PR WEB — Feb 22 — A record 1.5 million U.K. students visit Bebo in December, surpassing MySpace for the first time, according to Nielsen/NetRatings. "In just seven months, Bebo has grown to become the most popular social networking site for students in the U.K., and we are rapidly gaining ground in Ireland, the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand," said Michael Birch, Bebo CEO. There are 22 million registered Beboers worldwide. RELEASE @ PR WEB
Category: All Worldwide (non UK/Euro/US)
Seeking Love, American Muslim Style
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR — Feb 14 — Muslims are prohibited from dating at all before marriage. The latest trend in Islamic matchmaking is through halal dating. Since Islam prohibits unmarried, unrelated men and women from being alone together. Halal means "permissible" in Arabic. 50 men and women gathered at a community hall, arranged in groups of six – three men and three women at each table. Every group had one married chaperone. FULL ARTICLE @ CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
Dating Cards “CHITS” a Business Card for Your Love Life
TRANS WORLD NEWS — Feb 9 — Now there are "dating cards" or "chits" simply hand one to anyone you see, anywhere in the world then sit back and wait for an e-mail. Unlike internet dating with Chick ‘n' Chit there is no need to make a decision to meet someone based on their photo – you actually see the person first. FULL ARTICLE @ TRANS WORLD NEWS
More Singles Turn to Online Dating in Prague
THE PRAGUE POST — Feb 8 — www.seznamka.cz has 1,100 new ads and 6,000 new responses appear each day, according to Jan Rychnovsky of Tanger Infosystems. Another, www.rande.cz, has 100,000 users, with closer to 250,000 paid and registered members in total. Rychnovský estimates that around 1 million Czechs are Internet daters — an estimated 1 million to 2 million residents have Internet access at home. As in much of Europe, there are more singles in the Czech Republic than ever before. Marriages here declined 45% between 1989 and 2003, an average of 3% each year, according to the Czech Statistical Office. Most online daters still tend to be male: ~65%, 35% women, according to Seznamka estimates.
The full article was originally published at The Prague Post, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: I met my girlfriend in Prague at the time of the 2005 internet dating convention and spent two months there. Online dating is a new phenomenon. I'll ask her to comment as I know she gave it a shot.
Lonely Kenyan Singletons
BBC NEWS — Jan 24 — Many young urban Kenyans are finding it hard to meet a partner because of changing lifestyles. "We never used to approach men, we waited at home. They were able to identify a good girl and then finally in that situation you waited to be asked to be married." For Claire, the modern way of meeting her man has so far failed. Enter Lovepot.com FULL ARTICLE @ BBC NEWS
Insanity Reigns When Dating and Technology Collide
7th Internet Dating Convention to Focus on Increasing Revenue
PR WEB — Jan 11 — Speakers at this event will mainly address issues on increasing revenue and improving customer retention. The event will be held on February 2-3, 2006 at the Wyndham Miami Beach Resort. Online personals, which include both internet dating and social networking continues to be a fast growing internet based business, some senior executives have expressed concerns over profit margins and customer retention. The event plans to discuss those needs. In addition, the convention covers issues such as management, marketing and technology for the industry, mobile dating, idea generation, software, cultural marketing, metrics, event planning and advertising strategies. Speakers include:
Dr. John Gray, Author of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus
Brad Hogg, President of Relationship Exchange
Mark Brooks, Publisher of Online Personals Watch
Robert Fisher, CEO of Great Expectations
Meir Strahlberg, CEO of Date.com
Bob Chieffo, COO of Cupid.com
Sam Moorcroft, President and CEO of ChristianCafe.com
Terry Markwart, Director & Assistant GM of US Sales at Canon
Peter McGreevy, Attorney at Law …and many others
The next conventions are:
May 18-19, 2006, Beijing, Republic of China
Mobile Dating, Internet Dating and Social Networking to the Far East.
September 25-26, 2006, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Mobile Dating, European Internet Dating and European Social Networking.
The full article was originally published at eMediaWire, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: Press, please contact me if you would like to attend these events. I handle media relations for the internet dating conventions. mark@onlinepersonalswatch.com
Belarus Moves to Limit Online Dating
ASSOCIATED PRESS — Dec 14 — Belarusian lawmakers on Wednesday passed legislation that would crack down on Internet dating and online spouse searches in the latest of a series of stringent government controls backed by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. The measure passed 101-1 by the subservient lower house of parliament and is intended to help halt human trafficking in the ex-Soviet nation. The legislation would place restrictions on organizations that promote dating or match potential suitors with spouses, particularly via the Internet. Lukashenko has made his nation of 10 million people a pariah in the West by stifling dissent, persecuting independent media and opposition parties and prolonging his power through elections that international organizations say were marred by fraud.
Singapore Company Offers Cross-Border Dating Services
CHANNEL NEWS ASIA — Nov 1 — Political relations between Singapore and Malaysia are much warmer than before. One Singapore businesswoman is hoping to cash in on this – by promoting a cross-border dating service. Ms Violet Lim, Founding Director of Lunch Actually, has some 800 clients in Singapore and has signed up 60 young Malaysians willing to go on cross-border dates. (US$260 for 13 lunch dates)
The full article was originally published at Channel News Asia, but is no longer available.
5,000 Singles Search for Partners at Biggest Dating Party Ever
The full article was originally published at The Star Online, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: 5000 people! That's insane. Cupid has the strongest singles events position with it's acquisition of Predating in 2004. Match killed it's event service, Matchlive, last year. Word on the street is that larger players are still very interested in events, but have bigger fish to fry right now. Events are tough, risky, and don't earn enough money to be worthwhile. But, they do spur great word of mouth, if done right…and terrible, crucifying word-of mouth if done poorly…they're a double edged sword, for sure. They are also a nice differentiator. I guided and recommended Cupid's acquisition of Predating. Cupid 'owns' radio. They market exclusively via radio, and radio loves events. They've grappled with the Predating acquisition but they have by far the strongest position of any online dating site when it comes to events, which will enhance their attractiveness as an acquisition target in the future.