Month: August 2010

Japan’s Government Plays Matchmaker

Posted on August 27, 2010

Japan matchmaking BUSINESS WEEK – Aug 26 - Japan's Fukui prefecture has the nation's biggest share of dual-income households, the highest ratio of working women, and the lowest unemployment rate. What it doesn't have is enough babies. So this month the provincial government will launch an online dating site for singles, called the Fukui Marriage-Hunting Cafe. At 1.34 children per woman, Japan's fertility rate is one of the lowest in the world, well below the 2.1 that is considered the minimum for a developed nation to maintain a constant population. FULL ARTICLE @ BUSINESS WEEK

Mark Brooks: The Singapore government has also gotten involved in spurring and supporting matchmaking startups. Meanwhile, in Japan, idating is somewhat of a dirty word thanks to thousands of sites that match men with young girls, preferably school girls. A major fetish in Japan. Mixi is the main social network in Japan, and the place where many young singles connect, through their friends.

eHarmony CEO On The Limits Of Online Dating And The Future Of Love Online

Posted on August 26, 2010
Greg waldorf HUFFINGTON POST – Aug 26 – eHarmony
celebrated its 10th anniversary and a major milestone: 540 weddings in
the U.S. every day. Here is the interview with Greg Waldorf, CEO of
eHarmony.

Q: Where do you see social media fitting in with online dating?
A:
Social networking is such a powerful experience on so many levels, but
it's about a lot of different things. I think paid dating creates a
private environment.

Q: Do you see social media as an asset for paid dating sites?
A:
Social media and paid dating coexist very well as long as the paid
dating sites are very mindful that you'd better be delivering a lot of
value when people are paying you. 

Q: What does "real life" dating offer that you can't yet get online?
A:
I think the hardest thing is the shared social experience of dating.
That makes dating easier. If you're nervous about asking out that person
at a party, you might have more courage if you can walk up with a
friend.

Q: And what does online dating offer that you can't yet get in "real life"?
A: It gives you more efficiency and it's purposeful.

Q: Why does eHarmony have a separate site for gay couples?

A: We thought we'd be more successful.

Q: Do you measure the marriage rate for gay couples?
A: I don't think it'd be showing up as a significant number if you think about how few states you can get married in.

Q: You track marriage rates, but do you measure divorce rates?
A: We don't. But we're working on it. 

Q:
Have you done research to see whether the qualities that make for
compatible, heterosexual couples are the same for same-sex couples?
A: We haven't yet, but we're getting closer to that.
FULL ARTICLE @ HUFFINGTON POST

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Italian Males Biggest Users Of Dating Sites From Mobiles

Posted on August 26, 2010

Comscore logo new BIG MOUTH MEDIA – Aug 26 - Males aged 25 to 34 are leading the way in Europe's mobile dating market, according to comScore. This demographic accounts for 22% of the 11M Europeans who access online dating sites from mobile devices each month, compared to 8.7% of females in the same age bracket. Online dating via mobiles increased by 52% from June 2009 to the same month this year, according to comScore's MobiLens.

The full article was originally published at Big Mouth Media, but is no longer available.

eHarmony Says It’s Found The Formula For Love

Posted on August 26, 2010

Eharmony-logo DAILYMAIL.CO.UK – Aug 26 - There are more than 1,400 UK dating sites and the industry is
expected to be worth ~£150M by 2014. Of the 16M singles in the UK, 60%
have tried online dating at some point. Dr Warren spent 35 years
counselling patients on relationship issues. Before launching eHarmony,
he says he spent three years working with a team of scientists to define
the characteristics that determine successful relationships. Dr Warren
and his team use scientific methodology to try to discover how
relationships work. They repeated the process with researchers at
Oxford University, who analysed 1,000 married British couples. The work
highlighted interesting cultural differences. Happy U.S. couples say
they do a lot of laughing and kissing, but admit to regularly making
excuses not to have sex. Successfully married Britons report having more
sex, are better at dealing with in-laws and dividing chores. 800 of eHarmony 's UK members are already in long-term relationships after
meeting on the site. They say there's also been more than 100 marriages
and engagements among British members, too. FULL ARTICLE @ DAILYMAIL.CO.UK

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Online Dating Sites Are Way Past Hook-ups

Posted on August 26, 2010

Candobetter logo TORONTO SUN – Aug 26 – At CanDoBetter.com, you can have folks you've never met rate your mate. Why anyone would want to do this is a mystery, but thousands of couples are posting photographs on the site to find out how well-matched a bunch of strangers think they are. If you think you can turn heads, BeautifulPeople.com will be the judge of that. This controversial singles site is said to be for hotties only. In contrast, TheUglyBugBall.co.uk is for the less attractive portion of the population. The site is just over a week old, and already has thousands of potential daters. A recent Canadian-born dating site called LuvHertz.com has added a social media twist to the online dating scene. If you're unsure about the person you're seeing, want to dish the dirt on an ex, or get feedback about a cute single who's caught your eye, this is the place to go. FULL ARTICLE @ TORONTO SUN

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Jazzed Powered By eHarmony

Posted on August 25, 2010

Jazzed logo ONLINE DATING SOUND BARRIER – Aug 25 - Jazzed is a new free dating site
and it will always be free for ever. Jazzed is designed to leverage eHarmony  and is going to compete with PlentyOfFish and
OKCupid. PlentyOfFish and OKCupid are freemium sites, but at Jazzed,
they suggest to upgrade migrating to eHarmony. FULL ARTICLE @ ONLINE DATING SOUND BARRIER

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Romancing The Phone: Mobile Dating Climbs As Summer Heats Up

Posted on August 25, 2010

Flirtomatic logo PR NEWSWIRE – Aug 25 – According to Ground Truth, the mobile media
measurement firm, the number of visitors to mobile dating sites
increased by 92% from the first week in June to the last week in July.
Flirtomatic, a mobile-optimized dating site, is the category leader,
accounting for 65% of the audience for mobile dating. match.com and
eHarmony are less frequented on mobile, ranking at 7 and 17,
respectively, for the same time period. FULL ARTICLE @ PR NEWSWIRE

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Wink, Meet, Delete – the Crazy World of Internet Dating

Posted on August 25, 2010

Globalpersonals.co.uk logo COMPUTER BUSINESS REVIEW – Aug 25 - Ross Williams is CEO of what's claimed to be the largest privately-held online dating firm in Europe, Global Personals. His company's sites get 6M visitors a day and last month there were ~85M unique page views. Williams's platform supports some 4K individually branded sites as he runs a white label service. Some of online dating issues are explored critically in a documentary – 'Wink, Meet, Delete'. An independent Scottish film-maker Sue Bourne chose to sum up her exploration of this world. Users of Internet dating sites sometimes complain there are huge problems with fake profiles and scammers. Williams says there are issues in the industry but that his firm takes great pains to avoid them. For us, customer service is paramount so we take care to try and prevent this as much as possible.

See full article at Computer Business Review

Spark Networks Launches New Content Site

Posted on August 24, 2010

Believecom logo MARKET WIRE – Aug 24 - Spark Networks is launching Believe.com, a new faith-based content destination serving the Christian community. "Based upon member feedback, it became clear there was a need for a content destination site where devoted Christians could obtain advice, insights and interaction with other community members," said Garry Poole, Advisory Board Member of ChristianMingle.com, which is owned and operated by Spark Networks.

The full article was originally published at PR Inside, but is no longer available.

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eHarmony Goes After Match.com And Launches Casual Site

Posted on August 24, 2010

Jazzed logoPLENTY OF FISH BLOG – Aug 24 - Jazzed.com is eHarmony’s new site. Given that Zoosk supposedly now has revenues of over $10M a month up from next to nothing last year this is something I expected… Expect a lot  more action coming from the top dating sites.

The full article was originally published at PlentyofFish blog, but is no longer available.

See all posts on eHarmony