Month: July 2011
What Members Want from Online Dating
WLD – July 28 - Online dating platform provider WhiteLabelDating.com releases member survey results. The results provide a snapshot of today’s dating market and what members would like to get out of the experience. Here are some highlights:
79% of members are looking for a serious relationship
37% consider profile description as the most important factor when deciding whether they should contact someone
52% of people prefer messages over winks
Facebook Trademark Should Be Canceled, Shagbook Says
LAW 360 – July 28 - Shagbook fired back Monday against an attempt by Facebook to block the online dating site from trademarking its name, claiming that Facebook's own mark is invalid and should be canceled. Shagbook argued that "facebook" is a generic term, and said any U.S. registrations for the Facebook mark should be ruled invalid. "The term was in common use in the English language well before [Facebook] began using the term in connection with its services. The similarity of the Shagbook mark creates a false impression that there is some sort of affiliation between Shagbook and Facebook, Facebook argued.
by Jacqueline Bell
See full article at Law 360
How Dating Evolved Through the Years
INDEPENDENT.CO.UK – July 28 – Dating Agencies have been around longer than most people would probably imagine. We’d need to go all the way back to the 16th century. The first agency was run by Parish Vicars, who would put together lists of candidates who they believed were compatible for marriage. People were matched with others, in the same class as themselves. In 1825, a London-based agency opened its doors to business. It was used as a last resort for men, who were looking for a good wife. The ‘first wave’ of what we recognise as a modern dating agency came post-World War II in form of ‘dating clubs’. People would join, have their photograph taken, and give information about themselves and the type of partner they were looking to meet. The club would then be pro-active in matching them to a suitable partner, based on the information. It wasn’t until the late 1960s, when personal ads became part of the growing culture in the UK.
Attitudes about Dating Changing in This Dour Economy
CONTRA COSTA TIMES – July 27 – With 14.1M workers unemployed in June, men and women are adjusting their ideas on what makes a great date. For many people, unemployment would no longer be a deal-breaker. April Braswell, a dating expert, says that although singles are generally looking for financial stability, they will be more forgiving of someone who has just lost her job — as long as she shows motivation to get a new one. When the economy crashed in 2008, Match.com had its best quarter. New couples are also more willing to accept a date paying with a coupon from a daily deal site than they were in years past. Paul Falzone of eLove, a matchmaking service since 1974, says singles don't have to impress one another by ordering the most expensive cocktail or having the best seats for the stadium concert.
by Laura Casey
See full article at Mercury News
Meetic First Half 2011 Results
PRESS RELEASE – July 27 - Revenue for the first half of 2011 totalled Eur92.4M, up +1.1% compared to the same period of 2010. The total amount of money invested in advertising over the Q2 was thus Eur21.7M, compared to Eur36.5M the previous quarter. The client acquisition cost was thus Eur86.35 versus Eur72.10 over the same period of 2010. Subscriber numbers: a total of 844,435 subscribers at 30th June 2011, versus 872,047 subscribers at 31st March 2011. This decrease in the number of subscribers is due to the reduction in marketing spendings over the Q2 2011.
IAC Increases Revenue 23% on Web-Search, Dating Sites
BLOOMBERG – July 27 – IAC/InterActiveCorp., the operator of Match.com, reported a 23% increase in Q2 revenue from Web search products and growth in online dating subscribers. Sales increased to $485.4M from $394.2M a year earlier. Match.com said in May that it would make a tender offer for the 73% of Meetic SA that it did not already own. The offer valued the French dating service at $493M.
by Brett Pulley
The full article was originally published at Bloomberg, but is no longer available.
Top iPhone & Google Play Apps
(July 2025)
AppStore (iOS), USA
Top Grossing Dating Apps
1. Grindr
2. BLK
3. Chispa
4. Match.com
5. PlentyofFish
(Lifestyle Category)
1. Tinder
2. Hinge
3. Bumble
4. Raya
5. Hily
Top Grossing People Discovery Apps
1. Yubo
2. Taimi
3. Tagged
4. MeetMe
5. Skout
(Lifestyle Category)
1. Badoo
Google Play, USA
(Dating Category)
Top Grossing Dating Apps
1. Tinder
2. Bumble
3. Hinge
4. PlentyofFish
5. Hily
Top Grossing People Discovery Apps
1. Badoo
Matching and Sorting in Online Dating
INTERNET DATING SCIENCE – July 26 – Kathryn Lord has summarized Matching and Sorting in Online Dating Study in plain English for Internet Dating Science. Users want the best possible matches for the least time and money invested. The authors suggest that in traditional mating, the search costs (the search and the risk of rejection) are considerable, but that online dating is designed to minimize the costs (numbers of singles concentrated in one place, rejection risk minimal because of anonymity and ease of contact, and the only cost being the dating site’s fee and the effort of writing of a witty email). Based on this information, you should:
- Recognize that a realistic customer will more likely be a satisfied customer.
- Persistently educate your customers about searching, "favoriting," and making first contacts.
- Make sure that your customers understand that a high non-response rate to first email contacts is normal and to be expected.
- Suggest that customers systematically widen their search criteria until they have consistent positive returns to their first emails.
- In particular, encourage women to make first contacts.
How OKCupid Helps Users Find Their Perfect Match
READ WRITE WEB – July 25 - OKCupid is well known for its data analysis. On average, says OKCupid's CTO Tom Quisel, active users have answered ~3K questions; they've hidden the profiles of several thousand users they aren't interested in; they've voted for ~4K profiles. All that data is in addition to users' personal demographic data and preferences, as well as their site usage information (how often they log in, how often they respond to messages and so on). All that data makes a simple search for a list of potential matches quite complex. In fact, says Quisel, it can take 13 billion seeks in order to load one page of results.
by Audrey Watters
The full article was originally published at ReadWriteWeb, but is no longer available.