’re making it exclusive to Apple fans, because it’s a micro-niche dating site,” says Mark Brooks, an online dating site consultant. “But what’s going to matter the most is not just the numbers they see, it’s how active their user base is.” He points out that dating sites traditionally experience peak traffic from Nov to Febr and see a lull in activity during the summer months, when people are more inclined to be outside and get away from their computers. “In order for Cupidtino.com to become and remain successful, they’ll have to see an initial user base in the thousands, but eventually reach tens of thousands active users or more.” Since the beta launched two days ago, 12,000 users have signed up, about 50% of whom live in the Bay Area. The site has already caught the attention of Apple. The Business Team of the Apple store in San Francisco sent an email to the Cupidtino.com team explicitly stating that the note was “not an official endorsement”, but offered help with “any technology needs.” FULL ARTICLE @ WSJ