Online Personals Watch: News on the Dating Industry and Business

Mail.ru Buys Into Mamba.ru

RBC -- Aug 29 -- Mail.ru, the Russian email service provider and Internet portal, has acquired a 30% stake in the Russian dating site Mamba.ru from the Finam Investment Company. Market participants estimate the value of the deal at $15m. According to experts' opinion, however, Mamba.ru is running the risk of losing its other major partner Rambler, which provides the dating service with 25 to 30% of its users. The client base of Mamba.ru currently amounts to 9.8m people, according to the company's site, and its revenue topped RUB 300m (approx. USD 12.22m). FULL ARTICLE @ RBC

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WhiteLabelDating.com On The Track

WLD BLOG -- Aug 28 -- If you have watched our Partner Testimonial Video, you will see that we have a fantastic relationship with our partners, so, in celebration of this and everyone’s recent success as business is booming, we decided it was about time for a little get together. So off we went to Northampton’s International Raceway, thrashing stock cars around a racetrack! The day included racing Formula 2 stock cars, off-road Capri bangers and the Dell Boy challenge in Reliant Robins. FULL ARTICLE @ WLD BLOG

Mark Brooks: Nothing is more compelling than testimonials, especially in video format. Besides eHarmony, I've yet to see a dating site offer up testimonials in video format. PlentyofFish.com has the most text testimonials of any dating site here, followed by ChristianCafe.com. Match has a great testimonials section as well. Courtland Brooks is responsible for MatchmakerSuccess.com for The Right One and Together Dating. (Disclosure: WLD, PlentyofFish and The Right One & Together Dating are clients of Courtland Brooks.

Tsavo, CEO Mike Jones Interview

Social Networking Now Show #2 includes interviews with the CEO of Skout, Tsavo and Turnto Networks. Listen at WebmasterRadio.fm  or  Download Radio Show

OPW INTERVIEW -- Aug 30 -- Mike Jones is now an advisor to Userplane and AOL and is CEO of Tsavo. What is this mysterious Tsavo? Here's my interview with Mike. - Mark Brooks

What's your role at Tsavo and AOL now?
With AOL I function as a Strategic Advisor, facilitating the transition to Sam Wick for daily management of the Userplane business. The majority of my time operationally is setting up Tsavo and finalizing the transition with some of our initial, undisclosed acquisitions.

Tell us more about Tsavo.
Tsavo is focused on building technology facilitating highly-personal and relevant experiences with online content. I would like to see a world where, instead of browsing through 30,000 blog posts a day, there is a system that actively understands and learns my media consumption behavior.

What kind of media are you particularly going to be looking at and serving up to users?
Our current focus is on a wide-reaching publishing network with niche vertical focus. Overall we are viewing it from the standpoint that Tsavo will be a multi URL network across a whole series of verticals.

Is there an official launch date?
No there’s not. Since we’re starting off with a few acquisitions, we have active staff and revenue today; my CTO Nate Thelen and his lead engineer Gabe Harriman and our head of product Mike Macaadan focus primarily on building the relevancy sub-structure. You will begin seeing our acquisition announcements in the next few months, and the relevancy technology begin surfacing in the next six months and beyond.

What kinds of sites and services are you looking to acquire at this stage?
We’re looking for content sites that have strong editorial and original content. We’re looking for a few back-end technologies that relate the semantic web and content aggregation.

Are dating sites within your realm of interest?
Probably not. I don’t believe it will fit initially with our focus on media & relevance. I do have interest and am researching other types of subscription services.

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Boomers Spend More Money

RESEARCH BRIEF -- Aug 29 -- According to TV Land's "Generation BUY: A Close Look at the Boomer Consumer" study, people 40-59 spend more than three times the amount of money per month on spouses ($514) than adults under 40 ($169). With so many purchase decisions to make for the household, these buyers are an important marketing sector even when they are not the prime target. The study also found that 40 and 50-somethings are more open to new brands. FULL ARTICLE @ CENTER FOR MEDIA RESEARCH

Randodate's Free SpeedDating Application

NEWS TIP -- Aug 30 -- Randodate is a new free white label dating application which can be integrated into your existing platform.

Key Features For Webmasters
- 100% free; no usage limits- Added revenue with 50% ad inventory
- Simple integration with your site
- No overhead or bandwidth charges
- Helps drive new traffic to your site
- Ability to manage "post match" actions

Key Features For Users
- Seamless login, no input required
- Secure, safe and fun way to meet new people
- No download or installation required
- Video, voice and text based dating options

Interview With ButterfliesAgain Test Creator, Dr. Block

Note: Interviewed by Steve Geschwer, Psy.D.— Psychologist.

NEWS TIP -- Aug 29 -- Q: Which other tests do you consider as competition?
JB: Tests developed by Dr. Pepper Schwartz and Dr. Helen Fisher.

Q: Why are Drs. Schwartz and Fisher's tests special?
JB: For starters, both are bright and savvy. Dr. Schwartz, (Perfect Match) is a sociologist and Dr. Fisher (Chemistry) is an anthropologist. I am making a point of this because I am the ONLY clinician.

Q: Why is this important?
JB: Because for the past 30+ years as a practicing psychologist specializing in love and sexuality, I have been in the trenches, working with couples toward the goal of Lasting Love. The countless intimate hours I've spent over those years have been incomparably valuable in understanding the very heart and meaning of lasting love.

Q: Why do you believe this gives you an advantage in creating ButterfliesAgain?
JB: Drs. Fisher and Schwartz are researchers. I am sitting with struggling couples where the truth about love is constantly revealed. I read about couples endlessly. I merge newfound knowledge with my observations in creating software such as Butterflies. My perspective is strictly psychological. Also I believe that the Fisher and Schwartz' tests are based on attraction. I acknowledge the importance of attraction, but I stress having personality factors that fit well together as being the real key.

Q: What else is there that makes your test superior to your two nearest competitors?
JB: 1. My software is more engaging for the I-dating site subscribers, 2. It does not require a long time to complete, 3. The subscribers will relate to the test.

Gayness Is A Sexual Orientation, Not A Political One

LA TIMES -- Aug 28 -- Manhunt.net is one of the most popular gay websites in the world, with 1m registered members in the U.S. alone and 400,000 unique visitors a month. As its name implies, it's a site where many gay men go to find casual sexual encounters.Two weeks ago, news emerged that Jonathan Crutchley, the co-founder of  Manhunt.net, had contributed $2,300 to the presidential campaign of John McCain. Uproar ensued. "I believe McCain will be a better commander in chief than Obama, who also opposes gay marriage," Crutchley wrote on a website that covers the online personal ad industry. That explanation might not please every gay activist, but  there are gay people of all races, income levels, occupations, body types and, yes, political beliefs. FULL ARTICLE @ LA TIMES

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SpeedDate.com Secures $6 Million

PRESS RELEASE -- Aug 28 -- SpeedDate.com, the online speed dating service, has secured $6m in Series B funding from Menlo Ventures. SpeedDate will use this funding to further grow its user base, expand operations, and enhance SpeedDate.com's functionality. The site launched in October '07. SpeedDate.com allows singles to meet each other through 3-minute online speed dates using webcams, audio, and instant messaging.

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Shaadi Partners With Vodafone

REUTERS -- Aug 28 -- Online matchmaking services in India have announced tie-ups with telecom service providers, enabling subscribers to view profiles of eligible partners on their mobile phones. Shaadi.com partners with Vodafone and Bharatmatrimony.com with Nokia. In a country with nearly 300m cellphone users, but where only 11m people have access to the Internet, taking matchmaking directly to customers' fingertips makes sense. FULL ARTICLE @ REUTERS

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Engage.com's New Facebook App

ENGAGE BLOG -- Aug 28 -- Engage.com, the introduction platform, launched a new application on Facebook called AwesomeIntros. It's a fun game that relies on your intuition to introduce people to a person they've never met before. You just vote on the person you think Engage should introduce to the guy or girl in the poll. FULL ARTICLE @ ENGAGE BLOG

Mark Brooks: Engage has also jazzed up the site with a new design and logo. What do you think of the new design compared to the old one? Your comments please...

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YuppieDating And DevilsDating Launched

WLD BLOG -- Aug 26 -- WhiteLabelDating.com announced the launch of YuppieDating.co.uk and DevilsDating.co.uk. YuppieDating.co.uk is aimed at young professionals and is supported built on the WLD general database, whereas DevilsDating.co.uk is positioned to target casual daters. FULLL ARTICLE @ WLD BLOG

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Adryenn Ashley, Book Author - OPW Interview

OPW INTERVIEW -- Aug 27 -- What are you doing to add content to your dating site? Here’s an interesting book/author for you to consider talking to. Adryenn Ashley is author of “Every Single Girl’s Guide to Her Future Husband’s Last Divorce”.

Adryenn, what inspired you to write the book?
I’m like a lot of future second wives. I postponed getting married until I found the right man, but it took a lot longer then I anticipated. By the time I got married, I had a house, retirement and investment assets. I had a lot of my own net worth; I wasn’t marrying into it. So I did a prenup, but I didn’t know everything that needed to be included, and about a year and a half into it, we got into some family law issues with his ex-wife, and I realized that I was wholly and totally unprepared financially for being a second wife. I didn’t protect myself as well as I could have. I accidentally did almost everything right, but had I really known what I was in for, I probably would have done more.

Why do you think people get divorced?
Seventy-five percent of all marriages break down because of financial stress. This leads to the communication breakdown, which then leads to the lack of sex and affairs.

What red flags should a woman look for in a potential (but divorced) partner?
The first thing I would tell any woman who is thinking about marrying a divorced man: Rule number 1: Read the divorce decree. Make sure you know what’s in it; and that it’s actually signed. That happened to a friend of mine. He had to cancel his wedding because he wasn’t actually divorced. It had been ten years but the judge had never signed the papers. If you’re thinking about living together, definitely pull your credit reports. Start having those financial discussions. “I see you have 40 credit cards, they’re all paid off with a zero balance. But why 40?“

Don’t ever think of a prenup as “I’m protecting myself against my future spouse.” Think of it as “I’m protecting myself for my future spouse.” That’s the whole point. As a very litigious society, we have 92 million lawsuits every year and 98% of them are settled out of court. Only 2% go to trial because people know they can sue you, and your insurance company would rather settle out of court. Bottom line, you want to protect your assets and your privacy.

If you could wave your magic wand, what would you do to improve the world’s divorce rate?
I am trying to get everyone to think of a martial partnership agreement as the rock-solid foundation of their marriage. It sets you up financially, emotionally, it makes sure that your hopes and dreams are aligned. People do grow apart, but the last thing you want is to find out ten years into your marriage that you’re the ‘pay the house off’ type and your partner is the ‘leverage the house, mortgage it to the hilt and invest in higher returning assets’ type.

What is your key advice to women in the book?
Get educated. We tend to put blinders on top of rose-colored glasses. If you look at religious marriage counseling, a four-hour marriage class reduces your divorce risk from 50% to 20%. Those four hours are all about asking those difficult conversation questions, which are key. If you don’t want to have a prenup, don’t have one, but do the work anyway. The work is what is going to get you that low divorce rate, because if you do what I tell you to do in my 40 hour marriage planning class, your chance of divorce drops to about 4% instead of 50%, and down from 70% for a second marriage. I teach this class once a year, and I’ll soon certify others to lead classes throughout the country, but you can do the work yourself by following the steps in the book.

How can men protect themselves from divorce?
Right now, there’s a marriage strike going on. A lot of men are not getting married. They see an outrageous court order of $40,000 for Kimora Lee Simmons children (who makes plenty of money on her own). Why $40,000? Do their children need that kind of lifestyle? How much does it cost to feed a child?

Or let’s say your wife has an affair and gets pregnant. In most states, you’re automatically the legal father regardless of whether or not you’re the biological father. There are so many reasons for men not to get married that there’s every reason for them to do this marital partnership agreement work; to really get to know the person they’re marrying, to have these agreements up front.

According to the Red Cross, 23% of babies born into marriage, just by blood typing alone, could not possibly be the husband’s child. That’s almost 1 in 4. If you take into account the report from the Association of Blood Banks, of the DNA challenges in paternity establishment for unmarried couples, over 30% of the people who said “That’s my baby’s daddy” were wrong.

Bottom line, the best insurance you can give yourself and your marriage is the gift of communication. Make sure you talk regularly, and that big decisions are shared equally. The real secret is that making sure you are financially compatible is the best indicator of whether or not you’ll make it to your 50 year wedding anniversary!

WhiteLabelDating.com By The Numbers

OPW -- Aug 27 -- WhiteLabelDating.com continues its growth streak with a $20m run rate and 15% growth each month. According to WLD's co-founder, Ross Williams, the monthly revenue has quadrupled since September 2007 and is expecting to hit $2m/month by December 2008. WhiteLabelDating.com is a UK-based software company that enables partners to set up their own branded, online dating sites. Products offerings that are in the works include video profiles, video chat and online speed dating. (Disclosure: WLD is a client of Courtland Brooks and kindly sponsors OPW)

See all posts on WhiteLabelDating

NYC's New Dating Service

PRESS RELEASE -- Aug 26 -- OnSpeedDating.com is a new dating site ideal for busy New Yorkers.  OnSpeedDating.com is a new breed of speed dating where the events are geared more towards interests, backgrounds and/or preferences. Some up-coming OnSpeedDating.com events include speed dating for busy executives, volleyball players, gay men, and Wall Street traders. FULL ARTICLE @ 24-7 PRESS RELEASE

AnotherFriend Adds Virtual Dating, OmniDate

PR WEB -- Aug 25 -- Members of AnotherFriend, one of Ireland's premier dating sites, can now enjoy getting to know each other in a virtual café before meeting in person. OmniDate's plug and play application transforms traditional online chats and emails into interactive virtual dates. Consumers use personalized 3D avatars to interact with each other. "Virtual dates help users really get to know each other and weed out people who are not a good match with minimum emotional and physical investment upfront." explains Ravit Abelman, co-founder of OmniDate. FULL ARTICLE @ PR WEB

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PURRsonals.com For Single Cat Lovers

NEWS TIP -- Aug 25 -- PURRsonals.com is an SNS and a matchmaking site dedicated to finicky cat lovers. Membership is free and cat lovers can create a profile, post messages, videos and photographs, chat through video and audio, post to forums and blogs, read Kitty Literate's Blog, and keep up with current news items at Cat News.

Matchmakers Conference Next Month

OPW -- Aug 25 -- The 2nd annual Matchmakers Conference is happening on September 12-13, 2008 in New Jersey with an optional Sunday matchmaker training session. The conference suits prospective matchmakers, current professional matchmakers and those interested in learning more about the matchmaking business. I'm doing the keynote session "State of the Dating & Matchmaking Industry. Paul Falzone and Terry Fitzpatrick from The Right One/Together Dating, Julie Paiva from Table For Six, John Galloway from Kelleher & Associates, Julie Ferman from Cupid's Coach and many others will be presenting. See the agenda. - Mark Brooks

Viral Marketing?

OPW -- Aug 23 -- What's a good viral campaign look like? Take a look at this one by Office Max. The restaurant video is the best one I think. Completely unlreated to dating but inspirational nonetheless. Your comments please. - Mark Brooks

SelectAlternatives, CEO Andy Sutcliffe Interview

OPW INTERVIEW -- Aug 23 -- You’ve heard of People2People. Have you heard of Select Alternatives? They also work with newspapers and offer them dating sites. Here’s the founders story. - Mark Brooks

What is the founding story of Select Alternatives?
Back in 1988 I was working for the Boston Phoenix, which is a weekly alternative newspaper in Massachusetts. I helped to develop the first 900 telephone response personal system that we were then able to leverage into a $100 million company, by offering very local personal services to newspapers in the US and Europe.

With the advent of the internet, the 900-personals business started a very precipitous decline. As I saw the major players in the internet dating space emerge, I thought there was still a great opportunity for people to meet people based on their psychographic interests. They already had an affinity for local alternative newsweekly and I thought we could create the next generation online dating and personal product by being hyper local.

So the basis of Select Alternatives is that it is a series of local sites (currently 27 local sites), each one engineered specifically for the demographics and psychographics of a particular alternative newsweekly or newspaper’s readership.

What is your favorite partner site?
My favorite is a newspaper in Seattle, Washington called The Stranger. It’s a very hip newspaper and has done extraordinarily well in transforming their readership from strictly print to an online readership. They call their personals site “Lovelab”.

What is the proposition to a newspaper? What cut do they take and how does it work for a newspaper?
Typically, there is an initial licensing fee. Newspapers then receive 50% of the revenue from memberships and 100% of local advertising that they sell onto the sites.

What do you charge for membership?
One of the things that really differentiates our sites is that we welcome users to surf throughout the site instead of putting up a “join now” barrier. That’s why we average over 16 pages per visit and we convert 35% of registrants to paid membership. We let people create a profile totally free and if somebody contacts them it’s totally free to respond. However, if they wish to initiate contact we then ask them to buy a membership. The prices vary because it can be determined by each individual newspaper. But typically the membership is $10 for 7 days, $20 for 30 days or $40 for 90 days.

Another way at looking at membership revenue and comparing it to advertising revenue is to divide the membership revenue into the total page views, divided by 1,000, in order to arrive at an average CPM. We average over a $7.50 CPM, with some sites as high as a $12 CPM.

What do the newspapers do in terms of promotion?
The personals link is on the main navigation of the newspapers’ home page. Secondly, on that home page we always put out a teaser ad that has a photo of an actual local member with a direct link into their profile and into the site itself. So those are the basics in terms of standard promotion. Different papers then create different programs. For example, The Stranger came up with a marvelous way of linking their readers to their advertisers by creating “Friends With Benefits card”. The Stranger contacted their local advertisers – coffee shops, restaurants, spas, etc. and said they were going to drive traffic to their establishment in exchange for a discount for their members.

How would you say you compete with the likes of a Match.com?
What differentiates our product from those big national players is that it is strictly local. Match.com is the “Wal-Mart” of dating. They have a gazillion products at a low price but if you’re looking for that particular person and you’re willing to pay a little more for quality, you’ll go local.

Finally what are your plans for 2008 through 2009? Are there any particular business development plans you would like to mention?
Clearly this model has worked in the U.S. This year I’m offering the product in Canada and I am looking for partners around the world – especially in Europe – who would like to represent the product to publications in different countries.

SocialMedian OPW News Channel

OPW -- Aug 23 -- I thought I'd give SocialMedian.com's news search a shot. Nice site and service, but the news tracking kinda sucks for the dating industry. Its great for the social networking industry however.  No wonder OPW has a following.  We not only find on-topic news be we bite-size it so you get the most useful bits. ;-)  Anyway, here's the link for the two channels I set up so you can follow them if you so desire, or even better, help me refine it so its somewhat useful. Online Personals Watch Social Median News Channel and Social Networking Watch Social Median News Channel. - Mark Brooks