Spark Networks acquires Engage.com. Sugar Daddy sites criticized. New Facebook apps from GenePartner and DateRaters.com. eHarmony lawsuit and Compatible Partners criticism. Matchmakers doing ok according to CNN. Virtual singles marry online, and Courtland Brooks blog launches.
This weeks news from Venice, Italy.
ONLINE MEDIA DAILY — Feb 24 — Mark Elderkin, the founder/CEO of Gay Ad Network, is launching Lesbian Ad Network. Chemistry.com and Switzerland Tourism are on board as the vertical online ad network's inaugural partners. Lesbian Ad Network offers a unique platform for reaching the lesbian market across branded content sites and blogs, with custom editorial sponsorships, viral widget syndication and video advertising.
The full article was originally published at Media Post, but is no longer available.
COMPUTERWORLD — Feb 13 — We peek under the covers at online dating sites. To succeed, a site needs to do the following:
4. Weeding out cheats, scammers and married guys.
"10% of sign-ups a day are people trying to scam someone — or rude, obnoxious people, or spammers," Frind says. He removes ~2,000 suspicious users from the system daily. eHarmony has contracted with Iovation, which offers ReputationManager, a service that gathers information on individuals' illicit activity from online dating and other sites and makes it available to subscribers.
NIELSEN WIRE — Feb 11 — A Nielsen analysis of ad expenditures by online dating sites shows a significant year-to-year increase since 2003. The top advertiser among online dating sites is eHarmony. Through the first three quarters of 2008, the site spent more than $93m, almost twice as much on advertising as Match.com ($45 million-plus). Chemistry.com placed third with more than $28m in ad expenditures.
The full article was originally published at Adweek, but is no longer available.
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PR NEWSWIRE — Nov 21 — Following a finding by the New Jersey Attorney General that it had violated an anti-discrimination law and agreeing to a settlement, eHarmony is now required to cater to same-sex couples. "It's a shame that Dr. Neil Clark Warren's sudden acceptance came at the forced hand of the legal system," said Thomas Enraght-Moony, CEO of Match.com and Chemistry.com. "Since its inception, Chemistry.com has lived by the mantra of "Come as You Are." "I'm absolutely positive that romantic love is exactly the same whether you happen to be straight or gay," said renowned biological anthropologist and chief advisor to Chemistry.com, Dr. Helen Fisher.
The full article was originally published at MarketWatch, but is no longer available.
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AP — Nov 5 — IAC reported a loss of $14.8m, or 11c per share, in the period ended Sept. 30, after a profit of $70.5m, or 47c per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 10% to $369.3m. Revenue from its Match unit, which includes dating sites Match.com and Chemistry.com, climbed 5% to $93.5m.
The full article was originally published at AP, but is no longer available.
OPW Bogus Exclusive: The star of this TV ad had interviewed with Chemistry.com to be their new spokesman but Airborne got to him first and clinched the deal. Picture 'Fabio' as the new spokesman competitor to Neil Clark Warren, spreading love instead of Airborne around the world. That would have been amusing. See comments.
PRESS RELEASE — Sep 16 — Mandy Ginsberg has been named Senior Vice President and General Manager of Match.com. In this role, she will have responsibility for Match.com's North American business including Chemistry.com. Mandy Ginsberg joined Match.com in March 2006 as the company's VP and GM of Chemistry.com.
The full article was originally published at Earth Times, but is no longer available.
PR NEWSWIRE — July 31 — From August 1 to August 3, all Denver residents will have the opportunity to log-on to Chemistry.com and search for love, without reaching for their wallets. As part of the free communication weekend, Denver singles are encouraged to go to Chemistry.com, take the personality test for themselves, and begin communicating with their matches.
The full article was originally published at CNN Money, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: I guess that means Chemistry.com has been having a hard time getting mile highers into the match.com club.
PR NEWSWIRE — June 13 — To acknowledge and celebrate California's historic ruling to overturn the state's ban on gay marriage, Chemistry.com will offer free seven-day memberships to anyone in the state of California who visits http://www.chemistry.com/offer/ChemistryCelebrates on Monday, June 16, the same day San Francisco will begin issuing marriage licenses.
The full article was originally published at Earth Times, but is no longer available.