PRNewswire — Jan 10 — MatchNet plc (AmericanSingles, JDate) today announced that the company has changed its corporate name to Spark Networks plc, effective today. It expects the Spark Networks name to more sharply distinguish the company in the marketplace. The company also said that it has launched a new corporate Web site at www.spark-networks.com.
Category: SparkNetworks
Match.com Europe’s #1 in Online Dating
LONDON — In its first report of pan-European Internet behaviour, independent measurement firm comScore Media Metrix ranked Match.com as the leading online dating site in Europe. According to comScore data, Match.com sites drew nearly four million visitors in October, over 60% more than its closest competitor. #1 Match.com sites 3,960,000 uniques, #2 Ilove.de 2,404,000 uniques, #3 Meetic 2,209,000 uniques, #4 MSN Dating and Personals 1,792,000 uniques, #5 Matchnet 1,310,000 uniques PRNEWSWIRE
Mark Brooks: I just returned from a trip to the UK. The internet, online personals and speed dating seem far more popular since my last visit 2 years ago.
Lonely Hearts, Deep Pockets – Yahoo Personals Premier Service Launched
REUTERS — Yahoo has launched Personals Premier, a premium online dating service aimed at attracting serious relationship seekers with deeper pockets. Yahoo's new premium service costs $34.95 a month and features searching and matching technology that uses results from relationship and personality tests. Yahoo's existing personals service costs $19.95 a month. eHarmony visitors are much more likely to be in the age range of 25 to 34 while Yahoo's visitors are older or younger — with lower incomes. Yahoo Personals is #1 in the online dating category with about 21% of the market, EHarmony fourth with about 6%, after Match.com and American Singles, Hitwise reported.
Online Dating’s Creep Factor
Tues August 24, Motley Fool — MatchNet’s recent IPO filing hinted at what I have suspected for some time: Online dating, once viewed as the realm for losers and geeks, has become a regular part of Internet social life…Increased transience and demanding schedules make it hard for singles, and the bar scene gets old. Moderns get married later, leaving lots of time for dating around. Last, our woefully high U.S. divorce rate leaves many re-released into the field…Two out of five singles have tried it…MatchNet would have been the first publicly traded online dating pure play in the U.S…Since 1999, MatchNet’s sales have grown 460% to $36.9 million…InterActive is planning its own foray into social networking…There seems to be demand for complex psychological profiles — enter eHarmony and True.com…It’s likely perceived that people will pay more for real "matching," which eHarmony and True both claim to provide. Hold your criticism: many users probably feel the higher prices insinuate users who are more serious about "real relationships." So, if MatchNet decides to revive its scuttled IPO filing later — or if the other privately held contenders decide to go public themselves — my advice would be: Look out, investors; when it comes to this industry, you may have to kiss a lot of toads.