PRESS RELEASE — Sep 10 — Perfectmatch.com, taps into the dissatisfaction with casual dating sites for market differentiation and continued growth in a crowded space. The result: 300% jump in affiliate sales in the past 18 months, Perfectmatch.com provides compatible matches and comprehensive search capabilities. The company targets online users 26 and older, and has achieved the most growth with the over-50 segment. The Commission Junction program manager reworked Perfectmatch's program terms to offer publishers tiered compensation; diversified Perfectmatch's publisher base by developing coupon offers to attract coupon and deal publishers; coordinated the company's search efforts; recruited and optimized quality publishers efforts; and updated creative and content. Sales went up 29% after the first month and tripled after nine months. FULL ARTICLE @ EARTH TIMES
Category: PerfectMatch
Perfectmatch Scores in NBC Debut
SEATTLE PI.COM — June 25 — It could have been bad for Perfectmatch.com if NFL football player Adam Johnson — the star of the reality TV special "Science of Love" — decided to date his choice rather than the selected woman. After all, the Duet Total Compatibility System was placing its reputation on the line by choosing a "scientific date" for the bachelor. In the Monday night debut, Perfectmatch won when Johnson said he was going to "take a leap of faith" and "see what science has in store for me." FULL ARTICLE @ SEATTLE PI.COM
Perfectmatch Stars in NBC Special “Science of Love”
PRESS RELEASE — June 11 — Perfectmatch.com® has teamed up with NBC to present a one-hour dating special: "Science of Love: A Modern Dating Experiment" airing Monday, June 25th (10 p.m. ET-PT/9 p.m. CT), hosted by Mark Consuelos ("All My Children"). In a unique twist on the reality dating show format, "Science of Love" asks a very compelling question: Is it possible to make better love connections through science, or can true love only spring from an initial attraction? The first episode features NFL football player and Perfectmatch member, Adam Johnson. Adam has two dates and chooses an "instinct date" from a pool of 50 candidates, all members of Perfectmatch.com®, and a "science date" is chosen by a team of experts led by Dr. Pepper Schwartz utilizing Duet®. "Science of Love" is produced by 3 Ball Productions whose recent success includes the NBC mega-hit "The Biggest Loser."
Which Dating Sites Affiliate Programs Convert the Best?
OPW — May 28 — These are the conversions for the affiliate programs that Online Personals Watch makes money from. The period is for March 21st 2006 through March 21st 2007. I only list the affiliate programs from which Online Personals Watch generated more than 1000 unique click throughs for. Here are the top converting programs ranked by the earnings per unique. Affiliate links for these sites appear in the left bar in the form of industry rankings, and from links from posts on OPW.
Love at First Site
SUN JOURNAL — May 6 — "Imagine if we could lower the divorce rate by 1 percent, all the lives that would be impacted by that," said Galen Buckwalter, a former professor of psychology who is eHarmony's VP R&D. It may take a generation to figure out whether any of the Web sites will succeed, but in the meantime they are collectively engaging in a social experiment of gargantuan size. Ultimately, they may prove whether or not science has a role in the most unscientific realm of all – love. Anthropologist Helen Fisher, scientific adviser to Chemistry.com, said psychologists have understood for years which relationships work and which ones don't. People who share culture, economic status, education and religion fare much better than people who are different. Fisher, a professor at Rutgers, thinks it's genetics. Genes for dopamine are associated with motivation and curiosity, genes for serotonin are linked to stability. Testosterone is related to drive and spatial abilities. She theorized that people have different levels of those body chemicals that put them into four broad personality types. The profile on Chemistry.com is designed to assign people to one of those four. PerfectMatch relies on a combination of similar and complementary traits to predict long-term compatibility, but not instant attraction. The Duet Compatibility Profiler focuses on eight personality characteristics, including romantic impulsivity, energy and outlook. Compatible couples should match on four of them. eHarmony based its matching system on what 5,000 happily married couples had to say about why their relationships withstood the test of time. eHarmony's system does not identify what he called "the click," the spark that leads to romance instead of friendship. They're working on it.
The full article was originally published at Sun Journal, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: A top 10 dating site will be launching a personality profiling system to rival Chemistry, PerfectMatch and eHarmony shortly. Email me at mark@onlinepersonalswatch.com for first notification. The announcement is on embargo.
Do Compatibility Tests Work?
ONLINE DATING MAGAZINE — Apr 12 — Synovate research reveals that one of the top reasons people worldwide do not use online dating sites is that they would "just rather meet someone in person first." (see Table). Scientists are still grappling with this notion of love and attraction, but traditionally "love" has been simplified as two main types — Passionate / Erotic Love (mechanisms driving sexuality and emotional passion) and Companionate Love (feelings of deep attachment and friendship). High levels of Passionate / Erotic Love characterize early stages of romantic relationships and fade over the course of a relationship. One bond gives way to the influence of feelings and drives that more often concern attachment, friendship and commitment. Passionate Love throughout one's relationship of the intensity experienced in the early stages of a relationship is what Hollywood and songwriters promote, but it's not what actually happens. Too often, people are not taught realistic expectations for relationships, so they understandably become disappointed. …Let me draw everyone's attention to Wilson and Cousin's perspective on the current state of romantic compatibility testing – "It will not tell you whether or not you are going to fall in love with another person in a compulsive, 'chemical' way, just whether or not it is a good idea if you do" FULL ARTICLE @ ONLINE DATING MAGAZINE
Mark Brooks: Compatibility testing is a fascinating and daunting, developing field. eHarmony, Chemistry, LoveHappens, and PerfectMatch are the personality profiling leaders. Keep your eye on LTR.com and Mary.com also.
Do Compatibility Tests Work?
ONLINE DATING MAGAZINE — Apr 12 — Synovate research reveals that one of the top reasons people worldwide do not use online dating sites is that they would "just rather meet someone in person first." (see Table). Scientists are still grappling with this notion of love and attraction, but traditionally "love" has been simplified as two main types — Passionate / Erotic Love (mechanisms driving sexuality and emotional passion) and Companionate Love (feelings of deep attachment and friendship). High levels of Passionate / Erotic Love characterize early stages of romantic relationships and fade over the course of a relationship. One bond gives way to the influence of feelings and drives that more often concern attachment, friendship and commitment. Passionate Love throughout one's relationship of the intensity experienced in the early stages of a relationship is what Hollywood and songwriters promote, but it's not what actually happens. Too often, people are not taught realistic expectations for relationships, so they understandably become disappointed. …Let me draw everyone's attention to Wilson and Cousin's perspective on the current state of romantic compatibility testing – "It will not tell you whether or not you are going to fall in love with another person in a compulsive, 'chemical' way, just whether or not it is a good idea if you do" FULL ARTICLE @ ONLINE DATING MAGAZINE
Mark Brooks: Compatibility testing is a fascinating and daunting, developing field. eHarmony, Chemistry, LoveHappens, and PerfectMatch are the personality profiling leaders. Keep your eye on LTR.com and Mary.com also.
Perfectmatch Advertising on TV
PR NEWSWIRE — Feb 27 — Perfectmatch announced their plans for a series of new television advertisements in 2007. The first ad campaign, out March 1st, will introduce relationship-minded adults to an alternative to rival eHarmony.com, and a more relationship-centric approach to Match.com. Said Duane Dahl, Founder/CEO of Perfectmatch. "We're now prepared to actively compete with eHarmony and Match, and television will play an important role." The TV ads (by Oberon Studios of Seattle), take a narrative approach by emphasizing how quickly life and love can pass us by. FULL ARTICLE @ SYS-CONPerfectmatch Advertising on TV
PR NEWSWIRE — Feb 27 — Perfectmatch announced their plans for a series of new television advertisements in 2007. The first ad campaign, out March 1st, will introduce relationship-minded adults to an alternative to rival eHarmony.com, and a more relationship-centric approach to Match.com. Said Duane Dahl, Founder/CEO of Perfectmatch. "We're now prepared to actively compete with eHarmony and Match, and television will play an important role." The TV ads (by Oberon Studios of Seattle), take a narrative approach by emphasizing how quickly life and love can pass us by. FULL ARTICLE @ SYS-CONPlaying With Matches
DAILY PRESS — Feb 22 –I'd like to see a law pass endorsing arranged marriages. In the meantime, I'll study the personal ads. I've bookmarked online dating sites like eHarmony and Perfect Match. Singles begin their adventure by filling in a few blanks. This brings them a handful of leads with names like "Goodtime Gertie." To view a more refined assortment, they must fork over some cash. But here's an exception: PlentyofFish.com is free.
Mark Brooks: I'm working on a study of the success story sections of the top 30 dating properties. JDate is strong with 195 complete with pictures.