CHICAGO TRIBUNE – Feb 27 – 25.3M people accessed personals sites through mobile devices in Dec, versus 21.3M through a fixed computer, according to comScore. Location-based dating apps have been wildly successful in the gay community (Grindr – 4M users) but slower to catch on among heterosexual daters, likely because women are more wary of announcing their location. SinglesAroundMe, which features a map with drop pins showing where nearby singles are, recently launched an "approximate location" option that lets users displace their coordinates by 1 to 2 miles. Tinder scours a user's Facebook connections to see which friends of friends are single and nearby. MeetMoi sends members a push notification if a match is in the vicinity, getting no more exact than "within .2 miles," and only if both parties agree to chat does the app allow a connection. The app has 3.7M users. Of the 4M active users on OkCupid, half of whom access the site through their mobile phones, 1M have the Locals app. OkCupid also recently launched the mobile app Crazy Blind Date, which sets up a blind date — no photos, no profiles. As with online dating, mobile dating started off catering to people looking for casual relationships, but as it becomes mainstream more serious relationship-seekers are using it as well, said Mark Brooks, an analyst and consultant to the Internet dating industry. "It's more natural, you're out and about," said Brooks, who predicts that dating via mobile phone will change the game profoundly because apps can gather instantaneous feedback about how a date went, resulting in better matches. "People don't really know what they want, so the best way to match people is to look at their behaviors," Brooks said. "Your phone is going to get to know you, it is going to get to know your buying behavior."
by Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz
See full article at Chicago Tribune
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CHICAGO TRIBUNE – Oct 23 – A matchmaking school is reporting growing enrollment. "People have dating overload – they're on Tinder, Match, OKCupid," said Talia Goldstein, co-founder and CEO of Three Day Rule, Match.com's "white glove" matchmaking partner. "People are getting so confused by all the options that they are looking for someone to help them." Three Day Rule charges $3,5K for three months of personal matchmaking and $5K for a six-month package that includes date coaching, styling and professional photography. Some matchmakers say their clientele is getting younger. Business models among matchmakers vary widely. On the high end, Selective Search, charges $25K. 90% of the clients are men, who are matched with dates who do not pay for the service. On the other end is Project Fixup, a startup that charges $20 per setup.
