PRESS RELEASE – Feb 14 – This year Valentine’s Day will mark the start of a business boom across the online dating world with more companies seeking to capitalise on the millions of people turning to online dating. Over February 13 & 14 in 2011 Global Personals.co.uk saw a rise ~30% in subscriptions across its sites. Global Personals expects these figures to rise again in 2012 by 150%. Global Personals operates its own dating sites including Singles365.com, DatingAgency.com and JustSingleParents.com, whilst its B2B service, WhiteLabelDating.com, offers a platform for brands and individuals to power their own dating sites.
Month: February 2012
Sites That Cater To ‘Discreet’ Encounters Thriving
USA TODAY – Feb 14 – For Noel Biderman and others who have founded dating websites for married people, it's a lucrative business. "The day after Valentine's Day is one of our biggest days of the year," says Biderman, founder and CEO of AshleyMadison (AM). Some of the sites are based in Europe and increasingly have become international, with their eye on the USA. "American people are really hypocrites about infidelity," says Teddy Truchot, co-founder of Gleeden, which launched in Europe in 2009, moved into Australia and entered the U.S. market last fall. "Everything from the U.S. which comes to Europe is about infidelity," says Truchot. "You see cheating all over TV and in real life." Data from 2010 from the General Social Survey shows that 19% of men and 14% of women reported ever having had an extramarital partner. AM earns well over $60M a year, suggests online dating industry analyst Mark Brooks. Biderman says that estimate is "on target," but he's expecting greater revenue this year ($100M). Industry tracker Brooks counts well over 30 cheating websites. He is quick to disclose that he has been a paid consultant for many online dating services, including those he calls "philanderer sites." "The philandering sites are specific to people who are wanting to be discreet," he says. "As much as I abhor these sites, they do actually do something good for the industry. People can be who they are on the philanderer sites," he says, rather than have married people claiming to be single, which happens on singles dating sites, he says. Biderman says it took five years to get the first 1M anonymous members. Currently, ~2.3M are registered and considered active by logging in or taking an action within the past 30 days. Brooks says he's surprised that in 10 years, Biderman's site hasn't had a lot of direct competition. Part of it, he says, is that "people don't like to start that kind of business." But Gleeden is ready to take that on.
by Sharon Jayson
See full article at USA Today
POF.com: Dating Is A Numbers Game
STANDARD FREEHOLDER – Feb 14 – Is there such a thing as love at first “site?”. Sarah Gooding, a dating coach with PlentyOfFish (POF.com) said people the world over are going online by the millions to find out. “We have 40M users worldwide, we’re the number one online dating site in the U.S., Canada, the UK and Brazil,” she said. "POF sees its most traffic between the time right after Christmas up until Valentine’s Day itself,” she added. “We see a 15% increase in traffic in that time period.” The site’s other biggest spike in traffic is the period right before summer and the most popular day of the week for the site is Sunday, according to pof.com public relations consultant Shannon Smith. For Gooding, who met her own boyfriend by logging on to pof.com, dating is a numbers game. “The more people you meet, the more likely you are to meet that special someone,” she said. Since pof.com has gone mobile, it has seen a staggering 3% increase in site traffic per day.
by Tony Muma
The full article was originally published at Standard Freeholder, but is no longer available.
Match.com, A Good Cause
OPW – Feb 14 – One of our Power User Panel members noticed some ASPCA ads on the logout/exit page from Match.com. "Hey Mark, how would you like to see these faces everyday when you log in and out of Match? Now don't get me wrong, I love animals and I donate to several "no kill" shelters here in Chicago but these ads for the ASPCA have been going on for almost 2 weeks. I think it's in bad taste not to mention depressing. But hey, to Match advertising revenue is advertising revenue right? I'm sure they could care less what the customer thinks…lol."
I suggested to the Power User panel member…
"I'm sure Match had good intentions. Perhaps these ads are following you because you've donated in the past and clicked on another ad. There's a thought. Match could be retargeting."
Response…
"I did think about that, but I donate to "Pets In Need", PAWS, and "Save A Pet" by check only. None of them even have my email address nor have I ever been to any of thier websites. So that's not it."
What do you think? Your comments please.
Cupid In Dating Brands Lease Deal With Brightsolid
BBC.CO.UK – Feb 14 – Cupid is to take on several brands under a leasing deal with Dundee-based Friends Reunited owner Brightsolid. Under the 10-year deal, Cupid will operate Friends Reunited Dating, Friends Over Fifty and Swoon. Brightsolid will retain ownership of their domain names, trade marks and intellectual property rights. Brightsolid CEO Chris van der Kuyl said: "Our acquisition of Friends Reunited in April 2010 helped the company to achieve significant growth last year, with overall sales up by 75%. "However, it is clear that Cupid has real strengths in the online dating sector, so it makes absolute sense to enter this agreement with them for our dating business.
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Looking For Love On LinkedIn
FINANCIAL POST – Feb 14 – A new dating site called Hitch.me turns your LinkedIn network into a search for a soulmate. Although Hitch.me only launched about a month ago, some 2K people have already signed on. And so far, it’s somewhat of a ladies market with more men using it. The site was built by Toronto resident Naveed Nadir. “This idea came to me last year after LinkedIn launched their API." Hitch.me does not search through your whole LinkedIn network looking for suitable mates, only those who join Hitch.me. But it does allow you to see the full profiles of people it matches to you.
Dating Website Fraud Is Running Rampant
BUSINESS INSIDER – Feb 13 – According to the fraud protection firm Iovation, instances of fraud on dating sites has jumped more than 150% in the past year. In 2010, 1.4% of the online dating site transactions Iovation processed using its ReputationManager 360 program were found to be fraudulent; that number jumped to 3.8% in 2011. "Those bad actors can cause millions of dollars in lost revenue and damaged reputation to online dating sites, not to mention a loss of innocence for its users," Mark Brooks, said editor of OnlinePersonalsWatch.com.
by Matt Liebowitz
See full article at Business Insider
WhyTheyReSingle.com Launched Today
PRESS RELEASE – Feb 14 – Operators of WhyTheyreSingle.com, a new site that posts humorous and sidesplittingly bad examples of online dating, launched their public debut today. Why They’re Single bills itself as the “tribute site to excellence and failure in online dating.”
Money Can’t Buy Me Love – Or Can It?
IRISH TIMES – Feb 14 – A European Singles survey found that Irish men are likely to spend €106 on a date, compared to British men, who were likely to spend €60. According to a study conducted by the Oxford Internet Institute last year, one in 16 Irish people surveyed started their relationship online. Services range from the free, such as PlentyofFish.com to subscription-based sites like Match.com. While there are never any guarantees, does a greater financial investment result in a higher success rate? “They know that a paying member is serious about dating,” says Grainne Barry of Another Friend, Ireland’s largest dating site with ~60% of the Irish market share.
by Claire O'Mahony
See full article at Irish Times
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Essential Mobile Marketing Session At iDate Beverly Hills
OPW – Feb 14 – I just took a look at the new pre-event session on mobile dating and was suitably impressed. Four mobile marketing gurus will present on…
- Unique ways to increase mobile downloads
- Methods to improve mobile customer conversion, retention and activity
- How to increase mobile clicks to leads / profile registration
- Common pitfalls and excessive marketing costs to avoid
- SMS Marketing Strategies for dating
- PPC and SEM marketing strategies specific to mobile dating
- Which mobile markets are viable and which are not
- Metrics for mobile dating
- Methods to monitor cost effectiveness of mobile advertising
I see this session as absolutely essential if you're offering a mobile dating product. See http://www.internetdatingconference.com/2012/LA/topic-advanced-dating-pre-event.htm.