BLOOMBERG — Net income rose to $89.5 million from $18.7 million a year earlier. Revenue declined 6.5% to $1.51 billion from $1.61 billion. …IAC named Jim Safka, a former AT&T Wireless Services executive, as CEO of Match.com in September replacing Tim Sullivan.
The full article was originally published at Bloomberg, but is no longer available.
HERALD TRIBUNE — …Medvedeva is one of scores, perhaps hundreds, of fictional characters in a resurgent Internet hustle that has become a Russian boom industry this year. Using fake names, forged visas and snapshots of young Russian women, a new crop of online swindlers is luring Western victims into confidence games. Each is an escalating flirtation between an unsuspecting man and a Russian grifter masquerading as a young woman. It typically ends when the victim wires money to Russia to pay for visas and airfare for a consummation of the affair. Then the beloved disappears.
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – When Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp reported less-than-stellar quarterly earnings Aug. 3, the stock dropped almost 16%. It has continued to languish ever since, and some on Wall Street don’t have much hope of a recovery anytime soon as the company’s latest earnings release looms Wednesday. IAC’s assets include cable home shopping network HSN, the Entertainment Book of coupons and a hodgepodge of Internet holdings, including Citysearch, Evite and Match.com.
PRWEB–…Why have communities like RYZE, Friendster, and popular Blogging sites have yet to come up with a solid revenue model…“most don’t understand the meaning of the word community. A community has to have either a shared knowledge or set of shared values”. Consumers have piled in sites like Friendster and RYZE but quickly quit using the them as the novelty wears off. He claims they will have to target a particular group within their community and begin servicing their needs specifically- changing dramatically from what they are today. PRWEB
METROACTIVE–SuicideGirls reads like a hybrid of punk pinup, Friendster and Vice magazine. “The members like to hook up with each other in person, whether it’s going to a show or to parties or just hanging out at a coffee shop. We have had quite a few couples meet on the site who are now dating very seriously.” …It has found press in the pages of Spin, Playboy and The New Yorker. Suicide Girls have shown up in music videos and appeared on MTV with Courtney Love. …Suicide Girls parties in Portland and New York have attracted frenzied crowds. SILICON VALLEY METRO
BUSINESS WIRE –Oct 26 — eHarmony today introduced a CD series for singles, Finding the Love of your Life. eHarmony developed the product as a means to self-awareness and preparation for healthy, long-term relationships. 12 CDs each contain 60 minutes of guidance and insight on the most important areas of mate selection, with accompanying online self-assessments that help to pinpoint strengths, weaknesses and attractiveness to the opposite sex.
OMAHA WORLD-HERALD–As online dating rapidly infuses the singles scene, many personal ads have gone from ho-hum and cliche-filled to catchy and witty. Says David Evans of ProfileDoctor.com,"If you sound like every other profile, and don't make an effort to stand out, people are much more likely to pass right over you. …For those really brave and open souls, there's always Esquire's Brutally Honest Personals.
The full article was originally published at Omaha.com, but is no longer available.
LONDON FREE PRESS–Despite the 50% divorce rate in North America, Campbell believes marriage will remain popular. "The fact is the majority of people who get married, stay married for a long time. And some stay married forever." Marriage is directly linked to health and happiness. Preliminary research shows people who are married tend, overall, to be happier in life and have better health outcomes than those who have never wed. However, people who have never been married tend to be happier than those who have married and divorced. Campbell sees speed-dating, in particular, as an attractive alternative for those who have felt the sting of rejection. LONDON FREE PRESS
SEATTLE TIMES–…There are two strategies now in play. The first: Some startups have decided social networking will never make any money, but they’ll try to make money off other services instead, such as job or apartment listings. Mountain View, Calif.’s LinkedIn is one.
The second — used by dozens of companies, including Friendster, MySpace and Multiply — is to draw so many users that advertisers will pay to be on the Web site. SEATTLE TIMES
LEDGER-ENQUIRER–…True.com (and I think this is a matter of great concern) posts a disclaimer on its site: Not all states or jurisdictions are covered. If this doesn’t send up red flags, I’m not sure what would. So how extensive can the company’s background checks be, if all states and jurisdictions are not in the database? People who are serious about background checks, may want to check with local police departments.