THESUN.CO.UK – Jan 31 – Cheating is helping to save marriages, claims Noel Biderman, founder and CEO of AshleyMadison.com. The stats, from the Office of National Statistics, show that while the number of divorces caused by adultery has halved over the last 30 years, the number of unhappily married couples joining married dating sites has rocketed. The number of divorces in the UK decreased by 1.9% in 2011. AshleyMadison.com has 17M members worldwide and 730K members in the UK since launching in February 2002.
Month: January 2013
eHarmony’s UK Chief Exits
MARKETING WEEK – Jan 29 – eHarmony’s UK country manager Bryn Snelson has left the company five months after taking on the role and just four weeks after the exit of its top marketer Ottokar Rosenberger. The role of UK country manager will not be directly replaced with Jason Chuck, VP of international, overseeing operations here from abroad. The shake-up in eHarmony’s senior leadership here comes as Neil Clark Warren, who founded eHarmony, returned to take back control of the company as CEO last year.
Twitter As A Dating Site
COSMOPOLITAN – Jan 29 – Attwaction.com allows users to "flirt" privately with other Twitter users even if they don't follow each other. Officially launching on Feb 14th, the site allows users to send a private message to anyone using its "flirt box." Then, it provides a platform for budding tweet-crossed lovers to chat further.
Online Dating Sites Couple-up To Safeguard Industry Reputation
MARKETING WEEK – Jan 30 – eHarmony, Match.com and MySingleFriend are holding preliminary talks to establish a code of conduct to distance themselves from less reputable operators in the sector. Also involved in the process are Lovestruck and Christian Connection, other online dating brands are also in discussions but have declined to be publicly associated with the talks at present. It is also understood the long-established Association of British Introduction Agencies (ABIA) is also involved in the talks. The ABIA itself has proposed a code of practice for online introduction service providers, which is scheduled to come into effect this year.
by Ronan Shields
See full article at Marketing Week
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Matchmaker.com Study: Dating Habits Of Senior Citizens
PR WEB – Jan 30 – 75% of men and 85% of women, age 55+, prefer a serious relationship to marriage. 95% of men and 85% of women want a healthy sex life, regardless of age. “Senior citizens are an extremely active segment of Matchmaker.com’s member base,” said Meir Strahlberg, CEO of Avalanche, a parent company of Matchmaker.com.
Europeans 45+: Most Active Online Daters
COMSCORE DATAMINE – Jan 30 – In Dec 2012, ~49M Europeans visited dating sites according to comScore, that’s 12% of the total online population in Europe above the age of 15. The 45-54 age group showed the highest engagement, spending ~83.4 minutes per visitor during the month.
The full article was originally published at Comscore Datamine, but is no longer available.
Matchmakers In Boston See Boost After Holidays
BOSTON.COM – Jan 28 – “After the holidays, people realize they don’t want to be alone, it increases as Valentine’s Day approaches,” said Jill Vandor, executive matchmaker for LunchDates. At LunchDates, which has been operating for 30 years, the employees connect individuals with other compatible members of the service. The company has ~1K members. Post Club, out of Newton, also says that once January hits, their busy season begins.
by Jessica Bartlett
See full article at Boston.com
Dating Sites Remake The Introductions
BOSTON GLOBE – Jan 29 – Tawkify, a blind-date matchmaking site, bills itself as “the new old way to date.” It is one of several matchmaking start-ups tailored to millennials who seek companionship, but who have no interest in enduring a string of traditional one-on-one dates to find it. “Social club” is how Grouper is billed. Grouper uses members’ Facebook profiles to set up a date between two people — who each invite two friends along, increasing the odds of clicking with someone. MeetCute sends potential matches to a location but doesn’t reveal them to each other, forcing participants to connect with their MeetCute match or with a total stranger. OkCupid just launched Crazy Blind Date, an app that lets users pick a location and a day, then sit back and get paired up someone to go out with. Such casual or creative meet-ups may offer more “guaranteed fun” than the typical dinner or drinks. Making online meet-ups as relaxed as possible could be the way to keep young people on the Web dating scene, said a Northwestern University psychology professor, Eli Finkel, who studies romantic relationships.
by Rachel Zarrell
See full article at Boston Globe
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When Two People Click
WSJ – Jan 29 – Laura Brashier is a survivor of cervical cancer. Her treatment left her unable to have sex so she set up a dating site for people like her. Since its creation in 2011, 2Date4Love has enrolled thousands of members. Dating sites now offer hundreds of potential mates at a keystroke. In "Love in the Time of Algorithms" journalist Dan Slater has dug in manfully to explain how technology is transforming how we meet and fall in love. In the late 1970s, Jeffrey Ullman founded Great Expectations, which invited people to record videos of themselves for perusal by potential dates. When Mr. Ullman appeared on the Montel Williams talk show and was asked if he was preying on lonely people, he shot back: "Yes. Just like restaurants prey on the hungry and doctors prey on the sick." There has been an explosion of niche sites, which Mr. Slater covers in salacious depth. There are dating websites for Goths, pet lovers, military widows and even adults who like to dress up in diapers. Mr. Slater also made a trip to Colombia with a group of American men, members of AmoLatina. For $1,595 a head, the men travel to Medellín, attend two "socials" where there are 20 women for each man, and have the services of concierges and translators to help them with their dates.
by Philip Delves Broughton
See full article at WSJ
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Bang With Friends: Facebook Sex App Creators Talk Controversial Product
