Category: Match.com

Barry Diller Splits Expedia and IAC (Match.com)

Posted on December 21, 2004

NY TIMES — Dec 21 — InterActiveCorp, the Internet travel, retailing and ticketing company controlled by entertainment mogul Barry Diller, announced Tuesday that it will separate into two publicly traded companies. The company’s shares surged on the news. Expedia will include Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Hotwire and other travel sites. IAC will include Ticketmaster, Home Shopping Network, LendingTree, Citysearch, Evite and Match.com. The proposed deal is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2005.

Mark Brooks: IAC continues its business streamlining!

Match.com Selects Ten Most Influential Moments in Dating for 2004

Posted on December 17, 2004

PRNewswire — Dec 16 — Match.com today named its selections for the most influential dating and romance moments of 2004. – In the dating criteria specified by single women, income has become less important when choosing a mate.
– Seniors click with online dating.  On Match.com alone, senior membership has tripled since 2000. – Farewell Sex and the City; parting line…"The most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself.  And if you find someone to love the you you love, well, that’s just fabulous." – Women are more comfortable than ever when it comes to making the first move in dating situations. – Same-sex marriage ignites a national debate. – Online dating achieves mainstream status. 

Mark Brooks: Online dating loses it’s stigma this year…and growth slows.  Social networking, personality profiliing, singles events…what’s going to drive growth in 2005?

E-Dating Bubble Springs a Leak

Posted on December 11, 2004

NEW YORK TIMES — Dec 12 — Many early adopters are moving on to the next big thing, which looks a lot like the last things on the dating front: bars, real-life matchmaking services, setups arranged by friends.  "Do I want to spend all these hours at my PC or out having fun and meeting people?"  While most women interviewed complained that too many men just "window shop" online and are unwilling to consider any but the prettiest faces.  Online dating seems to have lost its buzz among its own Generation 1.0. "In the last five years, it’s become so mainstream," said Sherrie Schneider, an author of "The Rules for Online Dating," who remains a great champion of the practice. "Every single woman in my neighborhood is on Match.com. It’s like brushing your teeth.  And sometimes it’s just as exciting."  NY TIMES

Mark Brooks: What’s next?  Even social networking is getting old.  Online personals are still the most efficient way to meet compatible local singles…with the minimum of embaressment.  www.wingwomen.com is a fun idea.

Guthy-Renker and PerfectMatch.com Partner to Create Infomercial

Posted on December 7, 2004

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.

Match.com Europe’s #1 in Online Dating

Posted on December 4, 2004

LONDON — In its first report of pan-European Internet behaviour, independent measurement firm comScore Media Metrix ranked Match.com as the leading online dating site in Europe. According to comScore data, Match.com sites drew nearly four million visitors in October, over 60% more than its closest competitor. #1 Match.com sites 3,960,000 uniques, #2 Ilove.de 2,404,000 uniques, #3 Meetic 2,209,000 uniques, #4 MSN Dating and Personals 1,792,000 uniques, #5 Matchnet 1,310,000 uniques PRNEWSWIRE

Mark Brooks: I just returned from a trip to the UK. The internet, online personals and speed dating seem far more popular since my last visit 2 years ago.

October 2004 Comscore Rankings

Posted on December 4, 2004

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. 

Cupid.com Acquires #1 Speed Dating Company

Posted on November 23, 2004

NEW YORK, Nov. 23 /PRNewswire/ — Cupid.com, a leading online dating service, today announced its acquisition of PreDating, America's largest speed dating company. PreDating is the leading provider of speed dating events for single professionals in the U.S. and run local events in more than 70 cities around the country. "There's no turn downs and no pressure at these events. We searched for the perfect singles event and PreDating is it!," commented Mark Brooks, Cupid.com's VP Marketing & Business Development.

Mark Brooks: I joined Cupid to make this happen.  An industry first.  ;-)  No other online dating site has integrated singles events into their offerings like this.  Match dumped their events division recently.  It's far more efficient just to focus on one event format that plays into online dating.  Match actually used my club http://www.ace-club.com as part of their inspiration set.  Ooops.  ACE is very unwieldy.  Works fine as a little club.  It's a pig to scale.   

The Cost of Finding Love

Posted on November 23, 2004

BANKRATE.COM — For $24.95 a month, $44.85 for 3-months or $65.70 for 6-months, you can have access to Match.com; nearly 1 million subscribers. For $1 a minute you can talk with an expert to get advice on Match.com dating. For $40 you can get help writing that all-important Match.com profile. eHarmony's services cost $49.95 for a one-month subscription, $99.95 for 3-months, $149.95 for six-months and $249.95 for a year. Great Expectations fees average $3,000 and up. Matchmakers fees can be astronomical, sometimes topping $25,000 and up.

Lonely Hearts, Deep Pockets – Yahoo Personals Premier Service Launched

Posted on November 23, 2004

REUTERS — Yahoo has launched Personals Premier, a premium online dating service aimed at attracting serious relationship seekers with deeper pockets. Yahoo's new premium service costs $34.95 a month and features searching and matching technology that uses results from relationship and personality tests. Yahoo's existing personals service costs $19.95 a month. eHarmony visitors are much more likely to be in the age range of 25 to 34 while Yahoo's visitors are older or younger — with lower incomes. Yahoo Personals is #1 in the online dating category with about 21% of the market, EHarmony fourth with about 6%, after Match.com and American Singles, Hitwise reported.

Japan Singles Courted by Match.com

Posted on November 23, 2004

REUTERS — Match.com, already embedded in 32 countries with 15 million active members, is offering a virtual solution for the maritally challenged in the world’s second-largest economy. "Of our members, 80% said they’re looking for a serious relationship or marriage," said COO Joe Cohen. Cohen estimated Japan’s online matching business will exceed $200 million in total revenues in four years. Despite a tradition of "omiai," or partner introduction, many Japanese have gone off-line in their family and career paths, keeping the nation’s marriage rate flat and raising the average marrying age to nearly 30 for men and over 27 for women.