THE NEW YORK TIMES -- Oct 5 -- Several companies, such as Speeddate, WooMe, HurryDate, and SingleCity, have entered or are about to enter the world of online speed dating. Aside from the unflattering images and fleeting encounters (can you really get to know someone in 60 seconds?), the webcam chat sessions seem ripe for nudity and bad behavior. FULL ARTICLE @ THE NEW YORK TIMES
Mark Brooks: The problem these sites have is in gaining traction and getting to critical mass so they can serve up enough dates. Ad buys won't convert for them, and users won't rave about them in the same manner, and on the same scale as social networks. I love the idea though. Hurrydate has the best bet. They were bought by Spark Networks at the beginning of 2007 so they have an efficient source of traffic, and are essentially an add-on-sale for Sparks sites which include JDate and the MingleMatch network. Dating sites need to do better monetizing their users so speed dating and online speed dating are a good option. I helped Cupid buy Predating back in 2004.
