SHANGHAIIST — Oct 13 — Around 30 members of the Shanghai Matchmaking Trade
Association, have signed an
agreement promising to be honest to their customers. If information
provided by these agencies turn out to be false, or if their service
isn’t satisfying, customers will get a refund. The trade association
also said they will inspect these companies once a year to make sure
they live up to their standards. FULL ARTICLE @ SHANGHAIIST
Category: All Worldwide (non UK/Euro/US)
BharatMatrimony.com Live On Airtel
PRESS RELEASE — Sep 29 — BharatMatrimony.com, Indian matrimony portal launch its services on Airtel, India’s leading
mobile telecom service provider. Airtel subscribers can access the matrimony
services with GPRS enabled handsets across the country. FULL ARTICLE @ OPEN PR
Japanese Girl Sensation: Virtual Boyfriends
TECH CRUNCH — Sep 20 — Webkare (‘Web
Boyfriend’ in Japanese) is a mix between a social network and dating
simulation site and the newest web sensation in Japan. Girls choose between one of four different male cartoon characters
they want to hook up with upon registration. They can then
"communicate" with their digital crush in cartoon-like sequences to try
to win over his heart in a virtual high school. FULL ARTICLE @ TECH CRUNCH
Young Iraqis Turn To Internet For Marriage
DAILYTIMES — Aug 15 — According to a 2006 study by the World Health Organisation and the Iraqi health ministry, 49.3% of Iraqi men and 47.5% of women are either single or divorced. In Iraq, like in most conservative Arab societies, couples are usually nudged into matrimony by their parents and often a matchmaker is consulted to help find the perfect spouse. The traditional "arranged marriages" have become unpopular, while the need for Internet matchmaking has only begun. "I think the Iraqis are looking for love on the Internet because there are no other places for them to meet," said Mustafa Kazem, a 20-year-old engineering student who found his soul mate on a university chat forum.
The full article was originally published at Daily Times, but is no longer available.
More Than 1,000 Sites In UAE To Be Unblocked
THE NATIONAL — July 30 — The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) will instruct internet service providers to unblock more than 1,000 websites that have removed whatever content UAE censors had deemed offensive, according to TRA officials. While TRA officials were unable to specify which of the millions of restricted websites would be unblocked, they include internet forums and social networking sites whose administrators have decided to remove the material that TRA officials had considered questionable or offensive.
The full article was originally published at The National, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: Many dating and SNS are blocked in UAE (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, etc). I considered traveling there recently (my dad has lived and worked in Abu Dhabi for 25+ years) until I realised I'd be blocked from doing my work effectively. Dubai is impressive in many ways, but seriously UNIMPRESSIVE with its overzealous blocking of mainstream SNS and dating sites. C'mon, Dubai, modernize. The Dubai Internet City runs off its own ISP which is far more open for people who work in the area.
China Has A New Dating Site
CHINA NEWSWIRE — June 19 — http://www.yuanlaishini88.com is uniquely bi-lingual (English and Chinese) and targets the busy over 25 working professionals. Yuanlaishini88 .com decided not to allow advertising or sponsorships. To encourage growth they are offering free 1 year VIP memberships to the first 20,000 members.
The full article was originally published at China Newswire, but is no longer available.
Shaadi.com: A Match Made In Cyberspace
TELEGRAPH.CO.UK — June 7 — Boasting
10m members and a million marriages in 11 years, Shaadi (400 employees)
has
been a runaway success. Shaadi.com was launched in 1997 by Anupam
Mittal, a business graduate of Boston College in the US. Now Shaadi is
one of India’s five most popular
sites. It boasts 300m page views
each month and 6,000 new profiles are added every day (60% of
which are male). Despite having the second fastest-growing economy in
the world,
India remains a deeply conservative society, especially where marriage
and relationships are concerned. A recent magazine survey revealed that
more than 60% of young unmarried Indians disapproved of the
idea of sex before marriage; 40% said they wanted to marry
within their own caste. An estimated 95% of all marriages in
India are arranged, usually after lengthy negotiations between two
families. Shaadi.com also provides additional services: a
directory listing of wedding-related services; a lifestyle website, shaaditimes.com, with features on travel, fashion and health; and a sister site, secondshaadi.com,
for divorcees and widows. There are also more than 150 Shaadi.com
Centres in 87 Indian cities, where parents and children can sit down
with a relationship adviser and trawl the company’s database. FULL ARTICLE @ TELEGRAPH.CO.UK
Mark Brooks: Bharat Matrimony is Shaadi’s main competitor in India. I interviewed Bharat Matrimony’s CEO/Founder here (Dec’ 2006). Both companies use a network of agents to service those without computers and the internet across India.
Online Matchmaking Sites Court U.S. Muslims
WOMENS ENEWS – May 29 — Even though El Jamal lives in the
United States, she expects her route to marriage will follow the
customs of her Palestinian family and many traditional Muslims. Neither El Jamal nor her
parents think the Internet is the place for a Muslim woman to meet a
suitor. However a
growing online matchmaking movement has Muslim women elbowing aside
courtship traditions from their computer keyboards. Sites, such as Arablounge.com, which has 275,000
members including Arab Muslims and Christians, cater to ethnic
communities. Others, like Muslima.com and Naseeb.com, are for Muslims
of all ethnicities. FULL ARTICLE @ WOMENS ENEWS
BharatMatrimony To Offer Health Check Ups
MONEY CONTROL — May 27 — Metropolis Health Services India, experts in healthcare since 1981, and BharatMatrimony, India's leading matrimony portal, launched a joint initiative to promote premarital health check ups. Members of BharatMatrimony can avail the pre-marital health check up at special prices and also upload the certificate as part of their profile. Such profiles will be highlighted as "Health Profiles". Premarital health check ups help in preventing untoward instances of contracting infectious or sexually transmitted diseases, abandonment due to the same, reducing health risk for future progeny. FULL ARTICLE @ MONEY CONTROL
Mark Brooks: Honesty Online offered a similar check in the U.S.A. but there was very little call for a $200+ in-person identity verification, background check, and health check including an AIDS test. Now Honesty Online offers a ~$10 background check.
Japan Panel Urges Limit On Mobiles Use By Children
AFP — May 27 — A Japanese government panel called on parents and schools to help limit the use of mobile phones by children to prevent them from accessing "harmful" information on websites. While about a third of Japanese primary school students aged 7-12 use mobiles, by the time they get to high school that figure rises to 96%, according to a government survey last December. The advisory council on education made the proposal to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda as children become more prone to crimes involving dating websites and bullying on Internet school bulletin boards.
The full article was originally published at AFP, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: I attended and spoke at the Asian social networking and internet dating conference in Tokyo earlier this month. 'Internet dating' seems like a dirty word in Japan, alas. The internet dating industry has developed a reputation for illicit encounters, under-age connections, and casual dating in Japan.