Month: November 2013

Hack Of Cupid Media Sites Exposes 42M Passwords

Posted on November 20, 2013

Cupid media logoARS TECHNICA – Nov 20 – A hack on niche online dating service Cupid Media earlier this year has exposed names, emails and plain-text passwords for 42M accounts. This could set off chain of account hijackings on other sites.

by Dan Goodin
See full article at Ars Technica

Andrew Bolton, co-founder of Cupid Media adds: "The accounts affected included many old, inactive and deleted accounts. The number of active members affected was considerably less than the number quoted. We do not store any credit card information and that no customer’s credit card data was compromised."

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Lexa.nl, Dutch Dating Site, To Use Brand Ambassadors

Posted on November 19, 2013

Lexanl logoEMERCE – Nov 19 – Lexa.nl, the largest dating site in Netherlands owned by Meetic, is planning on using couples who met on Lexa.nl as their brand ambassadors to share their experiences with friends and followers.

by Jan Libbenga
See full article at Emerce

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Online Dating Engine That Assesses Your Taste In The Opposite Sex

Posted on November 19, 2013

Dating engine graphsTECHNOLOGY REVIEW – Nov 19 – Computer scientists at the University of Iowa in Iowa City have developed a dating recommendation engine that matches people with partners they find attractive but only ones that are likely to find them attractive too. It not only assesses users tastes but also measures their attractiveness. The scientists don’t say whether they’ve had interest in testing it on a real dating sites or whether they plan to start their own dating site.

See full article at Technology Review

Lovestruck Is UK’s 5th Top Startup

Posted on November 19, 2013
Lovestruck logo new Aug 13THE GUARDIAN – Nov 18 – Deloitte has published its Technology Fast 50, which charts the 50 most rapidly growing tech companies in the UK. Their combined annual revenue is £672M but the average five-year growth rate is 1,382%.
 
Here's the top 10:
  1. Infectious Media
  2. Avecto
  3. AlertMe
  4. Mobile Account Solutions
  5. Lovestruck.com – dating site for busy people. Lovestruck's growth rate has been 2,658%.
  6. Monitise
  7. Sixteen South
  8. FreeAgent
  9. Equal Experts UK
  10. Backbone Connect

by Samuel Gibbs
See full article at Guardian.co.uk

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Video Date Interview With CEO Marcel Cafferata

Posted on November 19, 2013

Videodate interview 2OPW INTERVIEW – Nov 19 – VideoDate is an app that allows users to do their first date on their phone. It’s a great idea, in principal. I’m amazed their isn’t more competition from established players. – Mark Brooks

What's your founding story?
I started my mobile app after realizing that most dating apps were very one dimensional. They had limited options including pictures, brief descriptions and basic text messaging. Those apps leave the door wide open for fake profiles. With VideoDate, I wanted to raise the bar and help eliminate fake profiles and also allow people to have a real interaction prior to meeting in person.

What was your budget for starting the site and what funding did your raise?
I've funded my app completely myself and have raised 0 dollars. I spent in total $85k on my app.

How does the app work?
VideoDate is the Skype of mobile dating. We are a gps/ geo targeting app where you get to browse through profiles and choose to engage in live video communication directly over your mobile devices (patent pending). You can weed out the individuals you want to chat with easily and in addition to video chat you are able to send text messages, picture messages and in the very near future 90 second video messages.

Who's your competition?
As of now we have 2 other competitors – flikdate and date.fm. But we have more options and larger numbers.

How's it different from other iDating apps?
We offer many ways of finding love and connecting with specific desired audiences via distance (geo location/gps), orientation, race and much more. We also have picture messaging and live video chat. Soon we will offer actual video messaging as an in app purchase.

What's the most interesting feedback have you've had from your members about the app?
Members tend to really enjoy the live video chat and say it really helps with breaking the ice.

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Carrot Dating: Excellent PR Strategy

Posted on November 18, 2013

Carrotdating app iconWIRED.CO.UK – Nov 18 - Carrot Dating app allows members to send "bribes" to women in exchange for a date. CNN thinks it's crass. Venturebeat calls it disgusting. The Inquisitr says it treats women like dogs. But everyone is talking about it. Brandon Wade structured his team to focus on publicity. "Marketing and PR represents ~40% of the team. He does admit that launching a company based on controversy is "a double-edged sword". "It can grow very quickly but you ruffle a lot of feathers. Repairing that is the next challenge." "It's the most calculated form of marketing I've seen for a long time," says Jason Goodman, CEO of marketing agency Albion. "The dating category is over-supplied and completely undifferentiated. He's resorting to extreme controversy. And the media has been suckered into the process."

by Olivia Solon
See full article at Wired.co.uk

Mark Brooks: Deliciously and totally outrageous. Brandon Wade continues to up his game to disgust and delight an ever widening circle of singles.

See all posts on Carrot Dating

Video Dating Survey

Posted on November 18, 2013

SurveyOPW – Nov 15 – Professor Monica Whitty at the University of Leicester is running a short survey about the use of video communication via online dating sites. She would like to learn why you have opted or not opted to use video on your sites. The survey should take ~10 minutes. Any personal information or organisational details will be strictly confidential. The survey can be found here.

Chinese Men Travel To Vietnam To Find A Wife

Posted on November 18, 2013

55tuan logoGLOBAL TIMES – Nov 18 – 55tuan.com offered a free trip to Vietnam for one lucky person, provided he married a Vietnamese woman. ~30K people had participated in the lottery. It demonstrate that there is a strong market in China for marriages with Vietnamese women who are described as not as materialistic as their Chinese counterparts. According to a recent poll 68% of single women care about the wealth of their prospective spouses. International matchmakers charge 30,000 – 60,000 yuan ($4,900 to $9,850), which covers costs such as a dowry, a wedding feast and visas. It is illegal for individuals to engage in international matchmaking for profit. As it is also illegal in Vietnam, people involved in the trade have nowhere to turn in the event of a dispute.

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

Mark Brooks: Finding a guy is becoming more and more like shopping. The iDating industry is encouraging people to laundry list their wants and expectations. Surely there's a better way. We need to help our users explore the softer side of potential suitors qualities, and keep an open mind. This is very prevalent in China, where key factors are a home and money. But women are right. If a woman wants a family, she needs a nest, and a man who can stand up high on his own two feet. This is only what natural selection does in nature. iDating sites are making our qualities more visible, in theory…when people actually tell the truth. What's your thoughts?

HIV-Dating.com Helps HIV Positive Singles Living Positively

Posted on November 18, 2013

Hivdating logoPR WEB – Nov 17 – ~1.2 M people are living with HIV in the US and 34M around the world. HIV-dating.com is a new community. Members can get on with life and meet new friends and partners.

See full article at PR Web

Snap Interactive Ranked #194 At The Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500

Posted on November 18, 2013

Snapinteractive logoPR NEWSWIRE – Nov 15 – Deloitte's 2013 Technology Fast 500 is a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and clean technology companies in North America. SNAP's revenue grew 539% from 2008 to 2012.

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

See all posts on Snap Interactive