PSFK – Jan 6 – NameTag is a facial recognition app that will use Google Glass’ camera to identify a passersby face, matching it with their online profiles. “I believe that this will make online dating much safer and give us a far better understanding of the people around us", said Kevin Alan Tussy, the app's founder.
Month: January 2014
Worst Profile Ever Still Attracts Hundreds Of Guys
WASHINGTON POST – Jan 6 – Alli Reed, a columnist for Cracked.com, created the worst online dating profile ever. She made sure to come across as “mean, spoiled, lazy, racist, manipulative, and willfully ignorant.” But the messages still poured in — more than 150 in the span of 24 hours.
by Caitlin Dewey
See full article at Washington Post
Irena Brooks: That's not surprising. Men simply don't read profiles. They spend most of the time looking at photos.
CapGain: 1-800-Junk-King Of The Venture Industry
LA TIMES – Jan 6 – Some start-ups do OK but they're never going to achieve the hyper-growth that leads to an IPO or acquisition. VCs will never get a return on their investment. But because the firms don't collapse, they can't write them off as tax losses either. Riding to the rescue is a new firm, CapGain, started by Gary Kremen (founder of Match.com) and Michael McTeigue. They buy stocks of companies whose valuation continue to decline. "You buy stuff on the cheap and hope it goes up a bit", said McTeigue. McTeigue said they expect it to be mostly a seasonal business, with investors looking to unload bad investments before the end of the year to realize the tax losses.
Global Personals Launches TV Campaign For JustSingles.com
PRESS RELEASE – Jan 7 – JustSingles.com is the parent brand of over 400 niche dating sites in the Just Group portfolio, ranging from sites such as JustSeniorSingles.com to JustGingerSingles.com.
Patent Troll Takes Aim At iDating Industry
OPW – Jan 6 – Recruit Me, LLC is taking aim at a slew of Internet dating companies in a series of patent suits. The defendants are accused of infringing on U.S. Patent No. 5,623,660 issued April, 1997. A "System for Regulating Access to Data Base for Purposes of Data Base Management." Recruit Me is asking for an injunction and damages, interest and court costs.
Happy New Year and thanks to Recruit Me, patent suits just landed on the desks of:
- Catholic Match
- Chameleon Internet Group (PinkWink)
- Couchsurfing
- Global Personals (Fling)
- Here Media (Gay.com & PlanetOut)
- Meetme
- Next C (Mingle2)
- Real Cafes (ChristianCafe)
- Successful Match
- World Singles (IranianPersonals.com)
While these companies were lucky enough to be singled out earlier in the year, in July, 2013.
- Avid Life Media
- DMS Network (DateMySchool)
- IAC / Match
- InfoStream Group (Carrot Dating app)
- PlentyofFish
- Zoosk
Recruit Me is represented by Ni, Wang & Associates in Dallas. A jury trial is requested.
Most Popular Online Dater: 25 Year Old Female Who Likes Her Booze
IRISH CENTRAL – Jan 5 – A 25-year-old Catholic woman who owns a dog, describes herself as thin, and drinks alcohol three times a week receive the largest number of messages than any other woman. Data compiled from POF revealed women who drink alcohol get 4.4% more messages. The most popular age for women is 25, receiving 14.4% more messages. A team of researchers examined ~1.8M messages sent between heterosexual singles. A single Catholic man who wants children, drinks socially and earns $100K -150K is proven to receive the most messages.
by Sean Dunne
See full article at Irish Central
AshleyMadison Had Record Sign-ups On Jan 1st
HUFFINGTON POST – Jan 3 - AshleyMadison experienced record sign-ups on New Year's Day, as 27,511 married Americans logged on for the first time to look for an affair partner. The traffic was up 20.7% from New Year's Day last year and 344% higher than a typical day.
Last Day To Vote For The 2014 iDate Awards
WEBWIRE – Jan 3 – Today (Jan 3rd) is the final day to vote for the 5th annual iDate Awards. The iDate Awards represent the best and most innovative aspects of the online dating and matchmaking industry. The voting is open at http://www.idateawards.com. ~15K votes have been cast.
Which Dating Sites Got The Best And Worst PR In 2013?
OPW – Jan 3 – Here are the Courtland Brooks rankings of the top 10 and the worst 4 performing idating sites for PR in 2013. We used Meltwater News and our qualitative analysis.
Best
- Match
- eHarmony
- Tinder
- OkCupid
- AshleyMadison
- Grindr
- Down (BangWithFriends)
- HowAboutWe
- Spark Networks brands
- Zoosk
Worst
- TRUE
- FriendFinder
- Cupid
- White Label Dating
Android Phones Are Used As Dumbphones
BUSINESS INSIDER – Jan 3 – Google's mobile users outnumber Apple's all over the place (80% of all smartphone users are Android owners), but Apple users are the ones spending all the money. iOS users spent $93.94 per order, twice that of Android users, who spent ~$48.10. It looks like Android people use their phones for calling, texting and playing Bejeweled. They ain't shopping.
by Jim Edwards
See full article at Business Insider
Mark Brooks: Android or iPhone? Where are you seeing best results for your dating app? Please comment.