#1 Tinder (123 posts published on OPW last year)
#2 Bumble (48 posts)
#3 eHarmony (42)
#4 Match Group (41)
#5 Match (37)
#6 OKCupid (37)
#7 Grindr (34)
#8 Happn (22)
#9 The League (21)
#10 Matrimony.com (17)
Other companies that did well and got a solid press coverage last year were Hinge, The Meet Group, Zoosk, Hater, Matchpoool and Chappy.
PR NEWSWIRE – Feb 8 – A new national report "The Happiness Index: Love and Relationships in America" commissioned by eHarmony and conducted by Harris Interactive, shows that 64% of Americans are "very happy" in their romantic relationships with a partner or spouse and ~50% report being happy with their sex lives. The new survey reveals that millennials ages 25 to 34 are the happiest. People living in cities tend to be happier in their relationships. Men tend to be more positive, happy, and satisfied in their relationships than women: 80% of men (vs. 76% of women) reported that they're "in love" with their partner or spouse.
INDEPENDENT.CO.UK – Jan 30 – That's £117 per person and nearly a whole day on bad dates. On each date, the average Brit will spend £29 per person. The research by eHarmony claims that the average bad date lasts just 60 minutes. This is two hours shorter than the average date overall, which is three hours long. The study also found that 52% of dates leave singletons feeling disappointed.
OPW – Jan 26 – The 2018 iDate Awards winners were announced and provided trophies at a ceremony during iDate (Internet dating conference) this week. The iDate Awards are the dating industry's most recognized awards, highlighting the best and most innovative aspects of the business.
The 2018 winners are:
Best Dating Site
eHarmony
Best Dating Coach
Carmelia Ray
Best Product Design
Diolli
Best Dating Software & SAAS Provider
Dating Pro
Best Mobile Dating App
The League
Best Matchmaker
Gillian McCallum (Drawing Down the Moon)
Most Innovative Company
eHarmony
Best New Technology
iSpingle.com
Best Payment System
CCBill
Best Affiliate Program
LoveMe
Best Marketing Campaign
Tinder
Best Up and Coming Dating Site
SingleWomen.international
Best Niche Dating Site
Single Muslim
WEBWIRE – Jan 22 – Jeannie Assimos, VP of Content at eHarmony, will discuss how she has seen the online dating landscape change in the ten years since she joined the company. The conference is taking place this week – January 24-26, at the Hyatt Place in Delray Beach, Florida.
THE CONVERSATION – Jan 10 – The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) recently banned an ad from eHarmony which said the site has a "scientifically proven" matching system. According to the ASA, eHarmony failed to demonstrate that its matching system was scientifically proven to give users a better chance of finding a partner. But oline dating has changed who we end up marrying. Before online dating, people tended to marry people who were already in their social circle. After 1995, with the rise of online dating, people were increasingly more able to date anyone, and had a higher chance of matching with someone from another race or ethnicity. There is new evidence that internet diffusion has contributed to increasing marriage rates among 21 to 30-year-old people in the US. Also, relationships that start online transition to marriage more quickly than those between couples who met offline.
MERCURY NEWS – Jan 10 – eHarmony agreed to pay $1.28M to settle a consumer-protection lawsuit filed by four California counties – Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Napa, and Shasta – along with the city of Santa Monica over its automatic-charging practices. eHarmony will also pay $1M in separate restitution to customers who were unknowingly enrolled into a subscription between March 10, 2012 and Dec. 16, 2016. Eligible recipients will be sent notices of any monetary recovery, which will average about $30 for each affected customer.
MARKETWATCH – Jan 6 – In the New Year, the online dating industry sees a surge in users. Zoosk typically sees a 20% jump in users in the first two weeks of the year and eHarmony sees a similar increase. Grindr and other gay apps usually experiences a 30% to 50% increase in users. Match.com sees a 60% surge in new members between Christmas Day and Valentine's Day. "Many singles sit around the family dinner table during the holidays and think, 'Maybe it would be better to have a partner'," said Mark Brooks, editor of Online Personals Watch. "That's when they start hitting dating sites in droves and go on dates before the indigestion sets in." It may also be more polite to arrange dates in the New Year rather than during the holidays, especially with family around. "They're going to be around for you long after your relationships," he says. With the constant stream of happy holiday photographs over social-networking sites, experts say the pressure to be in a romance this time of year has never been so intense. "There's an onslaught of images of family and togetherness," says Pepper Schwartz, author of "Dating After 50 for Dummies" and a love and relationship ambassador for AARP.
by Quentin Fottrell
See full article at Marketwatch
See all posts on Zoosk See all posts on Grindr
See all posts on eHarmony See all posts on Match.com
OPW – Jan 5 – Steve Carter is one of two super long-termer executives remaining at eHarmony. (Grant Langston, the CEO, is the other one). Dr Carter is the man (leading the team) behind the algorithm, and has worked at eHarmony since 1999, before it was launched. Starting out as a research analyst he's risen through the ranks to become VP of Matching in 2012 and the Chief Scientist in 2016, and now…he's also working as Data Science Manager at Facebook "Helping Facebook get even better at making meaningful and beneficial connections between people."
Post by Mark Brooks @ Courtland Brooks
