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.
OPW — Apr 10 — Spark Networks has acquired Engage.com. The deal had been in process for several months. No details have been released as yet. Engage is headed by Suneet Wadhwa (formerly the co-founder of Snapfish.com, Harvard MBA) and Trish McDermott (formerly VP Romance at Match.com). The site allows users to become virtual matchmakers and match members. It's great theory, but the site has never really taken off. Traffic tanked from 300k monthly uniques in May '08 when they ran out of money and switched off the ad buys. See Compete graph. Now they are at 50k uniques a month, which isn't many more uniques than this blog gets. Where will Spark take Engage? Its a decent domain, but the site needs an overhaul. The concept was good, but the viral effect that they were hoping for didn't kick in with their implementations. Do people really want to be matchmakers? Yes, but very very few people, and they tire quickly, especially if they are not rewarded consistently. I'm fascinated by Engage. I hope Spark gets a new launch right, and it doesn't end up locked in a boardroom quagmire. The site has potential. – Mark Brooks
SMART MONEY — Feb 9 –
1. Keep your hopes high and your expectations low.
2. We've yet to meet two people who aren't a potential match. "No one knows if (personality profiling datin services) actually work," says author Robert Epstein. If you really want individualized matchmaking then consider a personal matchmaker.
3. Everyone's lying about something. Some users lie about their age to show up in more search results but most lies in the online dating universe are pretty small, says Nicole Ellison, an assistant professor at Michigan State.
4. We don't have as many members as it seems. Experts say that at best, subscriber services convert ~ 10 and 15% of browsers into members. That means 90% or more of the profiles at a subscriber site could belong to unreachable browsers. On free sites like Plentyoffish.com or OKCupid.com every profile belongs to an active member.
5. Fall in love too quickly and you could end up with an empty wallet. "The romance scam is the most prevalent on dating sites, and the hardest to stop", says Brian Erickson, director of operations at Mate1.com.
6. Our guarantees are only guaranteed to keep you here. Match.com and Yahoo Personals offer "guarantees" and six-month "promises". If you don't find the one during your six-month subscription, you'll get more time to keep trying. Dating sites do this because it's an easy, low-cost way to keep traffic up—and a great marketing tool, says David Evans, an industry consultant.
7. Don't expect quick results. "You can't just throw up a profile and expect to go on a date," says Mark Brooks, an industry consultant for online dating services. The world of online dating has its own rhythms and rituals, which often take some time. Keep that first date light. "You're going to know by the second sip of your latte if there's something there," says Trish McDermott, VP Love at Engage.com.
8. Once you log in, you're pretty much on your own. Some people could simply use more help than others, says Mark Brooks, but good luck getting it from the dating service you're using. "Online dating sites' biggest flaw is they don't offer service of any kind," he says. Rather, most of them function more like a giant virtual bar or nightclub.
9. You might not need all these extras—but we do. "Besides the overall dampening of consumer spending, the Internet dating market has simply become saturated", says Brooks. That means online dating services have had to start getting creative.
10. Good luck trying to break up with us.
See all posts on Plentyoffish See all posts on Match.com
See all posts on OKCupid See all posts on Yahoo Personals
See all posts on Mate1 See all posts on Engage
ENGAGE BLOG — Aug 28 — Engage.com, the introduction platform, launched a new application on Facebook called AwesomeIntros. It's a fun game that relies on your intuition to introduce people to a person they've never met before. You just vote on the person you think Engage should introduce to the guy or girl in the poll.
The full article was originally published at Engage blog, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: Engage has also jazzed up the site with a new design and logo. What do you think of the new design compared to the old one? Your comments please…
See all posts on Engage
TECH CRUNCH — Apr 10 — Engage differentiates itself from traditional
dating sites by getting friends involved in the process
of finding that perfect match. These friends are there to help break
the ice and determine
who's worth the time. They can suggest people or write recommendations
and introductory notes. Engage raised $5M in Series A from Advanced
Tech Ventures in 2006.
The site will remain free until Q4 2008, at which point it will cost
around $20/mo. FULL ARTICLE @ TECH CRUNCH
VENTURE
BEAT — Apr 7 — Engage (262,000 unique
visitors in March) is the first "second generation social dating site",
said Trish McDermott, the company's vice president. It provides a place
for mingling, mixing,
matching and flirting. To be a matchmaker on the site, users cast their
votes to suggest couples, or use the Play Matchmaker
feature, which lets them introduce their friends to dating candidates.
Users earn social points by being active. Engage took over
$5m from Advanced Technology Ventures, the Founders Fund, and
Revolution Ventures, with its second round closing two years ago. FULL ARTICLE @ VENTURE BEAT
WALL STREET JOURNAL — Feb 15 — Among the 125 million people in the U.S. who visit online dating and social-networking sites are a growing number of dullards who steal personal profiles, life philosophies, even signature poems. Hugh Gallagher, a 36-year-old writer in New York, is one of the copied. Match.com has more than 50 profiles with parts of Mr. Gallagher's college entrance essay. In a recent Engage.com's survey of more than 400 online daters, 9% of respondents copied from another person's profile. A search on Match.com brought up more than 90 profiles with such lines as: "I want an opposite. A yin to my yang," or "You know that woman who is the first person on the dance floor at every party? That's me." They were cribbed from sample profiles posted at E-Cyrano.com by dating coach and profile writer Evan Marc Katz. JDate.com's recently released online dating tips include the advice: Look at what everyone else is saying and then SAY SOMETHING DIFFERENT".
The full article was originally published at WSJ, but is no longer available.
INFORMATION WEEK — Feb 14 — Engage.com is two-years-old and has a pretty impressive lineup of executives, including co-founder and CEO Suneet Wadhwa, who came from Snapfish, and experts such as former Psychology Today Editor in Chief, Robert Epstein, and former Match.com maven Trish McDermott. Engage released a research entitled "The State of The Date." Most singles (68%) are interested in falling in love and getting married in the next five years. Only a few singles (12%) think bad romantic news should first be delivered electronically. McDermott said that Engage.com is now looking at ways of incorporating more Web 2.0 elements. The Series A funding from The Founders Fund, RevolutionVentures, First Round Capital, and Advanced Technology Ventures is expected to help.
The full article was originally published at Information Week, but is no longer available.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE — Feb 14 — Digital-age dating brings new pitfalls,
like learning where your relationship stands by logging on. Facebook's
profile template lets members choose from six
relationship statuses. Trish McDermott, a founder of online dating
community Engage.com,
said she's heard many stories about people learning their relationships
had ended because their partners changed statuses back to "single". Facebook allows members to name
their partner and link to their profile, which requires verification
from the other person.
USA TODAY — Feb 12 — Matchmakers seem to be popping up all over the country, many targeting their personalized services to eligible businessmen. Matchmaking has become such a buzzword that some dating websites use it in their marketing. In December, Match.com unveiled Match My Friends, which allows friends and family to play matchmaker. Engage.com came up with that premise when it launched in 2005. Matchmaking as a field also has grown since the 2003 opening of the Manhattan-based Matchmaking Institute, which sells a home study kit for $1,500. LaRosa's research suggests there are about 1,600 matchmakers in the USA, and about 100 are added each year. It is a very difficult business because matchmakers are dealing with emotional currency and extreme expectations. FULL ARTICLE @ USA TODAY