BUSINESS INSIDER – June 5 – Match.com, Zoosk and eHarmony advertise heavily on Facebook. However Facebook doesn't allow smaller, niche dating sites to advertise. "It's impossible to gain traction as a new dating site today without access to Facebook ads", says CEO of a dating site who has $500K to spend on ads, but Facebook declines to take his money. Facebook first activated a ban on small dating sites back in January. Facebook was going to revisit the policy after Valentine's Day but has since decided to extend the ban.
Category: Outlets – Business Insider
Brandon Wade, A Never-Been-Kissed Nerd, Built A ‘Sugar Baby’ Empire
BUSINESS INSIDER – Mar 27 – Brandon Wade has built SeekingArrangement.com, a dating site for "generous" men who are OK with paying for dates, and the women who are happy to accept the money. He's also a master of PR and word-of-mouth marketing. Last September Wade started Carrot Dating, a mobile app that requires men to offer bribes to women for dates. "In the very beginning I was a very lonely, shy and socially inept child", said Wade. "My mother told me to study very hard so I would be successful and rich which would make dating easier."
by Jim Edwards
See full article at Business Insider
See all posts on SeekingArrangement
See all posts on Carrot Dating
“Facefeed” Dating App: No Profiles, Just Selfies
BUSINESS INSIDER – Mar 14 – The new iOS app Facefeed relies on the art of taking selfies and looking nice. There’s no profile to set up. It doesn’t link with any social networks. Users just log in, take a selfie, and put it out there in the world. If someone thinks their selfie looks nice, that person can write them a message.
by Karyne Levy
See full article at Business Insider
HatchLabs’ Co-Founder Is Creating His Third Dating App
BUSINESS INSIDER – Mar 10 – Sway CEO Adam Huie is currently working on his third dating app. All of Huie's apps – Let's Meet, Sway, and his new one, Tryst – use a similar anonymous matching interface in which couples can only find out more about each other if they both agree to do so. Sway just partnered with Bravo TV and its new show "Online Dating Rituals of the American Male." Sway specifically created this new app for the show. Previously, Huie co-founded Hatch Labs, the mobile incubator that launched Tinder. In June, Huie became CEO of dating startup Let's Date. He left Let's Date for Sway, which is essentially Let's Date with a different name and a slightly tweaked user interface.
People Find Love On Whisper, A Secret Sharing App
BUSINESS INSIDER – Feb 1 – Secret sharing app Whisper isn't meant for meeting people, but that's not stopping people from forming offline relationships using the app. The app lets people share photos and text completely anonymously. It only added the private messaging feature six months later after it realized some of its users were trying to stay in touch via email. Whisper launched in May 2012 and has raised $24M to date.
Facebook Is Blocking Dating Ads Until Valentine’s Day
BUSINESS INSIDER – Jan 19 – Facebook has temporarily blocked some dating sites from advertising if they are new to Facebook. Dating sites won't be able to advertise on FB until after Valentine's Day. Kyle McGinnis, the CEO of HiDine, says his ads ran for months on FB and were only recently bumped from the site. He believes Facebook is biased in favor of bigger dating sites with larger ad budgets.
by Jim Edwards
See full article at Business Insider
This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.
Android Phones Are Used As Dumbphones
BUSINESS INSIDER – Jan 3 – Google's mobile users outnumber Apple's all over the place (80% of all smartphone users are Android owners), but Apple users are the ones spending all the money. iOS users spent $93.94 per order, twice that of Android users, who spent ~$48.10. It looks like Android people use their phones for calling, texting and playing Bejeweled. They ain't shopping.
by Jim Edwards
See full article at Business Insider
Mark Brooks: Android or iPhone? Where are you seeing best results for your dating app? Please comment.
Hinge Users Have Been Very Engaged
BUSINESS INSIDER – Dec 11 – Dating app Hinge selects daily matches for its users based on their network of friends on Facebook. In November, Hinge raised $4M from the likes of Red Swan and 500 Startups. It has launched in Boston, Philadelphia, and New York City, with San Francisco or Chicago up next. ~100K people have signed up. An average person logs in 40 times per month.
Playdope: Tinder Meets QuizUp
BUSINESS INSIDER – Dec 10 – Matt Newberg agrees we use phones as a wall we can hide behind when we're alone in a public place. So he created "Playdope", an app that helps people make connections by playing picture trivia games and chat for 24 hours afterward the game is completed. Right now, the app is available on college campuses.
Virtual Girlfriend: A Game For Lonely People
BUSINESS INSIDER – Dec 5 – Love Plus is a very popular "virtual girfriend" Nintendo game in Japan. Some Japanese men who would rather date virtual ladies than real ones. My Virtual Girlfriend is a similar app available in USA. The main objective of the game is to make your girlfriend happy and fall in love with you. The girls play hardcore into whatever personality stereotype they've been designated. The free version of the app sees ~1K-3K downloads a day.