Online Personals Watch News Summary #2, April 10, 2009
This weeks news covers the rise of philandering, virtual goods companies making $500m+, mobile dating to hit $1.4b in 2013, banner ad blindness, lock and key and events, online speed dating and a survey of fussy singles.
PR NEWSWIRE — Feb 9 – The mobile dating application introduced two weeks ago for the iPhone by HOTorNOT.com ascended to the #4 ranking in the social network category at the iTunes store. Since its release, there have been nearly 7m ratings and over 3.5m yes and no votes.
The full article was originally published at PR Newswire, but is no longer available.
CNET NEWS — Jan 22 – HotorNot.com, the social rating site has a new, and free iPhone app out. It lets you pass judgment on others by scoring them anywhere from 1 to 10. It also lets you tap into its "Meet Me" network where you can get in touch with other registered users to set up dates.
The full article was originally published at CNet News, but is no longer available.
SEATLE PI — Oct 10 — Dating in the New Improved Depression means learning to make do with the simple things in life, the things we've been blathering about for 30 years: long walks on the beach, snuggling in front of a fire and enjoying The Sunday New York Times. Free personal sites are one of the hottest new trends in online dating, according to Mark Brooks, editor of Onlinepersonalswatch.com. The top three contenders, as ranked by Hitwise, are Plentyoffish, DateHookup and OkCupid, but there are many more, including HOT or NOT, Webdate, Matchdoctor, Bookofmatches and Smooch.
The full article was originally published at Seattle PI, but is no longer available.
See all posts on PlentyofFish See all posts on Webdate
See all posts on DateHookup See all posts on Matchdoctor
See all posts on OkCupid See all posts on BookofMatches
See all posts on HotorNot See all posts on Smooch
MARKET WATCH — Oct 7 — HotorNot.com is on a mission to find the nation's hottest co-eds and crown a Miss and Mr. Knockout. The competition starts today in three of the best party towns including schools such as University of Texas (Austin), University of Florida (Gainesville), and San Diego State University. The contest runs through November 30th and winners in each market will take home a cool $1000.
The full article was originally published at MarketWatch, but is no longer available.
BUSINESS WIRE — Sep 24 — HOT or NOT have redesigned their website. The site now
includes more robust profiles that feature the company's proprietary
HOTLISTS brand affinity application, new virtual gifts, buddy lists and
faster access to HOT or NOT gossip and celebrity ratings. FULL ARTICLE @ BUSINESS WIRE
VENTURE WIRE — Aug 8 — HotOrNot.com, launched in 2000, became an Internet sensation, providing an early example of viral marketing and online advertising revenue before Google AdSense. The company never took any funding and sold earlier this year to Avid Life Media for a rumored $20m. Many entrepreneurs bootstrap their start-ups, going without outside investment and using their own resources. Other successful bootstrapped technology companies include Craigslist, AdventNet and PlentyofFish. FULL ARTICLE @ WALL STREET JOURNAL
MASHABLE — Aug 5 — The gossip site will be hosted by Zack Taylor, celebrity blogger and will have content on prominent pop culture happenings. Using the sites storied voting system, readers will be able to rate items in the same way the rate someone’s photo. FULL ARTICLE @ MASHABLE
INTERNET NEWS — June 26 — Facial recognition technology could help the lovelorn find a better match. Eyealike offers facial recognition systems for enterprises customers and online dating and social network sites. The idea is, users will be able to upload an image, or even choose from a selection of celebrity faces, and click on screen levers to adjust that image to their personal tastes. Mark Brooks, a consultant to the online dating industry, said facial recognition is the latest in series of technical advances with more to follow. He notes the advent of online "speed dating" sites like WooMe and ratings sites like Hot or Not. There are also already sites like MyDouble if you want to just see what celebrities you most resemble and perhaps use that info in a dating profile. Brooks agrees, the facial recognition and editing is better-suited to would be casual daters. "A site like eHarmony is slow to let users share photographs because it's more about getting to know the other person," he said. "A lot of this is about trying to fix the real world which is broken. In the real world, you see pretty girls and hunky men on magazine covers who are largely unattainable." FULL ARTICLE @ INTERNET NEWS
See all posts on Eyealike
See all posts on Hot or Not
See all posts on WooMe
See all posts on eHarmony
TECH CRUNCH — Feb 11 — San Francisco based HotOrNot, founded by James Hong and Jim Young in October 2000, has been acquired. The buyers are investors connected with Avid Life Media, and paid somewhere around $20 million for the site. Their annual revenue is estimated to be around $5 million, with $2 million in profit. According to Comscore, the site has around 5 million monthly unique visitors and 200 million page views. The investors are creating a new company, called HotOrNot Media, and they may be acquiring more properties as well. FULL ARTICLE @ TECH CRUNCH