Category: Match.com

Connections, The Wireless Way

Posted on June 30, 2005

BUSINESS WEEK — June 29 — SMS.ac and other mobile social networks help users find dates, keep in touch with friends, share photos, and update their blogs via cell phone. SMS.ac claims 40 million users; 14% in U.S. Most other services only have thousands of customers, who typically pay a $5 monthly subscription fee. Popularity should skyrocket as telcos, which get a cut of fees, roll out more of these applications later this year. Sprint began offering SMS.ac, Match.com Mobile and Lavalife Mobile several months ago. U.S. subscription revenues should rise from $31.4 million this year to $215 million in 2009, according to Frost & Sullivan.  Additional revenues from forwarding SMS and MMS messages could double that amount. These social networks typically cater to 18-35-year-olds.  There are 2 billion cell phones in the world, vs. fewer than 700 million PCs. No wonder online heavyweights such as Google, Match.com, and online social networking sites are ramping up their efforts in the mobile social networking market. Friendster is testing Friendster Mobile in the Philippines. Google acquired Dodgeball.com. In July Match.com will debut a more advanced mobile dating service in Japan. Members will be able to post multiple photos with their profiles, receive daily or weekly lists of matches, and perform complex searches.

The full article was originally published at Business Week, but is no longer available.

Mark Brooks: See you at the mobile internet dating convention.

Dating Trends

Posted on June 17, 2005

TIME — June 13 — Online dating has boomed into a $500 million industry. But as sites for singles multiply, the old one-size-fits-all approach seems hopelessly dated. Here's a look at some new trends at the heart of today's digital romance.  MOBILE; Match.com Mobile enables online daters to transfer their profiles to cell phones.  DATE RATERS; Sites like Lemondate.com and Truedater.com post reviews of online-dating candidates by people who have met them.  ATLAS HUGGED; Need to narrow the choices? Super-specialized singles sites exist for bikers, smokers, democrats, NASCAR devotees and people with sexually transmitted diseases. Even randy Ayn Rand aficionados can gather at TheAtlasphere.com.  DATING ON DEMAND; Comcast cable customers can watch video profiles and then log on through Hurrydate.com. 

The full article was originally published at Time, but is no longer available.

Mark Brooks: Webdate allows it's mobile users to view ALL it's users.  Match has a limited pool of mobile daters. Seems Webdate has one upped them with their mobile service, for now. 

The Virtual Dating Game

Posted on June 17, 2005

PSYCHOLOGY TODAY — June 13 — Online dating has established itself as a legitimate relationship maker. Meeting someone virtually can forgo much of the uncomfortable aspects of dating.  A half-million new members register each month with Match.com, and 6 million profiles are viewed every day. Some 7,000 people leave the service each month because they found someone.

The full article was originally published at Psychology Today, but is no longer available.

The Virtual Dating Game

Posted on June 17, 2005

PSYCHOLOGY TODAY — June 13 — Online dating has established itself as a legitimate relationship maker. Meeting someone virtually can forgo much of the uncomfortable aspects of dating.  A half-million new members register each month with Match.com, and 6 million profiles are viewed every day. Some 7,000 people leave the service each month because they found someone.

The full article was originally published at Psychology Today, but is no longer available.

Meetic and AOL Collaberation

Posted on June 13, 2005

Meetic_european_online_datingPRWEB — June 5 — AOL and meetic, Europe’s leading singles forum, have joined forces to help lonely hearts on their quest for a soul mate. On June 1, 2005, as part of a long-term strategic collaboration, a personals/matchmaking channel will be launched on AOL. 

Mark Brooks: Match also claims to be largest Euro dating site.  Depends on whose numbers you look at. Nielsen numbers favors Meetic.  Comscore numbers favor Match.  While I was at FriendFinder I looked at both sets of numbers for FriendFinder.  They were waaaaay different.  Alarmingly so.  At the end of 2003 Comscore was pulling from a 110,000 strong panel whereas Nielsen Netratings was pulling from 55,000.  I bet on Comscore at the time.  Hitwise pulls from a panel of millions (via ISP’s) but they don’t give extrapolated ‘uniques’ numbers, just rankings.

Diller Ends Vivendi Feud With $3.4 bln Deal

Posted on June 8, 2005

Barry_diller_2REUTERS — June 8 — IAC/Interactive Corp (owns Match.com) has agreed to sell its 5.4% stake in Vivendi Universal Entertainment to NBC Universal for $3.4 billion. They have been haggling in courtrooms and boardrooms for five years.  IAC said it would result in an after-tax gain of $330 million. 

Mark Brooks: Where will the peripatetic Diller turn his attention now he is freed of this dispute.  In their Q1 report…’personals revenue grew by 11% to $54.2 million, driven primarily by a 6% increase in paid subscribers and higher average revenue per subscriber.’  Things are looking up for the online personals industry.  Spark just acquired Minglematch and announced similarly rosy Q1 numbers.

Crazy For You – Here’s the Scan to Prove It

Posted on May 31, 2005

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD — May 31 — Scientists believe Love could be mistaken for psychosis.  Scientists have for the first time produced brain scans of people in the first stages of love and those who have been rejected and concluded that romance is a biological urge distinct from sexual arousal.  Writing in The Journal of Neurophysiology, the scientists from New York and New Jersey said romance was closer in its neural profile to drives such as hunger, thirst or drug craving than to excitement or affection.  However, as a relationship deepens, the neural activity alters slightly, and in some cases primes those areas involved in long-term attachment.  2500 brain images from 17 college students who were in the first weeks or months of new love were analyzed. Last year, scientists in Atlanta reported that they could turn promiscuous male voles into stay-at-home fathers by activating the areas highlighted in the new study.  You can almost imagine a time where instead of going to Match.com you could have a test to find out whether you're an attachment type or not.  FULL ARTICLE @ SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

Tell-All Sites Put Online Dater Profiles to Truth Test

Posted on May 31, 2005

Truedater_2WASHINGTON POST — May 30 — There's a handful of new Web sites that are making it their business to let users review their online dates.  "This dater takes great photos, but when you meet face to face, he's small and skinny. The face is the same, but none of his photos show his true size," says a typical posting.  Singles, be afraid. Be very afraid.  Truedater launched in January.  Visitors can input online identities from Match, American Singles, Yahoo Personals and JDate and search for reviews that'll tell them if, say, Lovinit62 isn't quite the six feet he claimed, or if Cutedoctor14 seems longer in the tooth than 32.  Helpful links take you to the target's profile with a button click.  The site's basic question: whether the person reviewed is a "truedater," i.e., truthful in his or her self-portrayal.  Match.com's Kelly  says, "a free-form venue to discuss people is interesting.  That does seem to be something that consumers want to do. But you have to be real careful about violating people's privacy."  Opinity.com launched last month as an "online and social reputation services company," also guards its information carefully.  "We don't let users browse the reviews," says CEO Ted Cho. "This is not for fun."  Users can rate other people online under the categories of commerce (say, a seller on eBay) , community (a voice on a Yahoo message board), gaming (a player of Ultima Online) or dating.  FULL ARTICLE @ WASHINGTON POST

Mark Brooks: This idea may well catch on.  Bodes well for Truedater.com.  How will they make money though?  Background check add-ons perhaps?  Advertising?

Match.com Movie Placement

Posted on May 26, 2005

Match_dating_3ADJAB — May 24 — Tonight, during the American Idol finale, I caught an ad for the upcoming film The Perfect Man, starring Hilary Duff, Heather Locklear, and Chris Noth. Locklear comes into Duff's room, asking if she can "scan this to put it on Match.com," speaking about her photograph.  The plot; Locklear is looking for a new man. 

The full article was originally published at AdJab, but is no longer available.

Mark Brooks: Online personals companies have saturated online ad spaces and are looking for new, more creative advertising channels.  Perfect Match also has a placement in an upcoming movie.

Internet Dating Success Story

Posted on May 23, 2005

Match_success_storyHONOLULU ADVERTISER — May 22 — When talking about how they met, Penny and Don Valenta of Makiki have two different stories.  The true story is that they met on the Internet.  Why two stories?  They are both still a little uncomfortable with the idea of Internet dating, although it has worked "a miracle" for them.  In a list of Penny’s "Top 10" matches, was Don Valenta of Dallas. Without a second thought, Penny e-mailed him.  I didn’t want a long-distance relationship," Don later explained. "The nice thing about Internet dating is that you can do it at your own pace without taking time away from work. It’s great for busy people."  FULL ARTICLE @ HONOLULU ADVERTISER

Mark Brooks: There’s no better advertisement for online personals than this kind of success story!