Reporters – Quentin Fottrell – Page 2

How The Recent Data Breach Affects Ashley Madison’s IPO

Posted on July 21, 2015

MARKETWATCH / WSJ – July 20 – Avid Life Media, which owns Ashley Madison, wanted to raise $200M in an IPO. A recent data breach may hurt the site’s chances of launching a successful IPO anytime soon. "They've hinged their entire existence on privacy," says Mark Brooks, a dating-industry analyst and the editor of Online Personals Watch. "It's definitely going to affect their IPO plans. It’s going to reduce the value of this company. They're going to see their conversion rates hit, their attention rates hit, and see some people leave. People prize their privacy on online dating sites. This is compounded 1,000 times on AshleyMadison.com over a typical dating site." Other dating site companies with IPO ambitions such as The Match Group, will be doubling down on their security measures, he adds. Ashley Madison said it has now secured the site, called the hack an act of "cyberterrorism" and apologized to its users.

AshleyMadison launched in 2001. "It has helped move adulterers from traditional dating sites", Brooks says. "It's done a good job of cleaning up other sites," he says. Another thing that can affect the IPO are complaints about fake profiles on the site. Ashley Madison has little direct competition. "The entire business is built on the premise that few will follow," Brooks says. "It's simultaneously brilliant and despicable. It gets people talking, which is also good for business."

Biderman acknowledges that there are a lot of hurdles to overcome before an IPO. He says he loves being the CEO of a private company. Brooks says, the site will be working hard to restore confidence in the site among users and potential investors. "They'll also work on search engine optimization over the next six to 12 months to make sure that other more positive stories about Ashley Madison appear when you Google the site," he says. "There’s plenty that can be done. If someone is prepared to spend big money, they can have a story almost disappear by producing more interesting content."

by Quentin Fottrell
See full article at Marketwatch

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Match Bought POF, And Cements Its Position As Market Leader

Posted on July 16, 2015

MARKETWATCH – July 15 – The Match Group announced that it will buy PlentyofFish for $575M in cash before going public. "In this industry, size really matters," says Mark Brooks, a dating-industry analyst and the editor of Online Personals Watch. "The Match Group gains very sizable key strategic assets and very effectively cements its position as market leader." The US online dating industry is dominated by IAC, with 21.8% market share. While each site has its own secret set of algorithms, the industry is consolidating and becoming more efficient from a business perspective.

"Making ideal matches is a virgin science," Brooks says. "We don't really know when we've been successful, so we don't really know when the algorithm has actually worked." That will soon change with the popularity of location-based apps and mobile technology, he says. "We'll be able to survey singles before and after dates." "Dating algorithms do exactly what they're designed to do, which is to match to sets for data,"” says Amy Webb, author of "Data, a Love Story: How I Gamed Dating to Meet My Match." Some dating sites beg to differ: "eHarmony has only a divorce rate of 3.86%, well below the national average of 40% to 50%."

by Quentin Fottrell
See full article at Marketwatch

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Would You Buy Shares In Ashley Madison?

Posted on April 24, 2015

MARKETWATCH – Apr 23 – Avid Life Media, the parent company of Ashley Madison, hopes to raise $200M in an IPO in London later this year. Ashley Madison makes up ~70% of Avid's $150M annual revenue, says Noel Biderman, CEO of the site. AM alone has ~33M members worldwide with 2.3M active users. The IPO plans may be mere flirtation with the media or a way to attract a suitor keen to invest. AM has little direct competition. "The entire business is built on the premise that few will follow," says Mark Brooks, a dating-industry analyst and the editor of Online Personals Watch. "It’s simultaneously brilliant and despicable. It gets people talking, which is also good for business."

by Quentin Fottrell
See full article at MarketWatch

Mark Brooks: I can't quite see investors voting this one up. But I could be very wrong. It will be a fascinating experiment in public acceptance. Is philandering and lying in vogue? Will it be palatable in the financial community. God, I really hope not. As much as it might be a part of daily life for many. I think we need to be more honest and open. I refuse to accept that society accepts 'cheating.' It seems to be the antithesis of where trusting, loving relationships that produce loving families, should end up. Noel knows this. But money is blinding, and plentiful in the philanderers niche.

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MillionaireMatch.com Introduces No-makeup Selfies

Posted on March 24, 2015

MARKETWATCH – Mar 23 – MillionaireMatch.com, a dating site for millionaires and attractive people, has introduced “true selfies", a feature that encourages women to put “makeup-free” badges on their profiles to verify their natural beauty. However, the site doesn’t have any photo verification for men. Not everyone is a millionaire on MillionaireMatch.com. The site claims 2M members globally, but it doesn’t disclose how many are actually millionaires. There is a verification process for finances for both men and women but it is only optional.

by Quentin Fottrell
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Dating Algorithms Is A Virgin Science

Posted on September 14, 2014

MARKETWATCH – Sep 13 – "Dating algorithms match two sets for data,” says Amy Webb, author of “Data, a Love Story: How I Gamed Dating to Meet My Match. “That doesn’t mean that the algorithms helps us find the perfect mate. In order to match people based on more than preferences, you’d need more sophisticated machine learning,” she says. "Making sense of dating algorithms is a virgin science and is still more miss than hit, says Mark Brooks, a dating-industry analyst and the editor of Online Personals Watch. "When people do find somebody they like, sites don’t often know why or how they’ve been successful, he says. “So we don’t really know when the algorithm has worked. That will change soon, with the rise of mobile and wearable computing. We’ll be able to survey singles when they leave dates to know just how well it went. That’s critical for us.” Dating sites are more likely to work if people are who they say they are. 54% of users say dates have “seriously misrepresented” themselves in their profiles, according to a 2013 study by Pew Research Center.

by Quentin Fottrell
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eHarmony As A New Jobs Matchmaker

Posted on August 4, 2014

MARKETWATCH – Aug 2 - eHarmony hopes to do for employment what it’s done for marriage, pairing employees with their future bosses. The new service “Elevated Careers by eHarmony" will launch in December. The service will run a new version of its famous compatibility assessment.

by Quentin Fottrell
The full article was originally published at MarketWatch, but is no longer available.

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Interview With Darren Shuster, North American CEO For MillionaireMatch.com

Posted on May 18, 2014

MARKETWATCH – May 16 - MillionaireMatch.com recently surpassed 2M users. The site launched a digital billboard in Times Square to celebrate this milestone. The billboard says: “Join the 1%: Don’t get left behind.”

Q: How many members are actually millionaires?
A: That I would rather not disclose.

Q: Your billboard slogan suggests that the easiest way to become the 1% is to marry into it, right?
A: There are a lot of millionaire women on the site. A lot of them insist on a prenuptial agreement.

Q: Why do you think that is?
A: Women are a bit more interested in maintaining their independence.

Q: And there’s a section on the site to show off your toys?
A: Yes, I call it “digital peacocking.” The members get to show off their luxury goods.

by Quentin Fottrell
See full article at MarketWatch

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The Days Of Tax-free Digital Content Are Numbered

Posted on March 13, 2014

MARKETWATCH – Mar 12 – The House Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing to discuss “alternative solutions” to the Marketplace Fairness Act, which would mark the beginning of the end of online tax-free shopping. The U.S. Senate voted to approve the act last year, but the bill expired before the House voted on it. The Act would require online vendors with $1M+ in annual out-of-state sales to collect sales tax from their customers. The act wouldn’t apply to digital content like music and e-books, which is why states are steadily introducing their own sales-tax laws. Last year, Minnesota introduced a tax on digital goods, including e-books, e-cards and apps. Washington State expanded its tax in 2009 to specifically cover digital music, movies and e-books and apps, as did Kentucky, Vermont and Wisconsin. Most states don’t include magazines, newspapers or online dating in those laws, however.

by Quentin Fottrell
See full article at MarketWatch

eHarmony Launches Counseling Service For $5,000

Posted on November 3, 2013

MARKETWATCH – Nov 1 – eHarmony members can now pay $5K and they’ll get a personal counselor to help sift through matches. The site will also approach them on their behalf. "After surveying 15K eHarmony members who earn ~$250K a year, it was clear there was huge demand for such a perk, says Grant Langston, eHarmony’s VP of customer experience. "When it comes to paying thousands of dollars — instead of eHarmony’s $60 monthly fee — dating sites need to manage the already high expectations carefully, says Mark Brooks, a dating-industry analyst. “It was only inevitable that free dating sites started to add these kinds of premium features,” he says. Others say it makes sense to combine a matchmaker with a dating site. “Match.com hired some matchmakers in Dallas to experiment with higher price points,” Brooks says. “Then things went quiet, and they let the matchmakers go.” “People point to the sting of rejection and the time it takes to sift through profiles as two of the biggest frustrations of online dating,” Brooks says. “But I wonder how many users have the disposable income for that kind of help.”

by Quentin Fottrell
See full article at MarketWatch

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Most Online Daters Would Not Pass A Polygraph

Posted on October 24, 2013

MARKETWATCH – Oct 23 – 54% of online dates “seriously misrepresented” themselves in their profiles, according to a new online dating study by Pew. Some amount of dishonesty has always been a part of dating, says Dan Slater, author of “Love in the Time of Algorithms”. Men will add one to two inches in height, while women will shave 10 pounds off their weight, he says. Despite the pitfalls, 59% of people still say that online dating is a good way to meet people, up from 44% in 2005.

by Quentin Fottrell
See full article at MarketWatch

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