MARK BROOKS – Jan 31 – Each year I interview a top dating executive at the iDate
Super Conference in Las Vegas. In this 37 minute exclusive video, OPW interviews Markus Find, CEO of PlentyOfFish. See last year’s interview with Dr. Neil Clark Warren of eHarmony here.
Month: January 2014
Why Buy Nerve.com? Interview With Brian Schechter, CEO Of HowAboutWe
OPW INTERVIEW – Jan 31 –
Why did you buy Nerve?
For nearly two decades, Nerve has produced bold, smart content on American sexuality and culture, giving readers a safe, inclusive place to comfortably discuss sex in a way they hadn’t been able to before. We feel the consumer desire for media covering sex and culture in a human, raw and surprising way is stronger now than ever, which explains why acquiring Nerve made complete sense for us, especially since it serves as the perfect complement to our other HowAboutWe Media properties — TheDateReport.com, Swimmingly.com and Famously.com — which are dedicated to producing resonant, high-quality content about all things love.
Roughly how much did you buy it for?
We’re not disclosing financial information tied to the acquisition.
Nerve is quite sexy and risque, will you keep it that way?
We’ve long admired and respected Nerve for providing smart, fearless content devoted to sex and culture, and we’re more than happy continue to drive their original mission, while carrying the torch for the next generation navigating a romantic landscape filled with social media flirtations, dating apps and sexting.
Under our ownership, Nerve will continue to provide a refreshing alternative to the mainstream with brave, inclusive, sex-positive stories.
Will it be integrated closer to How About We or will it remain as standalone?
Nerve and all of our media properties will operate independently from our two subscription-based services, HowAboutWe Dating and HowAboutWe for Couples.
Given your extension into couples products, it seems Nerve could straddle your single and couples products and offer up intriguing and sexy content. Is that where you’re going with it?
Actually, we’re going in the opposite direction — HowAboutWe Media, including Nerve, will not produce branded content, but rather each site will operate completely independently from our subscription-based services, producing quality, unbiased journalism.
Whether it’s a review of the latest online dating app, a deeply-reported analysis of marriage equality laws, or a first-person account of what it’s like to “manscape,” the HowAboutWe Media network will provide an entirely unfettered, honest look at the world of modern love and culture.
How’s your couples products doing now? Is it having a good effect on your core product return rates?
We just celebrated our 1-year anniversary since we first launched HowAboutWe for Couples, debuting in Los Angeles, our fifth major US city, this month.
The consumer reaction has been incredibly positive, with more than 90% of users continuing to renew the service each month. As a result, it now already accounts for about 30% of our total revenue, which we project will greatly increase as we continue to expand to new cities.
Surprising User Behavior Report?
OPW, IRENA BROOKS – Jan 30 – I just came across an article in TechnologyReview which was surprising only in its complete lack of surprising insight!
PengXia at the University of Massachusetts published results of a behavior analysis of 200K people on Baihe.com, one of China's top matchmaking/dating sites. "Their conclusions are fascinating," states TechnologyReview.com. Here are the "fascinating" stats from the report:
- Males tend to look for younger females and females look at the socioeconomic status of potential partners.
- Men send far more messages but get fewer replies than women. Women are more likely to receive unsolicited messages and less likely to reply.
- A fairly large fraction of messages are sent to users whose attributes do not match the sender’s stated preferences.
We were disappointed with this report. But its an example of how tough it can be to pull really meaningful and interesting data from surveys. Our hats off to OKTrends. They did such a great job in the past. But noone's picked up their baton and run with it. We're sitting on so much useful data that could result in potentially landmark insight.
A lot of dating sites such as POF, OKCupid and Match.com have been using behavior matchmaking algorithms since 2011. So what's the results? Where's the insight?
Korean Dating Transcends North-South Divide
WSJ – Jan 30 – Matchmaking is a sizable business niche in South Korea. There are companies that exclusively pair North Korean women and South Korean men. Women from the North account for three of every four defectors arriving in the South. It is easier for women to go unnoticed for days in North Korea, where most men are required to report at their workplace. Matchmaking service Namnam Buknyeo's is free for women, men pay 3M won (~$2,8K) for 5 introductions over the course of one year. According to a recent poll by matchmaking firm Bien-Aller, 69% of South Korean men were "somewhat positive" about marrying a North Korean woman, while 84% of South Korean women were "somewhat negative" on the question of marrying a North Korean man.
by Steven Borowiec
See full article at WSJ
Dating Factory Partners With British Reality TV Show
PR WEB – Jan 30 – White label dating provider Dating Factory partners with British reality TV show, The Undateables, which focuses on finding love for disabled singles. Dating Factory has given the producers access to their partner sites to find singles willing to participate on the show. Series 3 of The Undateables follows the journey of a participant found on Whispers4u.com, a DF partner site for disabled daters.
Down Is Introducing Anonymous Texting
NY MAGAZINE – Jan 30 – Down, formerly known as Bang With Friends, is planning to introduce anonymous texting as a new feature of its hookup-centric dating app. Down tested out anonymous texting on Sunday, with 1% of its total users. Straight females were slightly more likely to send messages compared to straight men. To rein in the potential for anonymous harassment, Down will permit each user to message a given number only once.
STD Testing With Dr Jeff Collier, CEO & Founder Of MateSafe.com
OPW INTERVIEW – Jan 29 – MateSafe.com offers its users STD and DNA testing to establish a Medically Verified Online Health Credential that they can control and share across various dating sites. We interviewed MateSafe's founder and CEO, Dr. Jeff Collier.
What's your background?
After completing my Doctorate in Chiropractic studies, I opened several practices in Atlanta. Sexually Transmitted Infections became a large part of my focus with my patient base. In 2006 I discussed the idea of verifying people for STDs with one of my colleagues. It appeared as though most online profiles exclaimed they were drug and disease free. But how do you prove that? That moment was the genesis of what is now MateSafe.
How big is the STD problem in the USA?
1 in 3 Americans has an STD. Of the 118M people with an STD, 1M of them have HIV and have no idea. 250K of them are girls 13 and older. It's a huge problem!
What's your current MateSafe offerings?
We tout ourselves as the CarFax of dating. CarFax provides condition reports for vehicles. We offer HealthStatus verification on the fly. With over 3500 labs we do all the STD tests necessary to screen someones health. We also offer drug and DNA tests. With DNA we allow people to avoid chronic illnesses or even design-a-baby. We also offer a background check API for those who want such a service.
What's the cost to end users?
$25 to become a member. Currently we are giving the membership away for free as a promotion. Test Packages cost $150 for the full panel, $120 for all-Viral no-Bacterial and $50 for HIV. With the US moving toward Social Health there will be a great subsidy in the test prices eventually.
How would you like to work with the iDating industry?
Dating sites can monetize a client who already trusts their service. We would like to allow users, who say that they are disease free and are looking for the same, to be able to share their health test results when they choose.
What was the reception like at iDate to MateSafe?
Mixed reviews initially by most, but after clarification that the data is not openly searchable, people tended to like it and understand the importance.
Why hasn't the dating industry offered screening products in the past?
Maybe because of a perceived liability. We don't tell people "You are clean!" We simply state that they have been tested and that they are responsible enough to share.
How have you addressed these problems with your products?
I think we address the problems the same as The CDC would. Test and Educate. We try to promote responsible relations. We give away condoms on a regular basis. Strip away all the medical feel and we are one more way for people to vet and be vetted. One more way to say your health is as important as mine. Without health you have nothing, nobody wants a lifetime illness and nobody aside from maybe your child is worth dying for.
HowAboutWe Buys Nerve.com
CNN MONEY – Jan 29 – HowAboutWe is launching an entire network of content sites based around dating and love. The network is called HowAboutWe Media and contains four sites that will be free and independent from the company's pay memberships: The Date Report, Swimmingly, Famously, and Nerve. Nerve.com was one of the first popular Web-only magazines, launched in 1997 as a somewhat edgy place for opinion, fiction and essays about sex. While Nerve is an acquisition, Swimmingly and Famously are brand-new sites; TheDateReport was an already extant site run by HAW that has been refreshed.
by Daniel Roberts
The full article was originally published at CNN Money, but is no longer available.
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
TRUE.com Domain Sold For 350K
DOMAIN INVESTING – Jan 29 – The buyer and new registrant is TrueCar.com, a car pricing and comparison website. True.com was purchased for $350K in an all cash deal. Prior to the sale, True.com was used as a dating site.
by Elliot Silver
See full article at Domain Investing
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
Wing Ma’am: HowAboutWe For Lesbians
MASHABLE – Jan 28 – Ariella Furman had a hard time connecting with the LGBT community when she relocated from New York to Pittsburgh. "The existing sites were focused on hookups. Women tend to look for relationships," she said. So she created Wing Ma'am, an app that debuted on iTunes last week after a brief demo run. The app grew to 8K users during its beta period. It connects users around quality dates and experiences.