NY POST – Oct 27 – theComplete.me and Mirror.co are two new online dating companies that launched in March which mandate transparency. Mirror.co requires a phone number, which is used in a double-blind text messaging system and also has a vouching system. TheComplete.me uses verified Facebook accounts to mimic the way singles meet in traditional ways.
by Jozen Cummings
The full article was originally published at NY Post, but is no longer available.
THE NEXT WEB – Oct 27 – China's national policies, economic reform, and urban migration have created challenges for the country's one billion residents when it comes to relationships. Chinese Internet companies are developing online dating sites designed to meet the specific issues men and women face here. One company is Jiayuan with nearly 70 million members. Momo, a Chinese iPhone social networking app has grown to 16 million members and raised $40m in funding with a $100m valuation.
WEBWIRE – Oct 29 – A special pre-session has been added for the 31st Internet Dating Industry Conference in Sydney. Mark Brooks, publisher of Online Personals Watch and CEO of Courtland Brooks, will provide a special 3 hour session “Introduction to the Online Dating Business” on November 7. This session is ideal for business executives and entrepreneurs looking to enter the business. Read more here.
David Iwanow, SEO manager at Amnesia Razorfish will also be speaking at the conference. He will discuss content marketing and linking for the dating industry. Read more here.
Max McGuire, CEO of RedHotPie, will also be speaking at iDate. McGuire is a 10 year veteran in the Australian online dating and social networking industry and as such has witnessed the growth, evolution and trends that have come about during this time. Read more here.
HUFFINGTON POST – Oct 26 – The online dating industry is estimated to be worth more than £2bn world-wide. The industry's growth has continued despite the recession in the global economy. Huffington Post interviewed a number of industry executives including Matthew Pitt, operations director at Global Personals, who believes the market is difficult to get into unless you have a “very deep pockets and a differentiated dating offering”.
LA TIMES – Oct 28 – Hyper-specific niche matchmaking sites are changing the online dating game. Site like Atlasphere, VeggieDate and DisabledCupid allow users to find potential matches from people who share very important common traits. Dr. Robert Epstein, a San Diego County research psychologist, believes this can be the basis for a successful relationship.
PRESS RELEASE – Oct 28 – Cupid has partnered with RecSys to implement new Scamalytics anti-scammer technology on its most popular online dating networks – Cupid.com, BeNaughty.com, GirlsDateForFree.com, Flirt.com, and BlackMatch.com. Cupid's new measures aim to catch scammers 35% faster and increase detection rates by 10%. The company currently blocks 20,000 scammers each month.
CHINA.ORG.CN – Oct 25 –
10. Hongniang.com – 2M users
9. LS53 – 2.14M
8. 21xiehou - 3.7M
7. LOL99 - 4.3M (a leading high-end matchmaking service agency)
6. Marry5 - 10M (focuses on white-collar workers aged between 25-45 years old)
5. Juedui100 - 13M (operated by psychological experts)
4. 0019.com - 30M (serious matchmaking)
3. Zhenai - 40M (It features online staff service with more than 2,000 matchmakers facilitating matches via phone)
2. Baihe - 42M (Users must answer a 30-minute love-related psychological test, then Baihe recommends matches according to the test results)
1. Jiayuan - 68M (online dating and various real-life blind-dating activities, public since May 2011)
by Lin Liyao
See full article at China.org.cn
See all posts on Jiayuan.com See all posts on Zhenai
See all posts on Baihe See all posts on Hongniang
SHARECAST – Oct 25 – Mark Doughty, the Finance Director of Cupid, pocketed a significant sum of money on Tuesday after trading in 610,228 shares. The shares were sold at 202.08p, earning him a total of £1.2m. Mark Doughty now holds 24,650 ordinary shares, equal to 0.03% of the issued share capital of the company and holds a further 777,667 share options in the company.
WEBWIRE – Oct 24 – Only 7 days left to make your nominations for the 4th
annual iDate Awards. Self-nominations are accepted. You can nominate in
those categories:
The awards have the following schedule:
