PRNEWSWIRE — Feb 14 — True.com today was named one of the top three dating sites for customer experience in an in-depth study conducted by Keynote Systems. True was chosen by 69% of study participants as the "safe" site. The resulting rankings are based on research with 2,000 customers and 2,000 prospective customers. 61% were concerned that other members were misrepresenting themselves and 45% expressed a desire to have access to background checks on other members. 50% of study participants also vocalized an interest in personality tests.
Category: TRUE.com
Tech-Savvy Singles Find Online Personals Nothing Like Real Thing
SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS — Feb 13 — Nearly all of the 1,650 new Bay Area members who joined Table for Six in 2004 were singles who stopped fishing online, said owner Julie Paiva. "A big reason why someone does online dating is to expand their social life,'' said Paiva. "But they find out what they're mostly doing is spending time in front of a computer screen." Cali, for one, paid for memberships at five sites before pulling the plug. “If you're serious about finding someone, you have to spend money and stick around to make the effort,'' she said. In 2000, when eHarmony homed in on the population of serious daters — armed with a 436-question personality test — many of its competitors laughed. EHarmony's algorithms for romance struck a chord; boasts a membership of 6.5 million, up from 1 million in 2003. Yahoo Personals, True, PerfectMatch.com and Tickle followed suit with their own love alchemy tests. At ColorCupid members are matched based on color preference tests. Mary.com launched this month offering compatibility testing, background checks and certified photos taken by its photographers to ensure people look like their photos.
The full article was originally published at Mercury News, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: Mary.com, what a great name!
Video Clips Aim to Steer Cupid’s Arrows
ASSOCIATED PRESS — Feb 12 — After exchanging instant messages and digital photos through an online dating site, he flew to Houston to meet what he hoped would be a beautiful soul mate. What he found was a flabby misanthrope with an apparent drinking problem. "I decided right then that I needed more information before I'd go on another date with someone I met online." New policy: He'll only date women who post videos or use Web cameras in virtual chat rooms. Videos are gaining popularity among the estimated 20 million Americans who visit online dating sites each month. Nearly one in four U.S. singles have used online dating services, according to Date.com. Only 10% of 2.8 million active users at True.com post videos, but the percentage is rising quickly and online profiles with video get more hits than those without. "Online daters go on a lot of first dates but not many seconds," Compagno said. "More information almost always is better." PerfectMatch.com (1.5 million-members) doesn't allow videos. Nor does eHarmony.com. It didn't accept photos until 2001 and will probably never accept videos, said senior VP Marylyn Warren. "Chemistry fogs your brain a little bit," Warren said. "If you see someone who is drop-dead handsome or beautiful, you might forget that she cheated her way through school or he tells lies or does the kind of things that break up a marriage. We need to get at the true character of a person without emphasis on photos and videos."
The full article was originally published at Yahoo, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: Great chemistry is hugely multifaceted, at the core of great relationships, and nigh impossible to predict. Personality profiling distinguishes someone as a great potential friend. The rest is up to chemistry. Your comments please…
16% of Surfers Visit Dating Sites
SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL — Feb 10 — From January to June 2004, Web surfers spent $235.3 million on online personals, according to the Online Publishers Association and comScore Networks. That figure is about 10% more than the $214.3 million spent in the first half of 2003. Just think, in the first half of 2001, people spent only $22.6 million on Web Personals. Of America’s 161 million Internet users, 16% visited a personals site in December 2004. Top 5 Web dating sites, ranked by Comscore Mediametrix by number of unique visitors in December 2004: 1. Yahoo Personals, 5.7 million, 2. Match.com sites, 4.4 million, 3. MatchNet, 3.89 million, 4. Eharmony.com, 1.9 million, 5. True.com, 1.5 million
Mark Brooks: From $50 million to $500 million in 4 years!
Virginia Panel Rejects E-Dating Background Checks
WASHINGONPOST — Feb 1 — A Virginia General Assembly committee rejected a bill requiring online dating companies to prominently state whether they conduct criminal background checks on their users; voted 9-4 against the bill. So far, Vest (CEO True.com) has persuaded legislators in several states to sponsor legislation. The Michigan House of Representatives passed a bill last year, but it died later in the state Senate. A Texas state senator plans to introduce a similar bill before the end of the week, and similar measures are afoot in Ohio and Florida. "To think that you require a criminal background check is a little over the top. I think there’s been some nightmarish stories, but I don’t think that is unique to Internet dating. I felt like it was, frankly, overregulation and not an area where the government needs to jump in with both feet," said Committee member Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax).
Mark Brooks: …and the rest of the online dating industry breathes one more sigh of relief.
Battle for Supremacy Among Leading Online Relationship Sites Heats Up
BUSINESS WIRE — Jan 27 — Online relationship sites devoted to serious relationships are attracting millions of new members. This burgeoning market segment will continue to attract interest, investments, and members in 2005, and the two companies poised to capitalize on this trend are PerfectMatch.com and eHarmony.com. "eHarmony has done a very good job at educating the market about the differences between a dating site and a relationship site," said Duane Dahl, founder and CEO, PerfectMatch.com. "They've spent a tremendous amount of money, but money doesn't necessarily mean success for eHarmony's members. We are gaining ground quickly."
Mark Brooks: The holy grail of online dating = finding a truly compatible match (whatever your preferences might be). The three big psychological profiling based online dating players are eHarmony, True and PerfectMatch. I'll be profiling the PhD's behind these sites shortly. Yahoo, Match and FriendFinder offer optional profiling as well, but a minority of their users have taken the profiling tests.
iDate 2005 Photos
OPW — Jan 24 — The online personals industry signature conference was a grand success again this year. Industry execs from eHarmony, Cupid, Date, True, FriendFinder, Community Connect and local Miami mover and shaker WebDate rubbed shoulders with mid sized players such as MingleMatch and ChristianCafe.com and smaller players such as PlentyofFish, DateMyPet and MyeMatch. Periphary services companies such as LookBetterOnline and SafeDate, and advertisers such as MetricsDirect joined the tour de force. The convention enjoyed double the attendance of 2004 in it's plush new quarters at the Wyndham Resort Miami. Please post comments if you attended. Here are the photos from iDate 2005
TRUE Adds Online Profile Coaching
PRNewswire — Jan 5 — TRUE will offer all members personalized recommendations on how to successfully market themselves to potential dates by drafting the ultimate online personal profile. Additionally, for a limited time can receive the profile advice free, courtesy of TRUE.
Mark Brooks: Profile Doctor, e-cyrano, Look Better Online look out. Profile writing is being wrapped up into the online dating services.
Personality Tests – a Reliable Tool for Online Dating?
PRWEB — Jan 1 — The online dating industry is experiencing a new wave of growth by offering personality tests. Have you questioned the reliability of these tests? Many online personals tests are based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. The professionally administered test-retest reliability of MBTI is 0.75 (only 3 out of every 4 tests are reliable). Since matching involves tests from two people, retest reliability is 0.75 x 0.75 = 56%. Reliability of online self-assessment would be even lower, less than 50%. The test-retest reliability of Compatti.com’s compatibility assessment tool, which is based on biorhythms and astrology, is nearly 100%. PRWEB
Mark Brooks: I'll be writing an article on the top personality test based online personals sites for One 2 One magazine for their Valentines issue. eHarmony, Match, Tickle, True and PerfectMatch seem to be the category leaders.
Online Dating Liars
FALLS CHURCH NEWS PRESS — …She came across an older gentleman who claimed he had a Rolls Royce. The suitor shows up at her house in a rusty Ford Taurus. The woman asked, “What happened to the Rolls Royce.” “Look hon, you misunderstood me, I said I’ve got a car and it rolls.” Experiences such as this have led to a dramatic revenue slowdown this year for online dating services. I believe the main reason online dating has peaked is because people are tired of meeting liars and weirdoes. At least in a bar you can usually figure out if someone needs a shrink within five minutes. …There is only one group of people that isn’t desired by anybody – Liars. So, here is a New Year’s resolution that I think millions of people should consider: “I will not fib on the Internet.”
The full article was originally published at Falls Church News Press, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: Friends can vouch for their friends on Friendster by writing testimonials. This helps build trust – one of the reasons Friendster has been so popular. True.com uses Rapsheets to do background checks so at least women can be more assured they're not meeting a married man or ex-con.