Month: May 2011

Online Personals Watch Notoriety Rankings: Match Wins!

Posted on May 20, 2011

OPW logo z banneru OPW – May 20 – While I was working at FriendFinder in 2003, I grew frustrated. My friends and work associates forwarded me fascinating news hits and info every day, and I didn't make enough time to read them. I was missing out on learning that could give me an edge, and help me make better decisions. So I figured I'd start a daily news summary blog and share it with the rest of the industry.   

Online Personals Watch has been illuminating the top news since 2004.  We run news summaries, ceo interviews and rankings.  We've been coming up with a few new rankings recently. i.e. see the Klout rankings. Next week Hitwise are giving us a rankings feed so we can show their up to date rankings more frequently.  We also thought it would be interesting to see who had the most hits on Online Personals Watch since June 2004. Here's the rankings. Match wins.

  Dating site Number of OPW posts
1   Match.com 557
2   eHarmony 348
3   PlentyofFish 287
4   True.com 163
5   Yahoo! Personals 138
6-7   WhiteLabelDating 108
6-7   Spark Networks 108
8   FriendFinder 106
9   AshleyMadison 87
10   Meetic 86

Updated – May 2014
Match is still Nr. 1, with almost 200 new posts published during last 3 years. True.com doesn´t exist anymore, so, we left it out this list.

  Company Number of OPW Posts
1   Match.com 742
2   eHarmony 465
3   POF 371
4   OkCupid 178
5   WhiteLabelDating 157
6   Spark Networks 149
7   AshleyMadison 145
8   Yahoo Personals 138
9   FriendFinder 135
10   Cupid plc 124

At FriendFinder, Models Make More Than The Company

Posted on May 19, 2011

Ffn logo BNET – May 19 - The stock of FriendFinder Networks (FFN) tanked following its IPO, sinking from $10 at its opening a few days ago to $5.85 at yesterday’s close. The company announced a revenue decline of 3.1% to $83.5M in Q1 2011. ~22% of FFN’s revenues from from a “live models” business, in which consumers can watch performers, er, “perform” on webcams. Commissions to models and their studios are 32.2 % of those revenues. Some rough math shows that the models and their studios collectively received ~$24.5M in commissions from FFN last year. The company, by contrast, lost $43.1M.

by Jim Edwards
See full article at BNET

See all posts on FriendFinder

Playboy Survey Reveals Internet’s Impact On Sex

Posted on May 19, 2011

Playboy logo DIGITAL LIFE – May 18 – According to a recent poll by Playboy, more people are watching porn (78% now, compared to 40% in 1983). Online dating sites are here to stay, with 33% of men and 23% of women engaged in hot pursuit, even if they're already in monogamous relationships. 41% of men and 47% of women have suspected a partner of cheating.

by Athima Chansanchai
The full article was originally published at Digital Life, but is no longer available.

Bill To Make Internet Dating Safer Approved

Posted on May 19, 2011

Paragraf STAMFORD PLUS – May 19 – The Connecticut House of Representatives approved legislation today introduced by State Representative Mae Flexer that will make internet dating safer. Flexer’s bill (HB 5866) which was passed with bipartisan support would require dating sites charging fees to provide their customers with safety tips and advice designed to make their dating experience, both on- and offline, safer. If Flexer’s bill becomes law, Connecticut would become the third state to regulate dating sites joining New York and New Jersey who have passed similar legislation. The bill now heads to the Connecticut State Senate for consideration.

See full article at Stamford Plus

Red Herring Recognizes iovation As A 2011 Top Technology Innovator

Posted on May 19, 2011

Iovation RHNA_Finalist_Logo IOVATION BLOG – May 18 – iovation was named as a finalist for the 2011 Red Herring Top 100 North American Award. Last year alone, iovation helped online businesses prevent 35M fraud attempts to protect their customers, corporate reputations and reduce fraud losses.

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

(Full disclosure: iovation is a former client of Courtland Brooks)

See all posts on iovation

Grindr And Manhunt, Gay And Growing + Manhunt To Charge Membership In UK

Posted on May 19, 2011

Manhunt grindr loga OPW – May 19 – Grindr and Manhunt have enjoyed considerable growth over the last few years.  They don't charge in the UK yet.  But that will change within days.  (you saw the news here first!).  Manhunt's typical member sticks around for 15 months and conversion rates are upwards of 15%.  Typically, it costs in excess of $40 to bring in a paying member to a PG straight dating site.  But Manhunt's cost of acquisition is less than half of that.  See our first interview with the Co-founder of Manhunt, Jonathan Crutchley in April 2007, here. 

Grindr is a phenomenon with 1,980,000 users worldwide, as of 30th April, 2011, and 8,000 new users per day.  Not too shabby considering that Joel started the company with $5k capital and is yet to do anything in the way of advertising!  So the cost per new user is, get this, $0!  In the USA Grindr has 741,800 users and in the UK there's 254,600 users as of 30th April, 2011.  We captured the founding story of Grindr in December, 2010 when we interviewed Joel Simkhai, the founder and CEO of Grindr right here on Online Personals Watch.

Public companies have to show their numbers. Grindr and Manhunt don't.  Wouldn't it be nice if we could collect these numbers from the entire industry to be able to show the  trending in our humble little industry?  Or at least to the rest of the Internet Dating Executive Alliance so you could have some sense of the industry numbers in the aggregate.  Your comments please.

See all posts on Grindr
See all posts on Manhunt

Location Is Key In Smartphone Dating Apps

Posted on May 18, 2011

Smartphone dating LA TIMES – May 18 – Online dating through smartphone apps is driven mainly by photos and proximity. There are about a dozen smartphone apps which use location-based GPS technology to allow people to connect at public venues. The apps facilitate real life meetings in places of common interest. While most apps are free to download and use, many offer subscriptions for premium features at around a few dollars per month. Mark Brooks, a consultant to online dating services, said premium levels could eventually be a significant source of income for the apps but only after they reach a critical mass of users.

by Shan Li
See full article at LA Times

Online Dating Despite Recession

Posted on May 18, 2011

Piggy bank THE INDEPENDENT – May 18 – In a time when many social activities have cut as unnecessary expenditures, online dating is thriving. The industry has proven itself recession proof, as more singles than ever look to the internet to find love. According to LoveGiest, 96% of singles are looking for emotional security rather than financial security. According to Oxford University, 30% of people have tried online dating and 15% of those have met their current partner online.

See full article at The Independent

SpeedDate Founder Speaks At Webinar

Posted on May 18, 2011

Webinar logo OPW – May 18 – Join SpeedDate founder Simon Tisminezky and Popular Science's Mike Haney for an exclusive webinar in which they'll reveal the secrets behind their profitable subscription apps on multiple platforms. The event is scheduled for Thursday, May 26, 2011 from 1 to 2pm ET. 

See all posts on SpeedDate

How To Choose An Online Payment Processor

Posted on May 17, 2011

Paymentprocessors picture COURTLAND BROOKS BLOG – May 17 – An online payment processor is a critical element for any online dating or social networking site that wants to accept payments from customers. Choosing the right payment processor can improve revenues and reduce operating costs. There are several key considerations, including merchant accounts for domestic or global processing, payment gateway functionality, fraud prevention and PCI compliance. Another important factors is pricing. The lowest price is not always the best value, as providers with slightly higher fees may provide additional services that will save money in other areas.

See the full post at Courtland Brooks blog