OPW — Jan 24 — The online personals industry signature conference was a grand success again this year. Industry execs from eHarmony, Cupid, Date, True, FriendFinder, Community Connect and local Miami mover and shaker WebDate rubbed shoulders with mid sized players such as MingleMatch and ChristianCafe.com and smaller players such as PlentyofFish, DateMyPet and MyeMatch. Periphary services companies such as LookBetterOnline and SafeDate, and advertisers such as MetricsDirect joined the tour de force. The convention enjoyed double the attendance of 2004 in it's plush new quarters at the Wyndham Resort Miami. Please post comments if you attended. Here are the photos from iDate 2005
Category: eHarmony
Sure-fire Sweetheart Suggestions from Dr Warren of eHarmony
NASHVILLE CITY PAPER — Jan 11 — 50% of marriages survive the long haul, but half of those relationships have at least one partner who’s unhappy, according to Dr. Neil Clark Warren, a California-based psychotherapist, marital counselor and author of best-selling books on relationships. "This culture is being eaten alive by marital dissatisfaction," said Warren, married for more than 45 years." So Warren founded eHarmony.com, an online dating site that gives members an extensive questionnaire based on 37 years of clinical experience and research with 7,000 individuals and couples. His latest book is Falling in Love for All the Right Reasons: How to Find Your Soul Mate. Warren also suggests holding back on sharing your heart or your bed with any person until you’ve determined that they’re worthy of your most intimate beliefs and feelings.
Mark Brooks: We’re in dire straits aren’t we? Good news though; 5% of marriages last 50 years! (Of course, they were raised when it was the expectation that people stayed married forever) Dr Warren has written several relationships books. Also books on anger management and religion.
eHarmony and ThirdAge Partner
PRNewswire — Jan 10 — eHarmony and ThirdAge, the only online content, marketing and research company focused exclusively on Baby Boomers, today announced a partnership to provide branded access to eHarmony's patented Compatibility Matching System(TM) to millions of Baby Boomers via ThirdAge.com. More than one-third of the 97 million Americans over 45 are unattached and are turning to the Internet for love.
Mark Brooks: The seniors niche is booming as the 45+ set warm up to online dating. Seniorfriendfinder is the niche leader. Seniorscircle is a small player.
Personality Tests – a Reliable Tool for Online Dating?
PRWEB — Jan 1 — The online dating industry is experiencing a new wave of growth by offering personality tests. Have you questioned the reliability of these tests? Many online personals tests are based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. The professionally administered test-retest reliability of MBTI is 0.75 (only 3 out of every 4 tests are reliable). Since matching involves tests from two people, retest reliability is 0.75 x 0.75 = 56%. Reliability of online self-assessment would be even lower, less than 50%. The test-retest reliability of Compatti.com’s compatibility assessment tool, which is based on biorhythms and astrology, is nearly 100%. PRWEB
Mark Brooks: I'll be writing an article on the top personality test based online personals sites for One 2 One magazine for their Valentines issue. eHarmony, Match, Tickle, True and PerfectMatch seem to be the category leaders.
eHarmony; IPO Outlook Hot For 2005
THE DEAL — Dec 30 — Internet companies pursuing initial public offerings in 2005 can expect a reinvigorated IPO market bolstered by strong investor interest. "The IPO market came alive late in 2004, and these things usually don't flame out quickly," said Tom Taulli of CurrentOfferings.com. "I expect we'll see more filings and more late-stage financing of companies, which typically leads to an IPO." Online personals site eHarmony.com closed a $110 million financing round in December that could be a precursor to a public offering.
The full article was originally published at The Deal, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: Matchnet (AmericanSingles.com) is also primed for an IPO.
Couples Match up Thanks to eHarmony
POST-GAZETTE — Dec 28 — eHarmony has nearly 6 million users and 10,000 reported marriages. …Based on Warren's 35 years of empirical study on successful marriages. The initial sign-up survey takes about two hours to fill out.
The full article was originally published at Post-Gazette, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: Success after success…so why doesn't eHarmony update their home page photos of successful matches more often? I see photos from couples married in 2003.
Dr Warren on Long-Distance Love
THIRD AGE — Q. How much time should you spend with someone in person before deciding to relocate? A. Create as many opportunities as possible for face-to-face interaction before either of you move. Visit each other under as many different circumstances as you possibly can. Wait as long as you can afford to wait and gather as much information from as many different circumstances as you can before you propose marriage.
The full article was originally published at Third Age, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: Go on a road trip.
Silicon Valley VC Firms Invest $110 Million in eHarmony
SAP INFO & MERCURY NEWS — Dec 22 — Matchmaking Internet site eHarmony has landed a $110 million investment from two Silicon Valley venture capital firms, Sequoia Capital and Technology Crossover Ventures, scoring one of the biggest funding deals of the year. Analysts said the total market for Internet personals is estimated to be about $450 million a year, making it the largest category of paid online content. But growth rates are slowing. Spending for online personals grew at 4% in Q2 of 2004, compared with 60% in Q2 2003 and 376% in Q2 2002, according to the Online Publishers Association and ComScore Networks. EHarmony said it has almost 5.8 million registered users and is profitable. Its sales in November were up 264% from the same month a year ago. Analysts said eHarmony would likely use a big chunk of its funding to continue its advertising blitz, including regular spots on radio and television. "These guys are spending every penny they can to brand themselves,'' said Nate Elliott, an analyst from Jupiter Research. "It's helped them go from nowhere to near the top of the pile in a short amount of time.'' SAP INFO
Mark Brooks: This helps validate eHarmonys approach. The future is in helping people find great matches. "Who to marry," is the most important decision we make in our lifetimes. Most people get it wrong. We need help! True and PerfectMatch are the other top online dating companies branding on personality profiling.
Guthy-Renker and PerfectMatch.com Partner to Create Infomercial
BUSINESS WIRE — Dec 7 — PerfectMatch.com today announced a unique partnership with direct-response powerhouse Guthy-Renker. The companies have combined to develop an infomercial starring actress and author Josie Bissett and Dr. Pepper Schwartz. Guthy-Renker is known for delivering award-winning quality products backed by a celebrity. BUSINESS WIRE
Mark Brooks: PerfectMatch touts it’s Duet matching/profiling system. eHarmony, Tickle and True are similarly positioned as direct competitors. Match, FriendFinder and Yahoo Personals also have profiling sewn into their offerings.
October 2004 Comscore Rankings
Reuters — In October, eHarmony had 3.2 million uniques and was the fifth most-visited online dating site behind such providers as Yahoo Personals, which had 6.2 million uniques, and the Match.com, which had almost 5.5 million uniques, according to comScore Media Metrix.