ECommerce Times–10/11–To stay afloat, existing online dating players will have to enhance what they’re doing and dump a lot more dollars into new technologies and services, and that could affect their margins…The US market will expand 19% this year, to $473 million, according to Jupiter Research…32% to $623 million, over the following five years…"The big growth in the U.S. is over," says Nate Elliott, Jupiter…This September, the U.S. had 844 dating sites, up 11% from a year ago.
Internet Coming Back In Style
INVESTORS BUSINESS DAILY–So far, online dating is the leading paid content service, but the growth is leveling off…U.S. sales of online ads are expected to reach $16.1 billion in 2009, up from $2.1 billion in 1998; mainly paid search.
Las Vegas Business Press
LVBP–It's Just Lunch (founded '91) has 65 outlets around the world that match clients with dates through lunch or cocktails after work. Taylor opened the Las Vegas It's Just Lunch in March and has built a client base of more than 200 singles in 6 months. With it's one-year membership cost of $1,500 (16 dates), the company targets individuals between 30 and 45 years old…$75,000 average start-up cost…50%+ operating expenses is advertising; print and radio.
The full article was originally published at Las Vegas Business Press, but is no longer available.
Online Romance; Age No Bar
TIMES OF INDIA–…As Gilda Carle, psychotherapist, believes online dating gives seniors “something to live for, that they didn’t have before…In August, more than 16% of those active on the top five dating sites were 55+. Overall, the number of people active on top dating sites grew to 22.53 million in August from 22.28 million a year ago. 26% of singles aged 55+ indicated they were looking for a commitment or marriage, much lower than the 55% for ages 18-29 and 60% for ages 30-39. TIMES OF INDIA
Flirting Contests Get Singles Mingling
FOX NEWS–On Oct. 8, hundreds of people will participate in the Bay Area Flirting Championship (search). The objective: to collect more phone numbers from people in a five-minute period than anyone else in the room. The objective of the contests is to help singles overcome their fear of rejection and encourage them to take a chance. Run by Rich Gosse of MeetYourUltimateMatch FOX NEWS
Three Minutes With Craig Newmark
PCW: What are the most popular sections of Craigslist?
Newmark: Jobs, housing, for sale, and personals.
Cable Dating Service Could Be Positioned For National Rollout
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY–Comcast is preparing to launch national and local versions of its Dating on Demand service. Comcast is trying to blur the line between Internet-based services and digital cable. Comcast teamed with Hurrydate.com to create the service.
Pubs for the Single to Mingle
BANGALORE TIMES–OCT 05, 2004–Is a singles bar the answer for Bangalore? “Most certainly,” says MC Anjaan. “The most interesting people I have ever met, I met at a singles bar in Thailand. Today, people are forced to take up dance classes and foreign language courses in a bid to meet new like-minded people.”…”In the US they have interesting games at singles bars like speed-dating, where people meet several others for a few minutes each and proceed to date them if they hit it off.” TIMES OF INDIA
Lycos (and Matchmaker) Sold to Korean Company for $105 million
10/6–Daum Communications, a Korean Internet company has purchased Lycos Inc ~ $105 million. Includes the Lycos.com site as well as Lycos1 sites wired.com, tripod.com, angelfire.com, matchmaker.com, quote.com and hotbot.com. Spanish telecom and Internet company Terra bought Lycos in 2000 for $12.5 billion in stock.
The full article was originally published at Mass High Tech, but is no longer available.
Mixing Dating and Politics: First Dates are like First Debates
PRWEB–October 6, 2004 — Tips for how to mix politics and dating with 5 powerful body language tactics. Five success keys for sending out the right signals.