Month: August 2012

FriendFinder Networks Sheds JigoCity Unit

Posted on August 7, 2012

Ffn logoXBIZ – Aug 7 – FriendFinder Networks is dumping its JigoCity division and selling it back to its original owner for $1. FriendFinder last September acquired BDM Global Ventures, parent of JigoCity, in a stock deal that was worth about $4.3M when FriendFinder's stock price was more than double what it is today – 90c as traded on the Nasdaq today. JigoCity, which focuses on "daily deals," operates in such foreign markets as Australia, Brazil, China, Singapore and Taiwan. Recently, it was pulling out of the Hong Kong market. FriendFinder said it would be able to cancel 4.1M of 6.4M warrants with strike prices ranging from $7 to $18 a share issued during the acquisition.

by Rhett Pardon
See full article at XBiz

Mark Brooks: I've seen multiple idating sites start daily deals sites and bail on them now. We just bailed on running Daily Deals Observer. The industry seems mired, and not that interesting really.

See all posts on FriendFinder

This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.

POF Is Launching Luvmybox

Posted on August 7, 2012

Luvmybox logoTHE NEXT WEB – Aug 3 – Plentyoffish.com (POF) has launched a side project dubbed Luvmybox. The new venture will ship you a discreetly packaged box filled with “adult oriented and flirty items” on a monthly basis for $34.95 a month. Every month, a ‘LuvBox’ will be sent to members, filled with “intimate and slightly risqué items”. No more awkward trips to the sex shop, in other words. POF says Luvmybox will start shipping boxes in the US and Canada in September.

by Robin Wauters
See full article at The Next Web

Mark Brooks: Markus commented "Its not owned by POF, and POF resources won't be committed to it."

See all posts on POF.com

SNAP Interactive Q2 Results, Social Discovery Re-Design

Posted on August 7, 2012

Snapinteractive logoPR NEWSWIRE – Aug 6 – SNAP Interactive quarterly revenue increased 8% to $5.2M compared to $4.8M for the comparable period in 2011. Net loss for the quarter was $1.2M. "We successfully launched the redesigned AreYouInterested.com product to all new users by the quarter's end without burning a meaningful amount of cash", said SNAP's CEO, Clifford Lerner. "We are pivoting from a focus on pure dating to social discovery. Social discovery is about discovering people and content based on common interests. Common interests are an incredibly powerful way to connect people and engage users with highly targeted content including commerce, events, music and videos."

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

See all posts on Snap Interactive
See all posts on AreYouInterested

Can GPS Find You A Mate?

Posted on August 6, 2012

Gps dateBOSTON GLOBE – Aug 5 – OkCupid Locals is meant to follow you wherever you go and find you matches along the way. “Mobile dating has created a new promise, an enticing one,” says Aaron Schildkrout, co-founder HowAboutWe. “When you see these people on your phone, you think, ‘This person is real, they’re near me, and I may actually be able to encounter them in the real world". Grindr was the first app of its kind to get traction. By March 2012, Grindr had 4M users in 192 countries. MeetMoi, which came online as an iPhone and Android app in 2010, alerts users when another MeetMoi user is nearby. SinglesAroundMe, also released in 2010, features a singles-locator map of sorts. OkCupid launched its Locals app in 2011. Sam Yagan, founder of OkCupid, says two-thirds of its mobile users activate the GPS-positioning info. Mark Brooks, a consultant to Internet dating sites, points out that men tend to use location-based dating features more than women, and that location-based dating apps are most often used by singles in big cities. What’s more, the singles that use them are using them all the time. “People don’t view as many pages on their mobile dating apps as they do when they’re looking at profiles at home, but they’re logging in as many as eight times a day,” says Brooks. Mark Brooks jokes that one reason location-based dating hasn’t yet gone mainstream is that there are too many men running the sites. Match is the only major dating site run by a woman, and its CEO, Mandy Ginsberg, has said the company won’t rely on location-based tools. Robinne Burrell, the company’s director of mobile product and distribution, says its experts don’t believe the location-based approach puts singles on the path to long-term relationships.

by Brooke Lea Foster
See full article at Boston.com

See all posts on OkCupid              See all posts on MeetMoi
See all posts on HowAboutWe      See all posts on SinglesAroundMe
See all posts on Grindr                 See all posts on Match.com

DatingFactory.com: Mobile Usage Is Five Times As High As Web Usage

Posted on August 6, 2012

Datingfactory logo newPRESS RELEASE – Aug 6 – Top tier dating sites are seeing 40% of their daily logins coming from mobile phones. The Dating Factory mobile audience spends 5 times more time online compared to web users now. They also return more often. Mobile visitors return at a rate 25% higher than from Dating Factory web users. DatingFactory.com, the white label platform, was established in 2009 and operates in 18 languages, and supports 42 niches.

The full article was originally published at Dating Factory, but is no longer available.

See all posts on DatingFactory

MeetMe Q1 Revenue Is Likely The Beginning Of A Big Breakout

Posted on August 6, 2012

Meetme logo news July 12SEEKING ALPHA – Aug 3 – MeetMe, the company formally known as Quepasa, has fallen under the radar of investors during the past year. Quepasa served primarily as a social media site for the Latin and Spanish speaking community. The launch of Facebook's Spanish platform completely thwarted Quepasa's initial potential to grow. During the Q1 '12, MeetMe earned record revenue of $10.8M. However, this was quickly eaten away during the same quarter, resulting in a Q1 loss per share of -$0.05. They spent 270% more on product development and content (their biggest operating expense of over $6M), 400% more on sales and marketing and 130% more on general and administrative costs. Their total operating costs and expenses totaled $12.4M for 2012 whereas in 2011, this number was $3.6M. Because of some recent developments within the past two quarters a turnaround is inevitable. MyYearbook (acquired by Quepasa during 2011) launched its first app for the iPad and has reported a total of over 500K daily page views. On February, the company launched the offering of mobile virtual currency. This is a huge factor because ~60% of total page views come from MeetMe's mobile users. In their 10-Q filing with the SEC for quarter one results, MeetMe mentioned that 33% of earned revenue came from sales of their virtual currency, both mobile and web-based, for a total of approximately $3.6M.

by Kyle Walker
See full article at Seeking Alpha

Mark Brooks: Courtland Brooks is now working with Meetme.

See all posts on MeetMe

This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.

Herb Vest, True Beginnings Seek Bankruptcy Protection

Posted on August 6, 2012

True logoDALLAS BUSINESS JOURNAL – Aug 3 – Dallas investor and entrepreneur Herb Vest and True Beginnings, the company he controls, have each sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Sherman. Vest listed assets of up to $50K and liabilities of $1 – $10M, owed to up to 49 creditors. True, which does business as True.com, listed assets of up to $50K and liabilities of $50-$100M, owed to between 100 and 199 creditors, a bankruptcy petition shows. True, which has 35 employees, generates ~$650K of revenue every month, according to the company’s bankruptcy filings.

by Jeff Bounds
See full article at Dallas Business Journal

Mark Brooks: We saw TRUE take err from its path of imatchmaker into seedy lower echelon dating site. Their marketing tactics devolved and focused on short term gains. No real surprise that TRUE was not acquired and ended up in this position. It's a shame however. The original ideals were strong, but the temptations for shorter term gains won out…for a while.

See all posts on True.com

Baby Boomers Return To Dating

Posted on August 6, 2012

Gray divorceBOSTON GLOBE – Aug 5 – With so-called gray divorce on the rise, according to sociologists at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, a growing number of baby boomers are finding themselves back on the market. “When I was in my 30s, my biological clock was ticking,” says Rita Lombardi, a divorced Canton resident. This time around, a different clock is ticking. “It’s the rest of my life,” she says, “and I want to spend it with fun people. I don’t want to spend it alone.” Even though older daters say they know themselves better than they did when they were twentysomethings, they know the new rules less well. Although the overall divorce rate in the country remains essentially flat, the rate among those ages 50 and older has doubled since 1990, reports Susan Brown, a sociology professor at Bowling Green State University. “Remarriages are more likely to end in divorce than are first marriages, and the risk of divorce is greatest during the earliest years of marriage.” Other factors include: the rise in the number of working women; changing attitudes about marriage and divorce; and lengthening life expectancies.

by Beth Teitell
The full article was originally published at Boston Globe, but is no longer available.

Tawkify: Online Dating With Human Matchmakers

Posted on August 3, 2012

Tawkify logoGLOBE AND MAIL – Aug 3 – Tawkify.com is a new dating site that is launching in Canada. Singles who sign up are prompted to answer fewer than 10 questions for assessment by Tawkify’s team of five human matchmakers. When a match is found, Mr. Brooks, an automated robot butler, e-mails with instructions on how to proceed. It costs $19 per match, $49 for three matches and a variety of higher-end packages are available, ranging from $99 to $999 for unlimited matches. The matchmakers' involvement goes beyond the initial matchmaking. They act as the go-betweens, scheduling calls and planning dates like personal assistants.

by Sofi Papamarko
See full article at Globe and Mail

See all posts on Tawkify

Alma Media Buys Finland’s Largest Dating Site

Posted on August 2, 2012

Ekontakti.fi logoMARKET WATCH – Aug 2 – Alma Media has bought e-kontakti.fi, Finland's largest dating site from the Swedish company Intodate International AB. The value of the deal was not disclosed. E-kontakti.fi has ~35K active members and 11K paying members. Last year, the revenue of e-kontakti.fi was $1.9M Eur.

The full article was originally published at Market Watch, but is no longer available.

This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.