PR NEWSWIRE – Aug 27 – Stir events are debuting this week in Canada with events in Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa.
The full article was originally published at PR Newswire, but is no longer available.
Category: Match.com
IAC Q2 Profit Grew 35% Thanks To About.com & Match.com
WSJ – July 30 – IAC reported higher sales due to the contribution of About Group, as well as an increase in revenue from Match.com. IAC reported a profit of $58.3M, up from $43.3M a year earlier. Total revenue jumped 17% to $799.4M. Match posted a 9% increase in sales (194.3M Q2 Revenue).
by John Kell
The full article was originally published at WSJ, but is no longer available.
Seventeen Magazine Slammed For Article Promoting Online Dating
FOX NEWS – July 26 – Seventeen Magazine, which targets females ages 12 to19, published an article “17 dating blogger: would you do online dating?” Some critics were shocked that online dating was being promoted to such a young demographic, especially because the potential dangers of meeting mystery men or women online, and the fact that Match.com states users must be 18 years of age to register.
The Psychology Of Online Dating
WIRED – July 18 – According to stats, 20% of heterosexual couples and ~70% of same-sex couples met online. The usual criticism of online dating is that it's a hive of airbrushed photos and downright lies. A couple of scientific studies come to conclusions that small lies were not merely self-deceptions, but deliberate. On paid sites people tend to be looking for something more serious, they're more keen to progress offline to actual dates and abusive messages are at a minimum. Psychologist Dr Jessamy Hibberd believes that much of the directness in online dating occurs because all interactions are in a "social vacuum". With no mutual friends to avoid alienating, there's less social pressures to keep behaviour in check. There could also be "grass is greener" attitude inherent in online dating. "We see that people are more willing to leave unsatisfying relationships because there's less friction to finding a new person to date. So, average relationship length comes down, but not because people seek that," says OKCupid co-founder and Match.com CEO Sam Yagan.
by Alan Martin
See full article at Wired.co.uk
‘Match.com Nights’ New UK Campaign
MARKETING WEEK – July 12 – Match.com is launching a new ad campaign in UK that will promote its offline events called "Match.com nights". The new campaign is featuring Susie and Franz who meet on a match.com night. The new free-to-attend events will take place at selected bars across the UK with members allowed to invite up to three singles who are not Match.com subscribers.
Online Dating: Proceed With Caution
CONSUMERSDIGEST – July 8 – Carole Markin went on a date with a man whom she had met on Match.com. She was raped. Later she found that the man had a history of violence. Match.com now screens its users against the National Sex Offender registry databases and started to do so after Markin sought a court order that required the company to screen. According to FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), 4,467 people reported being the victim of such crimes in 2012. That’s down from 5,663 in 2011. Niche dating sites market themselves by claiming that they have created a safer microcommunity of people. However, they aren’t immune to the fake profiles. Experts say online dating services are pockmarked with abandoned, inactive or fake profiles. Mark Brooks, an online-dating-industry analyst, estimates that ~10% of profiles are fake on some dating sites. Brooks warns that users shouldn’t believe that just because they paid a membership fee that they are buying a seal of approval on a potential mate. He says consumers pay for the cultivation of a community and access to knowing which people in a specific area are “single, available and motivated.” He tells us that automated software has made it easy to start an online dating service and that a lot of unmanned services exist. Conducting a background check is an imperfect solution because the databases are incomplete. “We don’t want to give a false sense of security to anyone,” says Mandy Ginsberg, CEO of Match.com. “Match.com is no different than society. If you go out to a bar and meet someone that you don’t know, you should be careful.”
Dating Sites Are Not Appealing, Survey Finds
BUSINESS WIRE – June 24 – What started out as an enjoyable way for people to connect and interact with each other is turning into a time-consuming chore, according to a recent survey conducted by E-Score, a consumer research service. The survey identified the social media sites with the most consumer awareness, as well as the appeal of those sites.
Site Awareness Appeal Unique monthly users (US) ---------- --------- ------ ------------------------- Facebook 85% 50% 140 million ---------- --------- ------ ------------------------- Twitter 76% 18% 92 million ---------- --------- ------ ------------------------- Google+ 58% 45% 28 million ---------- --------- ------ ------------------------- eHarmony 56% 6% 18 million ---------- --------- ------ ------------------------- Match.com 47% 6% 72 million ---------- --------- ------ ------------------------- Pinterest 38% 42% 75 million ---------- --------- ------ ------------------------- Instagram 37% 27% 26 million ---------- --------- ------ ------------------------- MySpace 36% 10% 6 million ---------- --------- ------ ------------------------- Yelp 25% 51% 15 million ---------- --------- ------ ------------------------- LinkedIn 23% 24% 64 million ---------- --------- ------ -------------------------
Match.com and eHarmony were among the top five most recognizable brands yet were among the lowest when ranked by appeal, indicating consumers' displeasure with the process of using social media to find a companion.
The full article was originally published at WSJ, but is no longer available.
Match.com Introduces Offline Game Nights
PR NEWSWIRE – June 20 – Match.com is kicking off a 25 market Stir Game Night series by partnering with seven board game manufacturers to provide singles with a combination of icebreakers and party games. These live events will take place at bars and restaurants in select cities throughout the summer and fall.
The full article was originally published at WSJ, but is no longer available.
Dating Sites Aren’t Liable For Their Users’ Actions
FORBES – June 3 – Mary Kay Beckman suffered an online dating nightmare. She met Wade Mitchell Ridley on Match.com. Three months later, Ridley “ambushed” her at her home, repeatedly stabbing and kicking her. Later, she learn that Ridley was suspected of previously murdering an ex-girlfriend. She sued Match.com. Last week, Beckman’s lawsuit was dismissed. Beckman argued that she wasn’t suing Match.com for Ridley’s posts. Instead, she said she was suing Match.com for failing to protect her from Ridley. Incidents like this are not good publicity for Match.com. So even though the law says the sites aren’t liable for their users’ actions, most branded websites typically care enough about their reputation that they will voluntarily undertake measures designed to protect their members.
Star Apps: OKCupid co-Founder Christian Rudder
CNET NEWS – May 31 - Christian Rudder is a Harvard graduate who's helped launch and sell two successful companies – SparkNotes, in 1999, which sold to Barnes & Noble; OKCupid, in 2004, which sold to Match.com.
Q: What's so special about the OKCupid app?
A: It's a gateway from the OKCupid site to your phone.
Q: Talk to us about some of its best features.
A: We have location-based stuff. Compared to other dating apps, we have deeper profiles.
Q: Any thoughts on other, more hookup-based apps like Grindr, Tindr, and BangWithFriends?
A: Some people are looking for a quick hookup, some for someone to date, and some are looking to get married. OKCupid's app offers you the opportunity to find all of those things.
Q: How have mobile apps changed the online dating space?
A: The location-based factor. The goal of any dating site is for people to meet up in person, and this makes it a lot easier.
Q: How did OKCupid capture that much sought-after market?
A: Not intentionally. I think it's because we designed the product to be savvy and more cutting-edge.
Q: What software is involved in collecting data for the OKTrends blog?
A: MySQL, Excel, and Python.
by Josh Rotter
The full article was originally published at CNet, but is no longer available.