BUSINESS INSIDER – Mar 14 – The new iOS app Facefeed relies on the art of taking selfies and looking nice. There’s no profile to set up. It doesn’t link with any social networks. Users just log in, take a selfie, and put it out there in the world. If someone thinks their selfie looks nice, that person can write them a message.
by Karyne Levy
See full article at Business Insider
TECH CRUNCH – Mar 14 - Tinder is announcing that it has made 1B matches between its users. The company isn’t disclosing how many registered or active users it has.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE – Mar 11 – Datebook is a new feature on eHarmony's mobile app. Users can rate their dates on a scale of one to four and eHarmony will work that information into its algorithms to find them better future matches. eHarmony is the first of the big online dating sites to use post-date feedback to shape future matches, said Mark Brooks, editor of onlinepersonalswatch.com. Datebook also allows users to store contact and calendar information about all of their dates, plus any notes they wish to jot down about their experiences.
MARKETWATCH – Mar 12 – The House Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing to discuss “alternative solutions” to the Marketplace Fairness Act, which would mark the beginning of the end of online tax-free shopping. The U.S. Senate voted to approve the act last year, but the bill expired before the House voted on it. The Act would require online vendors with $1M+ in annual out-of-state sales to collect sales tax from their customers. The act wouldn’t apply to digital content like music and e-books, which is why states are steadily introducing their own sales-tax laws. Last year, Minnesota introduced a tax on digital goods, including e-books, e-cards and apps. Washington State expanded its tax in 2009 to specifically cover digital music, movies and e-books and apps, as did Kentucky, Vermont and Wisconsin. Most states don’t include magazines, newspapers or online dating in those laws, however.
FORBES – Mar 11 – The Internet offer a veil of anonymity that makes it easier to talk before you think. Dating sites are taking some steps to make online dating a much safer and harassment-free experience. Yesterday at SXSW, Elissa Shevinsky, a former dating entrepreneur who helped build OKCupid’s spam filters, shared some developments she was working on. OkCupid had a spam filter that would filter messages with bad grammar or naughty words. OKCupid now has a pilot program that deletes messages with short words. Many entrepreneurs have experimented with making users pay for every message or capping the number of free messages they can send at one time. The goal is to prevent daters from spamming thousands of people with the same message.
STREET INSIDER – Mar 12 – Osmium Partners owns 14.1% of Spark Networks common stock, making it the company's largest shareholder. The following is a short version of the open letter sent to the shareholders of Spark Networks.
Dear Fellow Shareholders,
For years we have acted as strong shareholder advocates. This letter highlights the prolonged underperformance and the critical need for significant change in the Company’s Board of Directors. Since the current CEO was appointed on June 15, 2006, Spark’s market capitalization has declined by 25%. Match.com has grown 4.5 times faster than Spark Networks. Since 2013, shareholders who purchased the 9.76M shares from Great Hill Partners and the company for $6.15/share have lost 22% of their investment.
We deserve change. If elected, our slate of Director Nominees would focus on the following Action Plan:
Sincerely,
John H. Lewis
The full article was originally published at Street Insider, but is no longer available.
HUFFINGTON POST – Mar 12 - Tinder is going to start a verification program for celebrities that's similar to Twitter's verification checkmarks, said company's CEO Sean Rad. Celebrities like Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Kennedy have spoken about using the app. Miss USA 2012 uses the app to get dates, and Olympic snowboarder Jamie Anderson said during the Sochi games that "Tinder in the Olympic Village is next level."
TODAY – Mar 12 – BroApp lets guys send pre-programmed text messages to their wives or girlfriends, so that they can hang out with their bros uninterrupted. The app knows the woman’s WiFi so she won’t get an awkward text if the bro who pre-programmed the message is at her house. It will also cancel a scheduled message if either member of the couple recently called or texted the other.
by Jessica Dukes
See full article at Today
THE DAILY CLOG – Mar 12 – UC Berkeley students can now sign-up for Single Sphere, a free dating site for UC Berkeley students and alumni. The site was created by Harvard University alumna Lauren Malan, and was originally targeted current students and alumni from Harvard. Because it was so popular, Malan decided to open it at other schools as well.
by Chloe Tarrasch
See full article at The Daily Clog
PR WEB – Mar 12 – ArabianDate.com is a newly launched International dating site that connects single men with women from the Arab region. ArabianDate is part of the AnastasiaDate that runs sites such as AnastasiaDate.com, AsianDate.com, AmoLatina.com, ArabianDate.com and AfricaBeauties.com.