Category: Uncategorized

RED HERRING — Jan 12 — The money came from Sevin Rosen Funds and Rho Capital Partners. Verified Person has now raised a total of $14.5 million since it was founded two and a half years ago.  Tal Moise seeded the New York-based company alongside John Scully, former CEO of Apple Computer and Pepsi and founded Verified Person to help restore confidence in Internet transactions. He wanted to develop a way for people to prove they were who they said they were by pointing to a third party. Just as VeriSign authenticates web sites, Mr. Moise thought he might be able to authenticate people.  Verified Person found its first customer in the U.S. Department of Transportation. The department needed a way to ensure it wasn’t hiring criminals to handle baggage inside airports. The company  sells a service called VP ID, which will ensure that someone you meet on the Internet doesn’t have a history of violence. It checks the data volunteered on a dating site against its own records and gives an age, marital status, and safety synopsis.

Mark Brooks: I list providers of background checks on the OPW side bar. Trufina is also worth a look in. 

Jan 21 — Links to job postings at Community Connect, Cupid, Friendfinder, Friendster, Hi5, Lavalife, Match, Mate1, MySpace, PerfectMatch, PlanetOut/Gay, Shaadi, Spark Networks, Webdate, are now listed under INDUSTRY JOBS on Online Personals Watch.  See lower left.  Email mark@onlinepersonalswatch.com to add your company or advise me of a better link.  – Mark Brooks

MSNBC — Jan 18 — If MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe has his way, the quirky social networking site he co-founded two years ago will hold tight to its homegrown roots, even though it now boasts more unique users than Google or AOL and has a new owner at its helm.  The company’s recent acquisition by News Corp., one of the most powerful news conglomerates on the planet, has some of the site’s 43 million members nervous that their online home might become subject to the rules of an overbearing parent.  "The secret to our success is our one-to-one relationship with our users," the 39-year-old DeWolfe says about the portal he created with co-founder Tom Anderson. DeWolfe is a Portland, Oregon native with an MBA from the University of Southern California.  "My passion is the consumer marketing side of things," he says, crediting longtime friend Anderson with giving the site its creative voice. MySpace’s Santa Monica-based office has grown from fewer than 10 employees to 200.  FULL ARTICLE @ MSNBC

Mark Brooks: Facebook is also enjoying similar success.  What of Friendster? Too little too late, or is the social networking pioneer going to rise from the ashes somehow.  Myspace has stolen it’s thunder.  I live in hope that Friendster can find it’s way again.  Alexa Chart

Jan 16 — The Sovereign Hotel is now sold out of rooms as well. iDate is recommending the Traymore Hotel at $119/night – its 1.25 miles from the event (3 mins by cab) Tel # of the hotel is 305 534 7111

YAHOO NEWS — Jan 11 — Murdoch’s been talking about turning MySpace into a newfangled kind of Internet portal, an online communications hub, incorporating instant messaging, voice communication, and free video downloads. MySpace has amassed 47 million users since its inception in January 2004, and is adding 1 million users each week.

WEB PRO NEWS — Jan 11 — PaidContent has reported that Friendster, which once fancied itself a $200 million outfit, can’t even get a bite on a $5 million price tag. The report claimed Viacom took a glance at Friendster and decided that $5 million was far too much to pay.  It costs more than that a year to operate.

Mark Brooks: $5 million a year to run Friendster?  Why?  Surely the code isn’t that bloated.

PR WEB — Jan 10 — In an attempt to establish a record for the greatest number of eligible bachelors posted on a single web-page, the site http://www.10000bachelors.com was recently launched by David Pierpoint, founder and director of The Relationship Training Center. Each bachelor pays $59 towards The Relationship Training Center and charity.  http://www.10000bachelorettes.com will be launched later this week.  It is expected that a new season of ABC's “The Bachelor” will create a renewed interest in looking online for eligible singles, and both sites are designed to help make that process easier and more interesting. 

Jan 11 — OPW welcomes comments from industry execs, users, press, analysts and anyone who cares to comment with an informed opinion.  OPW is a safe place for executives in the industry to post comments.  As such, the following kinds of comments will be removed from OPW. 

1. SPAM; comments that push a link but don’t add to the comment thread
2. ANONYMOUS; comments that are anonymous (please add your signature)
3. DEROGATORY; baseless comments that are derogatory towards the industry and/or execs

OPW is CNN for the online dating industry.  I welcome controversy and debate around issues in the industry.  Execs, I recommend you review the comments and answer issues in detail.  The press reads OPW.  The target audience for OPW is industry execs, employees and the press. 

Let me know your thoughts and questions at mark@onlinepersonalswatch.com.

Jan 10 — The Wyndham hotel is sold out of hotel rooms for the internet dating convention on Feb 2-3.  The second official hotel is the Sovereign Hotel at a rate of $139 per night (plus 13% tax). They are 5 blocks (1 minute drive or 10 minute walk) from the Wyndham. You can contact the hotel at: Sovereign Hotel, 4833 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach FL 33140, 305-531-3232.  Mention "Internet Dating Conference Group Rate" of $139. 

Mark Brooks: The focus of this years conference is on improving retention, conversion and new products for online personals companies.  I’ll be presenting the news highlights for the year, as the keynote.  Dr John Gray (Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus) will be speaking about educating and retaining users.  Check out this years top notch line up of speakers

ASSOCIATED PRESS — Jan 9 –  The U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene in a dispute between the University of Texas and a LonghornSingles.com after it upset that the school blocked thousands of unsolicited e-mails.  The high court let stand a federal appeals court's ruling that UT did not violate the constitutional rights of White Buffalo Ventures when it blocked 59,000 e-mails in 2003 despite LonghornSingles.com complying with CAN-SPAM after it legally obtained the addresses from the university.