THE AUSTRALIAN – Feb 8 – eHarmony says it can increase revenues from Australia, its biggest international market outside the US, by 50% in next two years. President and COO Armen Avedissian said Australia represented 10% of eHarmony's global revenue, with ~2.8M registered users. "There is so much opportunity with mobile," he said, noting the Australian business was profitable soon after its launch. The fastest-growing demographic of eHarmony is 25 to 35 years, while ~60% of users now come through mobile platforms.
Category: eHarmony
People Wait 4 Years To End A Bad Relationship
MIRROR.CO.UK – Jan 15 – The average person in a bad relationship waits four years before breaking it off, according to research by eHarmony.co.uk – fear of being alone, pity for their partner and concern over how the rest of the family will be affected are the major reasons. 20% of respondents admit they simply don't love their partner.
Match.com Says Its Fastest-growing Group Is 50+
DALLAS NEWS – Jan 10 – "People over 50 are now more trusting of going on dating sites," said Navin Ramachandran, COO of Match Group. In fact, people ages 45 to 54 are as likely to date online as those 18 to 24 because they're divorced or far removed from typical dating hubs like college, according to a recent Pew Research Center report. The number of Match's 50+ singles has grown ~50% from 2009 through 2014 and account for 1/3 of all dating members. According to eHarmony: ~80K of its subscribers are over 80. The share of eHarmony's subscribers 50+ is also growing: from 9.5% in 2012 to 13.5% in 2015.
by Sheryl Jean
See full article at Dallas News
This Is The Busiest Time Of Year For Online Dating
MARKETWATCH – Jan 5 – Dating app Zoosk expects a 20% jump in users in the first two weeks of the year and eHarmony had a 21% increase in mobile registrations since the holidays. Grindr usually experiences a 30% to 50% increase in users. Match.com expects a 60% surge in new members between Christmas Day and Valentine's Day. Sign-ups on OkCupid, were up 30% this past Sunday. Many singles sit around the family dinner table during the holidays and think, "Maybe it would be better to have a partner," says Mark Brooks, a dating-industry analyst and the 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. "The trick with holiday dating is to make sure no one feels neglected."
by Quentin Fottrell
See full article at Marketwatch
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The Apprentice Final: Alan Sugar’s Experts On Why He Was Right To Dump DatePlay
REALBUSINESS.CO.UK – The final episode of The Apprentice 2015, series in which candidates compete to go into business with multi-millionaire Lord Sugar, aired on Dec 20th. Alan Sugar appointed eHarmony MD UK Romain Bertrand, Match.com MD UK Karl Gregory and Venntro Media CEO Ross Williams as his online dating advisors. Vana Koutsomitis, founder of dating app DatePlay, competed against plumbing business owners Joseph Valente. She lost. Ross Williams supported Sugar’s choice. Here is why: £250K is barely enough to develop and refine an online dating app in such a competitive market. The DatePlay concept is excellent but as an investment DatePlay was too high risk compared to Joseph’s plumbing business. Romain Bertrand thinks it’s possible to launch a first version of the app and operate it without heavy marketing for under £250K. But you continuously need to invest in making your product the best it can be.
by Ross Williams & Romain Bertrand
See full article at RealBusiness.co.uk
Virtual Reality Dating Will Be The Norm, Says eHarmony
INVERSE – Dec 13 – Paul Hollywood created VR social networking site vTime, which isn't specifically for dating right now, but he thinks it would be cool to use the tool for virtual dates. Digital lovers will interact via their virtual avatars and meet in virtual spaces. It'll serve as an accurate tool for pre-screening dates. eHarmony predicted that VR dating will be the norm by 2040.
Matchmaking Seen As Game Changer In Online Job Search Market
REUTERS – Nov 20 – In March 2016, eHarmony plans to launch Elevated Careers, an online employment service using the compatibility matching techniques it has used in pairing couples. "It could be a game changer," said Michael Haberman, an HR consultant. Elevated Careers will use predictive algorithms and dozens of variables based on features within CVs and profiles and the firm's job listings to find a professional match.
eHarmony Launches In Spanish
BUSINESSWIRE – Nov 19 – eHarmony's latest move in its strategy to grow in new markets globally is the development of eHarmony.com/espanol. The new Spanish site will serve the 37% of eHarmony’s bilingual users who speak Spanish as well as a growing demographic of online daters in Latin America and beyond. eHarmony is already available in Singapore, the UK and Australia.
eHarmony’s New TV Ad
ADNEWS – Nov 2 – eHarmony promises ‘Better Matches, Better Dates’ in TV ad showing awkward mismatched date.
Dating Apps: Tech Doesn’t Matter, Says Sex Columnist
NYMAG – Oct 6 – Users choose dating apps the same way they choose bars – based on the people. The make-or-break factor in whether users stick around, is the crowd. With new apps getting launched every few months, the dating app people will like best is the one that happens to have a user base that fits the demographic of people they want.
Here's a breakdown of some of the dating apps Maureen O'Connor, a sex columnist, have experimented with:
- Tinder: Single people who hang out at bars.
- OKCupid: Single people who hang out at coffee shops.
- Match: Squares.
- JDate: Jewish squares.
- eHarmony: Christian squares.
- Ashley Madison: Horny married guys.
- Blendr: Horny single guys.
- Happn: People with nice jeans who live near your subway stop.
- Coffee Meets Bagel: Risk-averse nice guys.
- The League: Hedge funds and Hamptons.
Dating apps, like all social situations, are malleable. They're whatever people want them to be.