WLD BLOG – UKRD Ltd, a UK radio network that operates 16 local commercial radio stations and has a portfolio of 46 websites, partners with WhiteLabelDating.com. WLD already partners with many other well-known radio stations and media companies, including Planet Rock and Bauer Radio.
The full article was originally published at WhiteLabelDating blog, but is no longer available.
OPW – Mar 31 – We're launching a new program today. The Internet Dating Executive Alliance (powered by Courtland Brooks) will help investors (angels, VCs and private equity) connect with investment opportunities in the internet dating space. If you're looking to invest, please let me know what you're looking for and your budget range. If you wish to raise investment funds of at least $200k, or sell your service, let me know. This is a free IDEA service for both parties. Mark Brooks – see pingmark.com for contact info.
MSNBC – Mar 30 – Writer signs up for Ashley Madison and meets with husbands to figure out why they stray. In her profile, she says that she is married, because many of the men don't want the complications of seeing a single woman. Overnight she receive 164 messages. 68% of the site's members are men, and their average age is 44. You think this is a site for sex in motels. Ashley Madison's president, Noel Biderman, certainly does. He says that the men are there for one thing. "This is about sex." He is wrong that all the men on AM want sex and sex alone. There are plenty of men who says he is happily married when what he really means is he is complacently bored. They might be looking to fall in love. On Ashley Madison, wives are mostly reduced to pronouns, and in that reduction they are less a human than a fact that shares their home. In the most extreme, these pronouns become antiheroes to the plan. One of the most striking things about Ashley Madison users is that they can literally be anybody.
Scott Haltzman, M.D., author of The Secrets of Happy Families said: "Use this article as a starting point to talk about your fears and ways to keep things fresh." Haltzman's tip: Try something new together, regularly.
by Lisa Taddeo
See full article at MSNBC
Mark Brooks: My tips for a happy marriage. 1. Take a date night EVERY week at least once. 2. Always, always be honest. 3. No disrespect. 4. Take time to communicate clearly. 5. Get a really fast motorbike and go for a fast ride round a small island (like Malta) once a week. :-)
NY TIMES – Mar 30 - Irrational Design is a technology start-up that is determined to bootstrap. Its co-founders, Jared Cosulich and Adam Abrons, say they believe they will be freer to take risks and experiment without pressure from investors seeking a quick return. That means releasing imperfect products – a dating site The Matching Game, an app that serves as an online suggestion box for businesses, and a goal-sharing message board.
Q: A better-funded competitor could easily replicate your simple products. Does that concern you?
Mr. Cosulich: It’s not a matter of copying features. Look at Craigslist. It doesn’t have a lot of features, and yet no one’s been able to copy it because it’s about community.
Q: What’s the biggest misconception about bootstrapping?
Mr. Cosulich: While V.C.’s do bring a lot to the table, there’s no proof that a bootstrapped company can’t grow and build long-term value. Our philosophy is that it takes time and patience to build a fantastic business.
by Adriana Gardella
See full article at NY Times
Mark Brooks: Case in point, PlentyofFish, World Singles, Christian Cafe… All bootstrapped and home spun. All successful and devoid of VC money or meddling.
CNN – Mar 29 – Looking for love is a big business in India. Gaurav Mishra, director of digital and social media at MSL Group Asia, a communications company, estimated that ~10% of India's internet users have used a matrimonial website. India's online matrimonial industry is expected to bring in $63M a year, according to a 2008 report by the market research firm Em Power. Internet penetration is currently only 5% but the arrival of 3G services means that many of the country's 600M mobile phone users will soon be online — entrepreneurs are seeking new ways to tap the online matchmaking market. One start-up, Ignighter, is hoping to persuade India that the future of online matchmaking is in group dating. Ignighter now has ~2M registered users in India and 40% of them are women.
by Catriona Davies
See full article at CNN
Mark Brooks: Bharat Matrimony and Shaadi own this market. I'm itching to go to India to learn more about their fascinating businesses.
BUSINESS INSIDER – Mar 29 – Marc Simoncini, Founder and CEO of Meetic, the biggest dating site in Europe worth ~$500M on the Paris stock market, is investing $10+ million into Sensee.com and taking over as CEO. Sensee.com sells eyewear and has an ambitious goal to cut in half the average bill in the category. Simoncini has been looking for an exit from Meetic, a thriving success but by now a fairly mature business, which must be boring for the restless entrepreneur. He put the site up for sale last year but could not find a buyer at the price he sought. He also set up a venture capital firm, Jaina Capital, with 100M euros of his own money.
by Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry
See full article at Business Insider
Mark Brooks: I know the perfect buyer for Meetic. M***h.com. Can you guess?
ONLINE PR NEWS – Mar 29 – BharatMatrimony, the matrimonial website, conducted 100 matrimony meets in one day and at one time on March 27 in connection with Matrimony Day that falls on April 14th. It is for the first time that a record 100 meets was held in a single day. During the Online Matrimony Meet, customers communicated for 3 hours through uninterrupted chat conversations with as many prospects as they want.
ICE NEWS – Mar 28 – Victoria Milan, a dating site which encourages married people to have affairs has prompted a record number of complaints to the advertising ombudsman in Sweden. Norwegian company Victoria Milan has introduced a billboard campaign in Stockholm, with posters reading: “Are you married? Liven up your life – find an affair”. “I understand that people react. But no one who is happy within their relationship will make use of our service just because we advertise,” said the company’s CEO Sigurd Vedal.
Mark Brooks: A growing number of dating sites are focusing on this niche. Which is both good, and bad. It's bad because, it's a shame the institution of marriage is being eroded, and people are encouraged to lie to their spouses. It's good because, it's better cheaters are NOT on mainstream dating sites. They need to clarify on their marital status up front, not 3 months into dating. 'Oh, btw, I'm married.' Ick.
PR NEWSWIRE – Mar 28 – Match.com uncovered new dating habits based on a study of ~5K single Americans. This research has found that, while some traditional dating do's and don'ts still exist, the playing field has definitely changed.
Specific highlights include:
– Tradition Still Applies – 41% of women would offer to pick up the check on a first date, 37% of men still feel they should foot the bill.
– Bailout Plan – 31% of both men and women agree that 15 minutes into the date is long enough to tell if there is chemistry. However only 12% of singles would actually call it a night and leave within the first 30 minutes of the date.
– Too Fast on a First Date – 6.5% of singles claim they have frequently had sex on the first date, while 80% of singles disapprove of ending the date between the sheets.
– To Friend or Not to Friend? – Younger singles (ages 21-34) think it's OK to add a date as a Facebook friend after 2-3 dates (26%), while 11% of singles between the ages of 35-44 wait to friend a date on Facebook until it becomes an exclusive relationship.
See full article at PR Newswire
Mark Brooks: Singles should have their first dates online, via webcam. Then go on real-world date. It's safer that way. These kinds of studies are quite revealing, and good for PR for both Match, and for the industry as whole.
WSJ – Mar 19 – For generations, people met at parties, in church or synagogue, through friends. But then we went online. We began making friends on Facebook and trolling for potential partners on websites like Match.com and eHarmony. Sometimes it works. That's, of course, if anyone bothers to email back. A lawsuit filed in Dec and seeking class-action status alleges more than half the profiles on Match.com are "inactive, fake or fraudulent." Match.com GM Mandy Ginsberg says the site's full-time fraud-prevention team works to identify and block fake profiles, including IPs that are in specific countries where fraud is prevalent or that try to set up multiple profiles. There are 1.7M paid subscribers on the site, Ms. Ginsberg says, and fraud happens to very few of them.
by Elizabeth Bernstein
See full article at WSJ
Mark Brooks: Sure, the real world is nice. But online dating is nicer. Why? More selection, more safety, and dating sites allow people to get the tough questions out of the way up front.