Month: August 2014
Facebook To Speak At iDate Cologne
OPW – Aug 28 – Facebook is speaking at the upcoming Internet Dating Conference in Cologne next week. Facebook have seriously reviewed and refined their approach to the dating industry after discovering that sentiment around internet dating based ads was considerably sub-par. This was largely due to rogue dating sites, and rogue affiliates. So now, after a period of analysis and revision, they’re taking a new and more open approach to the Internet dating industry, thank goodness. So come learn more at iDate, and meet the Facebook rep who will be giving us the update on Facebook’s new worldwide and European policies for our industry. This will be the first time Facebook is addressing the Internet dating industry publicly.
Post by Mark Brooks @
Interest In ‘Shorting’ Spark Networks Rises By 3.2%
SLEEK MONEY – Aug 29 - Spark Networks saw a significant increase in short interest in August. There was an increase of 3.2% from the July 31st total. Currently, 5.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.
by Matt Cooper
See full article at Sleek Money
Mark Brooks: I think Spark Networks is waaaay overdue for a shake-up. Ultimately their targeting the Christian market makes a lot of sense, but is a behemoth for them to get their arms around. It's challenging, but Spark could do this. Fascinating! What's your thoughts?
Ashley Madison Sues South Korean Government
THE CANADIAN PRESS – Aug 29 - Ashley Madison is suing the government of South Korea after being blocked over allegations of illegal activity. Adultery is illegal in South Korea. Ashley Madison denies the accusations, describing itself as “a social networking website facilitating communication between like-minded adults.” “There’s no adultery that happens on Ashley Madison, it’s just a publication,” the company’s CEO and founder, Noel Biderman, told The Canadian Press.
by Paula Loriggio
See full article at Metro News
Irena Brooks: Launching in South Korea where adultery is a punishable crime is another publicity stunt. Are they taking it a little bit too far this time? Every country has its own laws and we should respect them even if we find them absurd. If Ashley Madison is a social network that allows like minded people (he forgot to add "in committed relationship") to communicate, why would he be hurt if his wife uses the site?
Mark Brooks: AM is not a social network in any way shape or form. A social network gives visibility into peoples social networks. AM does quite the opposite in enabling privacy in the extreme. Anyway, the main point of this PR is to get people riled up and conversing. AM achieves its aim again.
See all posts on AshleyMadison
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Jiayuan Q2 2014 Financial Results: Revenue Up 22%
PR NEWSWIRE – Aug 28 – Q2 revenues were $23.4M, a 21.8% YOY increase. Operating income was $1.3M. Average monthly paying user accounts were 1.5M, a 16.3% YOY increase. Personalized matchmaking services grew 239.3% YOY, accounting for 22.5% of net revenues. 64% of all logins were from mobile.
See full article at Digital Journal
Mark Brooks: Match owns 20% of Zhenai which is a top 3 dating site and competitor to Jiayuan. I expect to see Zhenai rise in rankings because of knowledge sharing between the companies. The Chinese market is most interesting because matchmaking is far more palatable and culturally the norm.
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Facebook: Social Media Doesn’t Stifle People’s Opinions
BUSINESS INSIDER – Aug 28 – A new report from the Pew Research Center claimed that people are less likely to post anything controversial if they're not sure their audience agrees. Winter Mason, a Facebook researcher, broke down the study and explained why it may not be so true. First of all, Mason explains, the phenomenon of people not wanting to express themselves to unlikeminded audiences is a universal reality, one that is not unique to the Internet.
by Rebecca Borison
See full article at Business Insider
Mark Brooks: As more people express themselves the online norm of being critical becomes more acceptable. The Internet dating industry has a problem with helping people gage reputation in the context of romantic relationships. They're scared to offend. On another note…Facebook is proving to be a major source of traffic for Internet dating sites, but is also very challenging. A Facebook representative will be speaking at the upcoming Internet Dating Conference in Cologne to help clarify on where Facebook stands on Internet dating advertising now, and give some guidance on how best to scale and monetize it.
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UK’s Online Dating Market 2014: Number Of Users Increasing, Revenue Down
OPW – Aug 27 – Although the number of monthly users over the last two years has increased 13% to 7.1M, the revenue is down from £168.5M in 2011 to £158.7M in 2013, according to a new report by leadingdatingsites.co.uk.
eHarmony Celebrates 14 Years
HERALD ONLINE – Aug 26 – With ~45M subscribers since inception, 1 in 7 people in America has subscribed to eHarmony at one point or another, leading to ~600K marriages.
The full article was originally published at Herald Online, but is no longer available.
Grindr Faces Security Breach Allegations
AMERICA BLOG – Aug 26 - Grindr is facing accusations that a glitch in its system is giving away the actual location of its users to anyone with a Web connection. Grindr has responded, claiming that the ability to identity the location of its users isn’t a security flaw, but rather, something they intended all along. Many Grindr users give permission for their general location to be known to other Grindr users. But while the app shows that users are, say, “1000 feet” from a nearby user, it does not show the direction of the other user. The “flaw,” however, uses triangulation to permit anyone to determine the actual location of that user within ~100 feet.
Last Chance Friday…Landmark Internet Dating Industry Survey
OPW – Aug 26 – I sent out a survey to members of the Internet Dating Executive Alliance over the last week. If you're an Internet dating industry executive, site owner or senior manager and didn't get your invite, please email me at mark@onlinepersonalswatch.com for it. This survey only happens once every three years.
Here's the deal… If you get the survey link and complete the survey this week you'll get the results back in early September for free.
This survey will be a repeat of the internet dating survey that we helped Subscription Site Insider do three years ago, so it will be interesting to highlight the big changes. I won't be selling the report. It will only be available for free to respondents. So please take the time to carefully fill in the report if you want to see the survey results and analysis.