Category: Match.com

Match.Com Says Lawsuit Filed Against Them Is Baseless

Posted on November 22, 2005

Matchcom_logoALL HEADLINES — Nov 22 — Online dating powerhouse Match.com, is calling for a class action lawsuit filed against them to be dropped claiming the suit is thoroughly baseless, and the allegations of fake dates for members are entirely fictional.  The suit contends people on the Match payroll went on sham dates with subscribers as a marketing ploy. The woman named in the lawsuit as a Match.com employee has confirmed in a sworn statement that she has never been an employee of Match.com, nor was she ever paid to go on dates with any members or subscribers.  "The suit apparently was filed by Evans and his attorneys on the basis of no evidence whatsoever and without any investigation of the facts," said Kristin Kelly, spokeswoman for Match.com.  "Match.com intends to fight back against this totally baseless attack with all of our resources.“

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

Online Daters Sue Match.com, Yahoo

Posted on November 21, 2005

Matchcom_5 REUTERS — Nov 18 — Match.com is accused in a federal lawsuit of goading members into renewing their subscriptions through bogus romantic e-mails sent out by company employees. In some instances, the suit contends, people on the Match payroll even went on sham dates with subscribers as a marketing ploy. Match spokeswoman Kristin Kelly said the company "absolutely does not" employ people to go on dates with subscribers or to send members misleading e-mails professing romantic interest. In a separate suit, Yahoo's personals service is accused of posting profiles of fictitious potential dating partners on its website to make it look as though many more singles subscribe to the service than actually do.  The Match lawsuit was filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles by plaintiff Matthew Evans, who contends he went out with a woman he met through the site who turned out to be nothing more than "date bait" working for the company. The Yahoo suit was filed last month by Robert Anthony, of Broward County, Florida. The suit, brought in U.S. District Court in San Jose, California, accuses the company of breach of contract, fraud and unfair trade practices. The lawsuit also claims the company violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, a law best known for being used in prosecuting organized crime.  FULL ARTICLE @ USA TODAY

Mark Brooks: Small players, one man bands and new sites that are scrambling to get to critical mass may well send bogus emails.  Larger, established top ten players don't.  Date bait emails are very bad practice.  As an industry we should work to stamp it out.  These services don't 'send' their employees on dates.  However, I've not heard of many dating services banning their employees from using the services they work on.

Online Daters Sue Match.com, Yahoo

Posted on November 21, 2005

Matchcom_5 REUTERS — Nov 18 — Match.com is accused in a federal lawsuit of goading members into renewing their subscriptions through bogus romantic e-mails sent out by company employees. In some instances, the suit contends, people on the Match payroll even went on sham dates with subscribers as a marketing ploy. Match spokeswoman Kristin Kelly said the company "absolutely does not" employ people to go on dates with subscribers or to send members misleading e-mails professing romantic interest. In a separate suit, Yahoo's personals service is accused of posting profiles of fictitious potential dating partners on its website to make it look as though many more singles subscribe to the service than actually do.  The Match lawsuit was filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles by plaintiff Matthew Evans, who contends he went out with a woman he met through the site who turned out to be nothing more than "date bait" working for the company. The Yahoo suit was filed last month by Robert Anthony, of Broward County, Florida. The suit, brought in U.S. District Court in San Jose, California, accuses the company of breach of contract, fraud and unfair trade practices. The lawsuit also claims the company violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, a law best known for being used in prosecuting organized crime.  FULL ARTICLE @ USA TODAY

Mark Brooks: Small players, one man bands and new sites that are scrambling to get to critical mass may well send bogus emails.  Larger, established top ten players don't.  Date bait emails are very bad practice.  As an industry we should work to stamp it out.  These services don't 'send' their employees on dates.  However, I've not heard of many dating services banning their employees from using the services they work on.

Seattle, Online Dating Mecca

Posted on November 21, 2005

Sperlings_best_placesBLOOMBERG — Nov 18 — The Web-based Sperling's BestPlaces guide this month ranked Seattle the #1 place in the U.S. to hook up, based on 33 factors, including male-to-female parity, membership in online dating services and the number of coffee shops and dog parks.  Match.com chose Seattle as one of four cities in the country to test a new dating site called chemistry.com, designed for people "actively seeking meaningful long-term relationships." There are 186,480 Seattle Match members, ~6.1% of the population of 3 million. That's the highest proportion of online daters among the 12 largest metropolitan areas. 47% of men and 40% of women in Seattle have never married. 

Seattle, Online Dating Mecca

Posted on November 21, 2005

Sperlings_best_placesBLOOMBERG — Nov 18 — The Web-based Sperling's BestPlaces guide this month ranked Seattle the #1 place in the U.S. to hook up, based on 33 factors, including male-to-female parity, membership in online dating services and the number of coffee shops and dog parks.  Match.com chose Seattle as one of four cities in the country to test a new dating site called chemistry.com, designed for people "actively seeking meaningful long-term relationships." There are 186,480 Seattle Match members, ~6.1% of the population of 3 million. That's the highest proportion of online daters among the 12 largest metropolitan areas. 47% of men and 40% of women in Seattle have never married. 

Internet Hookups Provide Little Mystery

Posted on November 18, 2005

Eharmony_1BADGER HERALD — Nov 18 — Well, after clicking 75 little (eHarmony) bubbles ranking characteristics – warm, arrogant, impulsive, attractive, perfectionist and uncomplicated – from one to seven and only being 17% complete with the profile, I gave up. F-you eHarmony. That’s not fun. On to Match.com.  I’m going to take a stand against Internet dating. It’s just another way to become impersonal and lazy, just like text messaging or when people abuse the Facebook for stalking purposes.  FULL ARTICLE @ BADGER HERALD

Mark Brooks: What’s the #1 most important decision you will make in your lifetime?  (Ans: Who you decide to marry).  You can answer/ask questions 6 months into a relationship, or you can take the online dating approach and answer/ask them for your profile.  This is what the likes of eHarmony, TRUE, PerfectMatch, Match, Tickle, Yahoo etc provide. These questions are surely worth a few hours of consideration…if you’re serious about being serious.

Internet Hookups Provide Little Mystery

Posted on November 18, 2005

Eharmony_1BADGER HERALD — Nov 18 — Well, after clicking 75 little (eHarmony) bubbles ranking characteristics – warm, arrogant, impulsive, attractive, perfectionist and uncomplicated – from one to seven and only being 17% complete with the profile, I gave up. F-you eHarmony. That’s not fun. On to Match.com.  I’m going to take a stand against Internet dating. It’s just another way to become impersonal and lazy, just like text messaging or when people abuse the Facebook for stalking purposes.  FULL ARTICLE @ BADGER HERALD

Mark Brooks: What’s the #1 most important decision you will make in your lifetime?  (Ans: Who you decide to marry).  You can answer/ask questions 6 months into a relationship, or you can take the online dating approach and answer/ask them for your profile.  This is what the likes of eHarmony, TRUE, PerfectMatch, Match, Tickle, Yahoo etc provide. These questions are surely worth a few hours of consideration…if you’re serious about being serious.

Match.com Thanksgiving Bonus

Posted on November 18, 2005

Matchcom_4PR NEWSWIRE — Nov 17 — Match.com is helping single people get the most out of the holidays by offering a special holiday bonus section of its popular guide, "How to Meet the Right Person in 90 Days." Written by relationship expert and author Dawn Yanek.

Filtering the Frogs from the Princes

Posted on November 16, 2005

Matchcom_3Daily News — Nov 14 — Tech-savvy singles beware. Online dating is exhausting. Partly fun, partly research, partly peer pressure from friends who threatened to post my profile online, I caved and joined Match.com three weeks ago.  Within the first hour I had winks and e-mails from a handful of guys… 

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

Web Dating Game Heats Up

Posted on November 15, 2005

Matchcom_2THE STREET — Nov 14 — Troublemakers on the online dating scene may have met their match in a group of increasingly brand-conscious Internet giants.  Yahoo! Personals and Match.com, two of the largest Internet dating sites, are stepping up their efforts to weed their services of abusive, obnoxious or married people. Earlier this year, Yahoo! instituted a code of conduct for online daters in which they must swear that they are single and won't be abusive toward other members. The company also has made it easier for members to report misbehavior. Match.Com has added additional people to its fraud and abuse unit.  The effort comes as the online dating market consolidates and surviving services fight off competition for loyal users from social network sites like Friendster.com and Myspace.com, which also offer free dating, and smaller upstarts such as True.com.  "They have got very significant brands that they have to protect," says Mark Brooks, who runs the blog onlinepersonalswatch.com. "They can't have people who are scamming, spamming, being obscene or being obnoxious. It's very bad for their brand." About 11% of all online users have a profile on an online dating site, according to Jupiter Media. "The market is reaching maturity," Jupiter Research analyst Nate Elliot told the blog onlinepersonalswatch.com in a recent interview. "…there are fewer consumers 'just curious' to have a look. It's no longer the 'new thing.'"  FULL ARTICLE @ THE STREET