Month: July 2013

Chatalyst: Next Generation Of Chatroulette

Posted on July 12, 2013

Chatalyst logoBOSTINNO – July 11 – Two years ago, Chatroulette was an Internet darling until nudity prevailed, and users couldn’t log on without catching an appalling peek at someone’s private parts. Harvard alum Jon Cheng launched Chatalyst, a platform that also pairs strangers up, but has a reputation system built in to incentivize users to treat each other well. Through Chatalyst, users have the ability to upvote and downvote each other, similar to Reddit. If the conversation goes great, users are able to save each other, which allows them to message privately later on.

by Lauren Landry
The full article was originally published at BostInno, but is no longer available.

Tinder Is Not Without Flaws

Posted on July 12, 2013

Tinder fake profilesHUFFINGTON POST – July 11 – Cybersecurity company Symantec had come across fake Tinder profiles, which spam people and direct them to an apparent porn site designed to take their money. On Tinder you fill out a simple profile and post a few photos of yourself. You are then presented with strangers' profiles one by one and you can swipe the person's profile left to essentially "pass" on them and right to "like" them. If both people "like" one another they are connected through an in-app chat feature. Tinder doesn't currently have any way to report spam in the app. "We are aware of the spammers and have already taken precautions to prevent them from bothering our users," said Tinder spokesperson. People are likely less skeptical of profiles they see on Tinder, since most of the information on someone's profile (name, photos, etc.) come directly from Facebook. In order to make a fake Tinder profile, one first has to make a fake Facebook profile with a fake name and fake photos.

by Alexis Kleinman
See full article at Huffington Post

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eDarling Announces UK And Ireland Expansion

Posted on July 12, 2013

Edarling logo newVENTURE VILLAGE – July 11 – Shortly after eDarling bought back its shares from eHarmony (May 2013) comes the news that the German company will be expanding to the UK and Ireland. Until now, the dating service had avoided expanding to areas where eHarmony was already active. The new UK and Irish versions of the company will be called “EliteSingles”, similar to Hamburg-based service ElitePartner. Both dating sites connect singles that have certain academic qualifications. eDarling is keen to move forward under the generic Affinitas brand, which explains the new name for the UK and Irish branches. eDarling is planning on funding it via its own operative cash flow.

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

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Facebook News Feed Ads Generate 49 Times More Clicks At 45% Less Cost

Posted on July 11, 2013

Facebook exchange logoVENTUREBEAT – July 11 – According to a new ad study by retargeting giant AdRoll, news feeds ads have a massive 21 times higher clickthrough rates than standard web retargeting ads and an incredible 49 times the clickthrough rate of Facebook’s right-hand side ads. Sold via Facebook Ad Exchange, the ad units enable brands to target consumers who have previously visited their sites, hence “retargeting", which enables advertisers to merge the intent graph (what people want) with a social site (Facebook). News Feed ads are likeable, shareable, and commentable.

by Josh Koetsier
See full article at Venture Beat

FriendFinder’s Forbearance Continues

Posted on July 11, 2013

Ffn logoTHE DEAL – June 24 – FriendFinder Networks Inc. has received a third extension on its forbearance agreement with its lenders, and probably not the last one. The extension now is July 1. FriendFinder needs a good solution to shrink its hefty $455M debt burden. It has a debt-to-assets ratio of 110.8%. When industry analyst and consultant Mark Brooks visited FriendFinder's headquarters earlier this month, he found that "FriendFinder was business as usual, and the talk was of business expansion. I've seen many idating offices over the years," Brooks said. "I got a good sense of good morale at FriendFinder."

by Lisa Allen
The full article was originally published at The Deal, but is no longer available.

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Facebook Graph Search Creepy?

Posted on July 11, 2013

Facebook-graph-search picVOCATIV – July 9 – Facebook’s Graph Search is meant to connect you to friends, or friends of friends in an unprecedented and eerily intimate way. The tool allows you for more curious, detailed Facebook searches based on interests and profiles. “Facebook Graph Search eliminates the need for OkCupid, because you stalk people on Facebook all day long,” Carli Blau, the sex, dating and relationship Expert at JustBlauMe.com. You can search relationship status. Wisely, it is one of the core search categories on Graph Search. Graph Search works in part via shared likes. Matchmakers say there are real dangers in using Facebook as a matchmaking tool.

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

Unconventional Dating Site Hands Out Free Dallas Divorces

Posted on July 11, 2013

DivorcedDALLAS CULTUREMAP – July 11 – Sugardaddie.com is offering to pay for three divorces for Dallas residents. The deal comes by way of LegalZoom.com’s divorce package. To win, users have to email the reasons they want a divorce to darren@popculturepr.com. Entries must be received by 5 pm July 31.

by Jonathan Rienstra
See full article at Dallas CultureMap

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WealthyMen.com iPhone App Launched

Posted on July 10, 2013

Wealthymen mobile appPR WEB – July 10 – Global Personals, LLC recently released a mobile version of its dating site, Wealthymen.com, now available on the Apple App Store. The WealthyMen iPhone app aims to connect attractive women with established professionals.

See full article at PR Web

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John Doe v. PositiveSingles.com Class Action Certified

Posted on July 10, 2013

Paragraph-symbol-rulesPR WEB – July 10 – The California Superior Court granted class certification in the class action lawsuit filed by John Doe against STD dating site PositiveSingles.com and SuccessfulMatch.com. Plaintiffs allege that the sites failed to disclose to members that their profiles would be accessible on ~1,000 websites other than the one they signed up on. Plaintiffs are seeking injunctive relief as well as restitution of their registration fees, compensatory, statutory and punitive damages.

See full article at PR Web

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ChristianMingle And JDate Debut New Mobile Apps

Posted on July 10, 2013

Jdate christianmingle mobileMARKETWIRED – June 9 – ChristianMingle.com and JDate.com have released two new mobile apps: ChristianMingle's Quick View app and JDate's JPix app. Both apps are available for Android and Apple devices. "Mobile logins ChristianMingle and JDate grew by ~60% in Q1", said Greg Liberman, CEO of Spark Networks, the company that owns and operates both ChristianMingle and JDate.

The full article was originally published at Spark Networks website, but is no longer available.

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