Online Personals Watch: News on the Dating Industry and Business

FriendFinder's Latest Scandal

VALLEYWAG -- Feb 26 -- A porn star draping boobs over an employee's head. Lapdances on the company dime. $50m in back taxes. These are just some of the charges Penthouse publisher FriendFinder Networks is facing from an ex-employee Natalie Cedeno. FriendFinder filed to go public last year. It desperately needs the $460m it hopes to raise in an IPO in order to pay down $420m in debt. If the company has legal problems and labor issues beyond what it disclosed in its SEC filings, its executives could face heavy penalties, and the IPO would likely be scotched. According to Cedeno, Various operated Adult FriendFinder for seven years without drawing a single sexual-harassment lawsuit from employees. FULL ARTICLE @ VALEYWAG

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Recession Hits Paid Sites Hard

PARADIGM SHIFT -- Feb 26 -- Rubicon ad network is reporting a 40% drop in Dating CPM’s. Now that Valentines day is over  I’ve seen massive swings in signups and paid sites are cutting back even more dramatically and payouts are going way down. In this last week Plentyoffish has been less than 1% way from having more market share than the #2 and #3 players combined in the US.  Plentyoffish hasn’t really grown much this month, we just haven’t lost traffic like many others. FULL ARTICLE @ PARADIGM SHIFT

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2dn Annual Gay Bachelor Contest

PRESS RELEASE -- Feb 26 -- myPartner.com kicks-off the 2009 Most Eligible Gay Bachelor in America Contest on March 1st, 2009. Anyone can nominate themselves or their favorite eligible gay men starting March 1st through April 30. myPartner.com will select a winning bachelor for each state and one from the nation's capital to be voted for online.  The five top online vote winners will be flown to San Diego for final judging on June 20th. FULL ARTICLE @ MYPARTNER.COM

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Four Reasons Why Online Dating Is Recession Proof

CNN -- Feb 25 -- One social activity that's NOT seeing a dip in participation is online dating. Here are four reasons why online dating is recession proof.

1. There's more fish in the pond
2. Narrow your options via e-mail, IM, and phone convos
3. Fit your financial lifestyle
4. You're that much closer to shared expenses
FULL ARTICLE @ CNN

Datopia Goes Social

PR WEB -- Feb 25 -- Revamped Datopia integrates social networking and web services, including text, video and e-mail chat.  Users can access Facebook, Twitter, AIM and Flickr in their Datopia profile and very soon be able to add Facebook and MySpace widgets, Youtube and iTunes feeds, and iPhone applications as well. FULL ARTICLE @ PR WEB

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This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.

WLD Nominated At The National Sales Awards

WLD BLOG -- Feb 26 -- Two partner managers from White Label Dating were nominated as finalists in two separate categories at the National Sales Awards that took place on Park Lane in London. Laura Cowell was a finalist in the category of “Account Manager of the Year” and Gary Taylor in the category of “Young Sales Professional of the Year”. FULL ARTICLE @ WLD BLOG

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No Single Way To Meet Your Significant Other

THE NEWS HERALD -- Feb 25 -- Ashton and Vanboxel met on PlentyofFish.com. Before they tried online dating, they found it pretty tough to meet other singles who shared their interests. There are other ways for singles to meet each other, said Lawrence Morrison, an event coordinator for Cupid.com. Along with speed dating, Cupid.com organizes singles events. "If nothing else, people are out there making a connection even if it's just a friendship." That's exactly what Ann DeMuth wanted to do when she started IndividuALLS, a Lake County-based singles club for people 50+ which does everything from hikes and picnics to dining out and theater. FULL ARTICLE @ THE NEWS HERALD

Mark Brooks: Singles events are a great way to meet people but are very high workload to organize. Match used to offer Matchlive.com but folded it in 2004. (Full Disclosure: POF is a client of Courtland Brooks, and I was VP of Cupid.com at the time they acquired PreDating.com, the speed-dating arm of Cupid)

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OnlineBootyCall.com Reaches 3 Million Users

BUSINESS WIRE -- Feb 24 -- From January 1st through Valentine’s Day weekend, OnlineBootyCall has experienced a 38% YOY growth. Since the site launched in 2003, more than 75m bootycall connections have been made. FULL ARTICLE @ ONLINE BOOTY CALL

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Deciding To Ditch A Successful Ad Campaign

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL -- Feb 23 -- eHarmony's successful five-year ad campaign was bringing in millions of users and was so well-recognized that "Saturday Night Live" parodied it. But eHamorny's CEO Mr. Waldorf worried the format – which featured several daters per ad talking about the site – might be too superficial. He wanted a way to focus more closely on individual couples. He considered new commercials that featured one couple per ad talking in-depth about their relationship. FULL ARTICLE @ THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

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WhiteLabelDating.com Appoints Head Of Marketing

PRESS RELEASE -- Feb 24 -- WhiteLabelDating.com (WLD) enables brands to create their own online dating sites and has appointed Rick Jones to the new position of marketing director and board member. Jones has 11 years online marketing experience and joins WLD from Greenbee.com, John Lewis' services arm. Since August 2008 WLD has increased it's traffic by 23.35% and in Jan '09 the revenue was 73.48% higher than in Aug '08 according to Ross Williams, Chairman and founder of WLD. FULL ARTICLE @ REAL WIRE

Mark Brooks: WLD business is going from strength to strength. They also just signed a deal with Independent Newspapers, the leading Irish newspaper group. (Full Disclosure: WLD is a client of Courtland Brooks)

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Chemistry.com Sponsors Lesbian Ad Network

ONLINE MEDIA DAILY -- Feb 24 -- Mark Elderkin, the founder/CEO of Gay Ad Network, is launching Lesbian Ad Network. Chemistry.com and Switzerland Tourism are on board as the vertical online ad network's inaugural partners. Lesbian Ad Network offers a unique platform for reaching the lesbian market across branded content sites and blogs, with custom editorial sponsorships, viral widget syndication and video advertising. FULL ARTICLE @ MEDIA POST

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Mobile Internet Predicted Up in '09, But Not Ads

RESEARCH BRIEF -- Feb 23 -- According to MEF's recently released report "Top Ten 2009 Mobile Entertainment trends" mobile advertising will not "take off." 2009 will be the year that mobile video really takes off. Nielsen estimates that 10.3m mobile phone subscribers, 5% of the cell phone population, access video via their phone each month. M:Metrics' most recent survey shows that just 7.5 million users watched video in a given month. FULL ARTICLE @ CENTER FOR MEDIA RESEARCH

This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.

Creating Online Dating Profiles

SAN DIEGO TRIBUNE -- Feb 20 -- Get help from a friend. Try talking over your answers with a trusted friend before you start typing. It will help you mull over what you want to say, and your answers will sound more conversational and natural. Avoid generalities. Don't write: "I enjoy the beach." Instead, be specific. "Be original and honest. "You might feel uncomfortable filling out these personal questions, but the upside is that you meet someone who meets your needs and what you're looking for," said Mark Books, editor of Online Personals Watch. "You're getting a lot out of the way right upfront." "Choose an attention-grabbing header", said Joe Tracy, publisher of onlinedatingmagazine.com. FULL ARTICLE @ SAN DIEGO TRIBUNE

IAC Shares Climb After Match.com Deal

RED HERRING -- Feb 20 -- Shares of Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp rallied Friday after the company announced plans to sell Match.com's European unit to a French online dating company. The shares climbed $.57 (3.9%) to $15.05. FULL ARTICLE @ RED HERRING

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Independent Digital Partners With WhiteLabelDating

PRES RELEASE -- Feb 20 -- Independent Digital, the digital arm of Independent Newspapers, together with WhiteLabelDating.com (WLD), provider of software and services that enable brands to create their own online dating sites, re-launched TheMeetingPoint.ie on WLD's platform. TheMeetingPoint.ie is the dating portal for Independent Newspapers Ireland whose titles include the Irish Independent, Sunday Independent, Evening Herald, HeraldAM, and Sunday World.

Mark Brooks: Ireland's long standing leader is AnotherFriend.com. MaybeFriends.com competes head-on in the Irish market also. (Full Disclosure: WLD is a client of Courtland Brooks)

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Your Questions For The CEOs Of Match And Meetic

OPW -- Feb 20 -- I've requested CEO interviews with Meetic's Marc Simoncini and the new Match CEO, Greg Blatt. What questions would you most like to be put to the CEOs of Meetic and Match? - Mark Brooks

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Old People Need Love Too

YOUBENTMYWOOKIE.COM -- Feb 20 -- Growing up, I never used to hear about STD seminars for the elderly at the local JCC. The fast growing demographic for STD infection is the elderly. Just because your grampa broke his hip, doesn't mean he he can't still bump and grind. A group of senior citizens have taken matters in to their own hands… no pun intended… and created a Claymation sex education film. FULL ARTICLE @ YOUBENTMYWOOKIE.COM

Mark Brooks: Seniors are getting online in greater numbers for online dating as well. 

No Recession On Love

PR WEB -- Feb 19 -- When members of the Internet Dating Executive Alliance (IDEA) met last month at the Miami Internet Dating Conference, the economy was a popular topic of discussion. Yet unlike the doom and gloom you might hear at conferences for any other industry, much of the talk centered on how numbers across the board are holding or are up for Internet dating sites. Hitwise reports that the Internet dating industry gained 12% more site visits in 2008 over 2007. The peak period for Internet dating sites is Nov through Valentine's Day each year. Hitwise reports that the top 100 dating sites gained 2% more site visits for the three month period of Nov '07 to Jan '08 vs. Nov '08 to Jan '09.  Free dating sites gained 55% more visits in the same period. 

●   Plentyoffish.com - U.S. traffic is up 33% since Aug
●   Match.com - 22% more paying memberships in Dec'08 vs. Dec'07
●   PerfectMatch.com - Q4 2008 revenues increased 42% over the prior quarter
●   WorldSingles.com - 10% increase in sales from Q4 '08 compared to Q4 '07
●   TogetherChristian.com - "paying sign-ups" increased 23.8% from Aug '08 to Jan '09
●   Meet Market Adventures - up more than 60% since Aug '08
●   WhiteLabelDating.com -  23.25% increase in site traffic from Aug '08 to present
●   EasyDate.biz - revenue is up 107% in '08.
●   SelectAlternatives.com - from Aug' 08 to Jan '08 3% increase in membership revenues

FULL ARTICLE @ PR WEB

IAC Appoints Greg Blatt CEO Of Match.com

PR NEWSWIRE -- Feb 19 -- Greg Blatt, currently IAC's Executive VP and General Counsel, has been named CEO of Match.com. Mr. Blatt succeeds Thomas Enraght-Moony, the previous CEO of Match.com who is leaving Match.com following today's announced sale of its European operations to Meetic. FULL ARTICLE @ CNN MONEY

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Meetic And Match.com Announce European Partnership

PR NEWSWIRE -- Feb 19 -- IAC and Meetic have entered into an agreement for Meetic to acquire Match.com's European operations from IAC. IAC will sell 100% of the stock of the entity that houses Match.com's European operations for an approximate 27% stake in Meetic, plus a 5m euro note. FULL ARTICLE @ IAC MEDIA ROOM

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