GUESTOFGUEST – Apr 25 – Dating app Hinge, which matches potential couples through mutual facebook friends, has surpassed 10K users and is now available on Android.
Month: April 2013
Virgin America Introduces Flight Dating Service
TRAVELERS TODAY – Apr 26 – Virgin America allows passengers to send a drink, a meal or a snack to another passenger that catches their eye. With the system, passengers can locate another passenger of Virgin's digital seat map, browse a menu and have a special item sent to a special someone. The system even allows passengers to send a follow-up text message.
by Katie McFadden
See full article at Travelers Today
Hornet Gay App Creators Stress Friendship
HUFFINGTON POST – Apr 24 – Hornet is a free gay app. Here is the interview with Hornet's CEO and co-founder Sean Howell.
Q: What inspired you to create such an app?
A: Aside from my background as an analyst, I am
also an activist and really wanted something different than Grindr. We
created something that helps people looking for a lot more than just
sex, especially with travelers or people who are just moving to a city.
Q: What purposes does Hornet serve other than hooking up, and why?
A:
We, the staff at Hornet, are made up of bleeding-heart homos whose
backgrounds are VC's technologists and activists. This gives our
community a much different feel. People are also using the app for
business networking, to get a job, to explore moving, to plan their
vacations.
Q: How do you compare with your competition, like Grindr?
A: I didn't know that that was my competition.
Loveflutter Is A Google Freebase-Powered Dating Site
TECH CRUNCH – Apr 23 – Loveflutter is a new dating site powered by Freebase, the 37-million strong open database of people, places and things acquired by Google in 2010 and now part of the search giant's Knowledge Graph. The site connects people based on shared interests. Loveflutter shows you matches who like the same kinds of music, books, movies, TV shows, and sports. Loveflutter can suggest places to go on a date, based on local venues it pulls in from Foursquare. Other features include "Verified Profiles".
International Online Dating – Questions Answered By Mark Brooks
THE PRIVATE MAN – Apr 22 - Mark Brooks is both an online dating industry expert as well as the chief strategy officer for AnastasiaDate.
Q: Define international online dating, and differentiate it from the “mail-order bride” concept.
A: The term “mail-order bride” is quite derogatory to women and doesn’t reflect our brand intentions properly at all. We are not in the mail-order bride business. Many users of AnastasiaDate want to meet for love and for serious relationships.
Q: What are some of the demographics of those who choose to use international online dating?
A: 65% of AnastasiaDate's women are in their 20s or 30s. The average age of the men is 41.
Q: Are women in the Anglosphere (U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, New Zealand) also deciding to use international online dating?
A: Yes, we’re seeing the growth of international online dating here.
Q: What are the top 10 international online dating websites?
A: Here are rankings from Experian/Hitwise:
- AnastasiaDate – 16.00% marketshare
- Chnlove – 11.38%
- AmoLatina – 9.81%
- LatinAmericanCupid – 8.99%
- CharmingDate – 8.05%
- iDateAsia – 4.87%
- Dream-Marriage – 4.09%
- ForeignLadies – 3.79%
- AForeignAffair – 3.74%
- CherryBlossoms – 3.26%
AnastasiaDate saw traffic rise 220% over last year.
Q: What motivates men/women to select international online dating over local online dating?
A: People are looking for love and relationships that are different. Men who date internationally tend to be more technologically advanced.
Q: Have you seen resistance to international online dating?
A: It’s been a controversial subject in the past, but I believe by 2020, it will be a more mainstream topic.
Q: How has the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act (IMBRA) impacted international online dating?
A: IMBRA set out necessary regulations that do aim to protect women from abuse, and I believe the regulations are keeping people safe.
Q: Do you envision any further U.S. regulation on international online dating?
A: To me, IMBRA covers good ground, and self-regulation also makes sense, of course.
The full article was originally published at The Private Man, but is no longer available.
MeetMoi CEO To Speak At iDate On June 5-7, 2013
WEBWIRE – Apr 23 – Alexander Harrington, CEO of MeetMoi will debate with other CEOs and the press on a panel that covers established versus startup mobile dating business strategies. Joining him will be executives from eHarmony and Courtland Brooks. The panel will be moderated by Sharon Jayson, reporter at USA Today.
Women-only App Which Objectifies Men
TELEGRAPH.CO.UK – Apr 22 – Alison Schwartz and Alexandra Chong, who are long-time friends, created Lulu so women could read and write private reviews of men they are interested in dating. The free app is designed exclusively for women so they can anonymously research any man that they are interested in. Lulu isn't a place to trash-talk however. Since mid-January 2013, 80M profiles have been viewed on Lulu and 12M searches conducted. The business, which employs 14 people, has so far raised $3.5M.
Spark Networks Reports Q1 Financial Results
MARKETWIRE – Apr 23 – Revenue was $17.3M, an increase of 19% YOY, and an increase of 6% compared to $16.3M in the prior quarter. The Christian Networks segment was the primary driver of that growth. Net loss was $2.9M. Average paying subscribers for the Jewish Networks, Christian Networks and Other Networks segments were 295,531, an increase of 23% YOY.
The full article was originally published at WSJ, but is no longer available.
This Dating Site Livens Up Airport Layovers
USA TODAY – Apr 23 – MeetAtTheAirport.com allows solo travelers to arrange meet-ups with strangers. The website has just soared to the 80K-member mark. A similar site, Planely.com, matches members who are taking the same flight. And KLM Airlines has a "Meet & Seat" option for flights to and from Amsterdam that lets participating passengers link up via social media.
by Kitty Yancey
See full article at USA Today
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New Plenty Of Fish Ad Platform Launches
FEEDFRONT – Apr 23 – iPyxel Creations has launched a new ad platform that simplifies working with POF.com. The tool, called POFpro, enables affiliate marketers to track, automate, and scale POF traffic source. POF gets 432M monthly visits, 9.8 billion monthly page views, and 4.3M daily uniques.
by Shawn Collins
The full article was originally published at FeedFront, but is no longer available.