Month: February 2014

InstantChemistry Offers DNA Matchmaking

Posted on February 13, 2014

CBS – Feb 12 – A Canadian company, Instant Chemistry, collects the DNA and screens for generic factors that they say will lead to a higher rate of compatible match-ups. The site claims that ~40% of physical attraction can be determined through the genes alone. Customers buy a home test kit for ~$450, register their sample online, send it off to the company for screening. Right now the service operates primarily in Canada.

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

Traffic To French Dating Sites Up 40% On Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 13, 2014

Dating1-300x168AFP – Feb 13 – Of the 18M single people in France, one in two uses Internet dating, said Jessica Delpirou, director in France of Meetic. On Feb 14 last year, Meeic saw a 38% increase in people signing up compared with other Thursdays in the month. Lovoo says it has seen recent monthly increases in users of ~30-40%.

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

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Internet Dating Jobs Listing Update – February 2014

Posted on February 12, 2014

Internet dating jobs logo OPW – Feb 12 – New iDating jobs listing is live on the Internet Dating Jobs blog.

Below see a couple of this month's most interesting offers:

____

From our esteemed Courtland Brooks clients:

AnastasiaDate
  Director of Mobile Marketing

Dating Factory
  Customer Support Advisor (foreign language)

Global Personals USA (Webdate, Fling, WealthyMen)
  Product Manager

____

eHarmony
  Vice President, Engineering

HowAboutWe.com
  Digital Sales Director

Match.com, Chemistry.com, People Media
  Director, National Sponsorship Sales

Meetme
  Sales Director – Social Theater (Digital Advertising Sales)

SpeedDate
  Director of Product

To see more open positions go here.

Do you have an idating industry job offer which is not included? Please, send it to petra@courtlandbrooks.com and we will add it to the list.

iovation Finds Mobile Use Is Up 70% YOY

Posted on February 12, 2014

Iovation logo new feb 12IOVATION – Feb 12 - iovation, a company that is stopping Internet fraud with their device reputation database, revealed today that 39% of all online dating takes place on mobile devices, up 70% YOY. The company has analyzed tens of millions of transactions originating from 235 countries from January 1 to January 31, 2014. The top mobile devices singles used in Jan '14 were:

  1. Android – 55% of all mobile transactions
  2. iPhones – 27%
  3. iPads – 11%
  4. BlackBerry – 3%

See all posts on iovation

Tinder Is Serious About Expanding Beyond Dating

Posted on February 12, 2014

TECH CRUNCH – Feb 12 – Right now, Tinder‘s focus is on international growth. The app has added 1M new users in the UK in the past two months, with solid growth in Brazil as well. Tinder has also seen more diversity in terms of age. Early on, ~90% of Tinder’s user base was 18-24, but today that age bracket makes up ~50% of the app’s users. CEO Sean Rad believes Tinder could be used for more than just dating. It could be used to set up a job interview in the future.

by Colleen Taylor
See full article at Tech Crunch

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Glimpse Is New Instagram Dating App

Posted on February 12, 2014

Glimpse logoMASHABLE – Feb 12 – Pictures say a lot more about people than online dating profiles. That's the thinking behind a new dating app Glimpse. Glimpse taps into Instagram accounts. Singles can browse through profiles in the app and view a collection of pictures that show how other singles spend their time and view the world. Glimpse is currently available by invitation.

by Seth Fiegerman
See full article at Mashable

Pew Study: Internet Has No Negative Impact On Relationships

Posted on February 12, 2014

Pew internet project logoPEW – Feb 12 – A new report from the Pew Research Center looks at how technology matters in the lives of married adults. Only 27% of adults who are married or in committed relationships say that the Internet has had an impact on their relationships; and a majority of them say that impact has been positive. 25% of cell owners in serious relationships say the phone distracts their spouse when they are alone together. 21% felt closer to their spose because of exchanges they had online or via SMS.

See full article at Pew Internet

Romantimatic App Reminds Husband To Say Nice Things

Posted on February 12, 2014

Romantimatic logoCBC NEWS – Feb 11 – Romantimatic is a $2 iPhone app. It reminds people to text their significant others. Users are presented with a list of pre-programmed sentiments: "I love you." "I miss you." "I was just thinking about you." Greg Knauss released Romantimatic in mid-January, and almost immediately, criticism poured in on Twitter. Knauss is a computer programmer, and as such, often finds himself completely immersed in his work. "It's a tool," he explains. "You can use it to make your life better. It's not insincere or cynical." He has been married for 18 years, and uses the app with his wife.

by Dan Misener
See full article at CBC News

CEO Of JDate: Mobile Log-ins Up 114%

Posted on February 11, 2014

Sparknetworks greg libermanFORWARD – Feb 10 – Greg Liberman has been president and CEO of Spark Networks since 2004.

Q: Why do you think JDate has been so successful?
A: JDate was built out of a need. One of our founders wanted to expand his social circle of single Jewish women; that’s how it started.

Q: What  trends have you observed over 10 years with the site?
A: Mobile. We saw a 114% increase in log-ins via mobile in 2013.

Q: What about non-Jews on JDate? Do you have any theory about why they’re there?
A: JDate’s extremely successful, so that may drive them there. It’s an extremely small proportion of the site. The default search on JDate is Jewish only. We don’t discriminate on the basis of religion, and so people can come in, and there are. Some people want to be part of the Jewish community and says they’re willing to convert.

by Doni Bloomfield
See full article at Forward

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‘Between’ Pairs Up With Japanese Mobile Giant DeNA

Posted on February 10, 2014

Between screenshotTECH CRUNCH – Feb 10 – DeNa, one of Japan's top mobile Internet company, has invested in Korean startup VCNC to turn its couples app Between into an open platform for third-party developers. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. VCNC has raised $4M so far and Between has been downloaded 5M times. With this investments, couples will see more features to plan activities together and communicate better.

by Catherine Shu
See full article at Tech Crunch

This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.