Online Personals Watch: News on the Dating Industry and Business

Ashley Madison Proves Cheating Is Big Business

MSN MONEY – Oct 31 - Ashley Madison's business isn't exactly popular among the main stream, but that isn't stopping the company from pulling in tens of millions of dollars a year in revenue. Noel Biderman, CEO of Ashley Madison, has grown the site to over 4.6 million users worldwide, despite often negative media coverage from the likes of CNN, The View, Dr. Phil and The Tyra Banks Show. Statistics show that more than 50% of men and women admit to cheating within a relationship at least once. Business could be bigger, but most advertising channels have been shut off for Ashley Madison. Noel claims, “If I could trade the ability to market freely -- the way eharmony or match.com does -- we would have $100 million [in annual revenues] with 20 million members.” FULL ARTICLE @ MSN MONEY

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Internet Dating Industry Weekly News Oct 29th, 2009 - 6 mins

This is the news for the week of October 23rd through October 29th, 2009. We hope you enjoy the new weekly news format. Please follow this link to enjoy the high-resolution version. Here is the news we covered for this week:

• Match.com 3Q Quarter Earnings
• EasyDate makes Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 list in the U.K.
• FriendFinder may look to sell some of its sites
• Latest European online dating rankings from comScore and Nielsen

iDate Miami: Last Chance To Save $525

OPW - Oct 30 - There are two days left to pick up your Internet Dating Conference ticket and save $525. Register here. The online price is $750 through Saturday, Oct 31st, then it's $1275 at the door. Attendance is looking strong. ~1000 people are expected. The Internet dating conference will be held at the Miami Beach Convention Center on January 27 - 29, 2010. See the agenda.

New Dating Site Offers Membership Only To Uggos

ESARCASM - Oct 26 - If your goblin-like appearance frequently frightens small children, AbsoluteUggos may be the dating site for you. Its creators say all the recent coverage surrounding BeautifulPeople.com inspired them to take action. The site will require all visitors to upload head shots in addition to a full-body nude photos. Its automated system will then scan the images as part of a preliminary screening procedure. Once passing the computerized inspection, prospective members’ photos will be posted for a BeautifulPeople.com-like member vote. Only those scoring a 1 or 2 (out of a 10-point attractiveness scale) will be accepted. FULL ARTICLE @ ESARCASM

WhiteLabelDating Founder Says: "Recession Doubled My Business"

REAL BUSINESS - Oct 29 - While many sectors have been cripped by the credit crisis, there is one industry that's booming off the back of the financial gloom: online dating. Ross Williams founded WhiteLabelDating in 2004 and business, he says, has never been better. Turnover this year doubled to L25m. And Williams' is expecting a further 100% growth this year. FULL ARTICLE @ REAL BUSINESS

See all posts on WhiteLabelDating.com

New Web Site For People Living Through A Divorce

WASHINGTON POST - Oct 29 - LousySpouse.com was founded this summer. The site was started to give support, resources and options to people who have just been knocked upside the head by their husband or wife. LousySpouse.com provides information on lawyers, private investigators, finances -- even movie suggestions to help people laugh off their louse. The Web site also offers some horror stories. FULL ARTICLE @ WASHINGTON POST

Dating Sites Offering No-strings Sex

TIMES ONLINE - Oct 29 - Forget Dinner is one of three dating sites — the others are called Marital Affair and Simply Adult — that describe themselves as for broad-minded adults wanting “fun” to meet. Almost all members are married and say that they are not getting enough excitement at home and feel that time is running out.  “If you go through your forties without having an affair or even getting close, that’s extraordinary,” says Susanna Abse, a clinical psychotherapist. 115,200 divorces were granted in the UK in 2008. Adulterous behaviour accounted for 29% of all cases. 24% of married men, asked if they would cheat on their partner if there were no possibility of being found out, said yes and only 9% of married women said that they would consider an affair. FULL ARTICLE @ TIMES ONLINE

See all posts on ForgetDinner

Is Monogamy Realistic?

CNN - Oct 28 - In the age of hookups, friends with benefits and online dating, and as human life expectancy grows, is it reasonable to expect people to stay monogamous until death do them part? Lipton and Barash, who have been married 32 years and are the co-authors of "Strange Bedfellows" and "The Myth of Monogamy," said serial monogamy may be more realistic,  a model in which people move from one committed long-term relationship to another and choose partners for different reasons at different stages of their life. More recently, polyamory, the practice of having romantic relationships with multiple people at the same time with the full knowledge and consent of all involved, has been getting a lot of attention. Researchers studying polyamory estimate there are more than half a million polyamorous families in the U.S. FULL ARTICLE @ CNN

Zhenai: Chinese Match.com

TECH CRUNCH - Oct 28 - China has a long history of matchmaking so just going online, finding someone you like and messaging them isn’t going to appeal to a lot of the population. The ones who are comfortable with doing that will just use social networks. For those who aren’t, there are already an established off-line alternative in some 200,000 very local, fragmented companies that specialize in matchmaking, charging between 2,000 and 60,000 RMB per six months.Chinese Web entrepreneur Song Li operates Digu.com, a Twitter-clone, and Zhenai.com an online dating site. Zhenai is free to join and free to search, with revenues provided by a 350-person strong call center of real-life matchmakers. Using the service costs 3,000 RMB ($430) for a six-month subscription. The site has 22M registered members (growing by 40,000 per day). Zhenai.com is profitable, generating ~$2M in revenues per month, growing at double-digit rates month-over-month. FULL ARTICLE @ TECH CRUNCH

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The Internet Is Changing The Way We're Mating

SELF MAGAZINE - November '09 - Searching for a sex buddy online is more than twice as popular among middle-aged women as with those 25 and younger. According to SELF's survey, women in their 30s and older are more likely to log on to a dating site such as Match.com than are women in their early 20s. And women older than 50 are most likely of all the age groups to jump into online dating. Thanks to the Internet, it's now possible to be unfaithful without leaving your desk or even talking on the phone. More than 30% of women ages 26 to 50 have flirted with a stranger online while in a relationship. FULL ARTICLE @ SELF MAGAZINE

Inaugural iDate Awards To Take Place In January 28th In Miami

PRESS RELEASE - Oct 28 - The first iDate Awards ceremony will be held the night of January 28, 2010 in Miami. The iDate Awards will highlight the people and companies who exemplify the best and most innovative aspects of the Internet dating and matchmaking industry. Nominations are now open to the public at iDateAwards.com. Both industry professionals and the general public are encouraged to nominate or vote for the best candidates in each of the award categories.

• Best Dating Site
• Best Dating Site Design
• Best Software Provider
• Best Mobile Dating Site
• Best Matchmaker
• Most Innovative Company
• Best New Technology
• Best Payment System
• Best Affiliate Program
• Best Marketing Campaign
• Best Up and Coming Dating Site

The awards will have the following schedule:

• Now to Nov. 15 -- Nominations Accepted
• Nov. 23 to Jan. 7 -- Voting
• Jan. 28, 2010 -- Awards ceremony and winners announced

The awards are organized by the Internet Dating Conference and Online Personals Watch.
FULL ARTICLE @ MARKETWIRE

Update On European Online Dating Rankings

OPW - Oct 28 - Nielsen has released their European unique audience online dating rankings for September.

• Free dating site PlentyofFish is now Nielsen’s top site in the U.K. after last month’s #1, Friends Reunited Dating, fell to #3.
• Casual dating site C-Date commandeered first place in Spain. FriendScout24 dropped out of Spain’s top three but rose to become #1 in Switzerland.
• In Germany, eDarling and be2 replaced Loomin.de and Bildkontakte.de at #2 and #3, respectively.

Still, Nielsen’s unique audience data indicates that interest in online dating appeared to decline somewhat across all of Europe during September. Click here for more of Nielsen’s latest European online dating rankings.

1,000% Revenue Growth Puts EasyDate In Deloitte Fast 50

PRESS RELEASE - Oct 27 - EasyDate has been honoured with a place on the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 list as one of the fifty fastest growing technology companies in the UK. With a 1062% growth in revenues from 2004 to 2008, EasyDate. has become one of the market leaders in its sector within the U.K. FULL ARTICLE @ SOURCEWIRE

Mark Brooks: EasyDate came in at no.30. Here's the list. 

See all posts on EasyDate

Online Dating Looks For Love On Social Media

SF CHRONICLE - Oct 27 - Some argue that social media such as Facebook or Twitter, which provide a more accurate snapshot of users' lives, can lead to better connections. Gelato, a new dating site, lets users create their profiles based on information from Twitter, Facebook, Hulu, Netflix and Last.fm. Thread, a site that opened in September, takes a jab at the awkwardness of navigating the Internet to meet strangers by helping Facebook users connect with the friends of their friends. Zoosk claims to be  a combination of social networks and online dating. Co-founder Shayan Zadeh said that the site's platform is the digital equivalent of going out to a bar with friends and meeting new people. Blackbox Republic, another newcomer for sex-positive people, describes itself as a social dating site. It provides an environment where people can create networks they can retain even after finding new love interests. In a way, its goal is to challenge the shop-and-go spirit of the classifieds system, Blackbox Republic CEO Sam Lawrence said. OnlineDatingPost.com editor Dave Evans said "You're always going to have these dominant players, but the interesting stuff is with the edge cases. These guys have created a sexier proposition." FULL ARTICLE @ SF CHRONICLE

See all posts on Gelato                 See all posts on Zoosk
See all posts on Thread.com         See all posts on Blackbox Republic

iDate To Take Place January 27-29, 2010 In Miami

NEWSWIRE - Oct 27 - The 7th annual Internet Dating Conference will be held at the Miami Beach Convention Center on January 27-29, 2010. The online dating industry's most recognized CEOs will discuss their strategies moving forward, which include market strategy, acquisitions and technology. The pre-event sessions have been planned, including an intense session on search, an introduction to the Online Dating Industry and an event for Matchmakers. A special closed door session for buyers and sellers of dating sites is planned to be on January 27 and the first Internet dating industry awards ceremony is planned for January 28, 2010. FULL ARTICLE @ NEWSWIRE

IAC Reports 3Q Profit But Ad Revenue Still Slips

AP - Oct 27 - IAC/InterActiveCorp, which runs Match.com, Ask.com and other Web sites, said that asset sales helped it profit in the third quarter Q3 while advertising revenue continued to slump. Revenue from IAC's Match unit, which includes Match.com, Chemistry.com and other dating sites, fell 13% to $81M. IAC attributed the drop to the absence of Match Europe, which was sold to a French company in June. Match's number of paid subscribers rose 5% to 1.4M. FULL ARTICLE @ ASSOCIATED PRESS

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See all posts on Chemistry.com

FriendFinder Networks Could Look To Sell Non-core Businesses

MERGER MARKET - Oct 26 - FriendFinder Networks, formerly known as Penthouse Media, filed for an IPO in December, anticipating $460m in proceeds to help pay off its debt. FriendFinder could look to sell off non-core pieces of its business that may be distracting to potential investors including GradFinder and Christian dating site BigChurch, online dating industry consultant Mark Brooks said. The company would likely keep its highly lucrative adult sites. Its adult social networking and live interactive video sites comprised 95% of the company’s revenue, as of six months ended 30 June 2008. FriendFinder’s international properties could also be spun out to a media company with more expertise in certain geographic markets, said Noel Biderman, CEO of Toronto-based Avid Life Media, the holding company of dating sites like HotOrNot and Ashley Madison. He pointed to IAC-owned Match which took a 27% stake in European dating operator Meetic in February, in exchange for Match’s European operations, as an industry example of this. In the case of FriendFinder, its Latino dating site Amigos has a strong membership base, and could be sold to an acquirer that can better grow and monetize the brand, Brooks noted. FriendFinder’s sites may fetch 7x to 8x EBITDA, Biderman said, using Match’s USD 80m acquisition of People Media in July as a comparable transaction. FULL ARTICLE @ OPW

Mark Brooks: FriendFinder's successful IPO and continued strong performance is critical for the reputation of the internet dating industry. FriendFinder could indeed look to sell its non-core businesses. Here's what I told the reporter..."GradFinder is a significant property that could be developed out to compete with Classmates.com.  ...BigChurch is a misfit community for them. They have been chastised by the Christian community for running the site. It should really be sold. Amigos has lots of traffic, is a great name, but South America still doesn't monetize anywhere near as well as the rest of the world.  So its a longer term play for a potential acquirer, but the future is pretty clear, it will eventually make good money. FriendFinder needs to have money in the bank, and make good money quickly, so I think these communities would be most suitable for selling."

See all posts on FriendFinder           See all posts on Match.com
See all posts on BigChurch              See all posts on Meetic
See all posts on HotorNot                See all posts on Amigos
See all posts on AshleyMadison       See all posts on People Media

This post also appears at the iDate Forums.

Flirtomatic Launches In U.S.

BUSINESS WIRE - Oct 26 - Flirtomatic will now be available to all MetroPCS customers to meet, flirt, and have fun online. Customers use Flirtomatic by purchasing FlirtPoints and spending them by promoting themselves, finding out who has rated them, and by sending virtual gifts. With over 1.5M registered users, Flirtomatic is a market leader with its service available in the U.K., Germany and Australia. FULL ARTICLE @ REUTERS

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BeautifulPeople.com Goes Global

PRESS RELEASE - Oct 26 - BeautifulPeople.com, the elite dating site for beautiful people, goes live across the globe. BeautifulPeople.com will launch in the UK, US, Denmark, Japan, Spain, Italy, Canada and Australia. New territories that went live this morning include France, Germany, India, Hong Kong, Russia, China and every remaining Australasian, Asian, South American, and European territory. Everyone is welcome to apply to join BeautifulPeople.com but there's only a 20% approval rate. Potential members apply with a photo and a brief profile. Over 48 hours, existing members of the opposite sex vote whether or not to admit them in to their exclusive community. FULL ARTICLE @ SOA WORLD MAGAZINE

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A Man Gets Creative In His Quest For Love

FOX 5 - Oct 15 - Tim Goggin, a 32 year old eligible bachelor from San Diego, created a 5-minute infomercial that introduces him to single women in San Diego. See TimWow.com. Women can sign up for their free date with Goggin. FULL ARTICLE @ FOX 5

Mark Brooks: Tim proves the case that there's a need for date coaching.  Nice guy, but showing off his DVD collection may not be the savviest thing to do on a pre-first-date.