Online Personals Watch: News on the Dating Industry and Business

Changing The Game

THEAGE.COM.AU - Feb 12 - A 2010 Nielsen random survey of 2K Australians found a quarter had tried online dating, of which 16% had formed long-term relationships as a result. One technology that has dramatically altered the playing field is Grindr, the mobile app that employs GPS tracking to allow gay men to check out other users in the area (a version for straight users, Blendr, recently entered the market). Grindr is so popular that Melbourne comic Nath Valvo created a show around it for this year's Midsumma festival and sold out every performance. The comedian says he knows men who wouldn't have been able to come out if they hadn't had access to the relative safety of chat rooms and other internet tools, and it's a case that extends beyond the gay community. Online dating can provide a sense of empowerment in that it can offer people a high level of control in how they manage their interactions and self-presentation.

See full article at TheAge.com.au

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Plentyoffish.com: Most Visited Mobile Dating App

PR NEWSWIRE - Feb 7 - Plentyoffish.com (POF.com), the world’s largest dating site with more than 39.5M registered users, surpassed 300M monthly visits to their free IPhone and Android apps in January 2012. The apps’ success is a testament to the growing popularity of mobile-based services and changing habits of daters, with mobile traffic on POF increasing at a rate of 3% a week. “40% of sign-ups in the U.S. are now via mobile device”, says Markus Frind, founder and CEO of POF.

See full article at PR Newswire

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The Future Of Dating Is Mobile

BUSINESS INSIDER - Feb 8 - The popularity of Grindr, an app that helps gay men find nearby lovers, shows the power of combining location-based apps and dating. So far, there have been 3M downloads in 192 countries. RndVoo is a matchmaking service that matches friends of friends and gives personalized date ideas to try in the real world. OkCupid cofounder Sam Yagan wrote in an email: "Mobile dating is the future of dating. Period. Think about it. Dating is one of the few applications of technology that pretty much requires an in-person meeting for success. Amazon can send your item from a warehouse in the middle of nowhere, but your date sure as heck better be close to you. And not just close to you sometimes, close to you...now."

by Boonsri Dickinson
See full article at SF Gate

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Facebook: 425 Million Mobile Users And No Money

PC MAG - Feb 2 - Facebook's mobile apps are frequently among the most popular downloads in the Android Market and Apple App Store. Facebook's Wednesday IPO filing revealed that the company had ~425M monthly active users during December 2011, or about half of its worldwide user base. But while that 425M number might be impressive, it's not making Facebook any money at this point. "We currently do not show ads or directly generate any meaningful revenue from users accessing Facebook through our mobile products", Facebook said.

by Chloe Albanesius
See full article at PC Mag

Mark Brooks: Same story with iDating companies. Jumptap.com may be able to help. There are a few mobile ad opportunities now. I'l be reviewing options at iDate Beverly Hills in June in my 3 hour presentation on mobile dating. 

This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.

Shagbook.com Launches Mobile-Enabled Website

PRESS RELEASE - Feb 2 - UK-based adult dating site Shagbook.com is now offering a mobile-enabled version of its website, allowing daters the option of accessing the site from their smart phones and tablets, from anywhere in the world.

See full article at PR Inside

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Take Me Out Launches Dating App

BROADCAST – Jan 27 – ITV1 entertainment show Take Me Out has launched Take Me Out Flirting, a free dating website and corresponding mobile app, that allows show viewers to set up a profile and chat with potential partners for free. The app has been developed through Handmade Mobile after striking a deal with rights holder Fremantle Media Enterprises. Users will also be able to chat with current and former contestants on the show. The app is currently available for Apple and Android devices with planned versions for Blackberry and Nokia Ovi.

See full article at Broadcast

Manhunt Hits Sydney Billboards

MUMBRELLA – Jan 27 – Gay dating website Manhunt has launched a billboard campaign in the Paddington area advertising its new mobile product that helps gay men hook up. The campaign was devised by Pink Media Group, a gay media specialist that also works with gay hook-up app Grindr. Manhunt has 65k users in Australia.

See full article at Mumbrella

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Youja.cn Secures $3m USD Series A Funding

PENN OLSEN - Jan 17 - China dating app U+ (Youja.cn) has secured $3m USD series A funding from VC funds at UMC Capital, The9 and World Trend Ventures. The funds will be used to improve service speed and grow membership further. U+ was set up by serial entrepreneurs who previously founded business social network Wealink.com and Mobile Software developer Vogins.

by Willis Wee
See full article at Penn Olsen

Mark Brooks: One to watch. Youja has a strong founder pedigree and is inspired by the best of the mobile dating apps in the West. Especially Skout, Flirtomatic and Badoo.

This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

Cupidtino Releases iPhone App

TECH CRUNCH - Jan 13 - Cupidtino, a dating site specifically for Apple fans, is still around. Last night they quietly debuted an iPhone application to complement their dating website. The app, which you can download here, is free and pitched as a “Mac-inspired dating app designed exclusively for fans of Apple products”. Users can upgrade their membership via in-app purchase for $4.99 per month, to read unlimited messages and chat with other Apple fans.

by Robin Wauters
See full article at Tech Crunch

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Interview With Eric Silverberg, co-Founder Of Scruff

OPW INTERVIEW - Jan 16 - Eric’s story is similar to Joel’s at Grindr. He runs a gay dating app, and its doing quite well. Here’s his story. - Mark Brooks

How many users do you have now?
We’ve had more than a million registered users since we launched in 2010.

You’re MIT educated and you worked at Intel, Microsoft and Google.  What led you to create the Scruff App and what’s your founding story?
It was the end of 2009 and I wanted to learn more about app development. I looked at the apps that were on the market at that point and I really wanted to do something different for the gay community. I partnered with my good friend Johnny and after some exploration we launched Scruff. In addition to Scruff being a dating/social app for the gay community we wanted to create a new kind of brand that people wouldn’t be embarrassed to say: “We met on Scruff”.

Are you going to launch a straight App?
Right now we’re happy with where we are so probably not any time in the near future.

You’ve replaced winks with woofs. How many woofs are people sending around the world?
Quite a lot. It’s a really easy way to interact with people in addition to chat. At this point we see more than 30 messages a second being sent over our platform.

How else is your service different from the likes of Grindr?
We’ve built a rich, multi-platform set of features. We’ve also thought a lot about different ways that people can interact with each other in addition to chat.  For example; woofing, rate one another, see how you’ve been rated. We’re building a community around Scruff and Scruff is a group that encompasses lots of different types of people. It’s definitely resonated.

You’ve got a couple of paid subscriptions now.  What do people get for the paid services and how much are they?
We’ve launched a premium version that includes Browsing Pro and Messaging Pro. One enables you to view more profiles and customize your grid to a greater degree. The other gives you an unlimited inbox and message history.

Are you profitable at this stage?
We have just become profitable. 

Are you looking for funding?
No we’re not looking for funding right now.  It was a challenge in the beginning but we got through it and now it’s really exciting for us.

Where are you going to be in a year’s time? 
We've recently relocated back to Manhattan, which is really exciting! We're seeing great growth globally and hope to do more global travels.  In the next year we have a lot of really cool features we are going to launch - more with albums, search filters and a lot of events. We hope to bring Johnny Scruff and our team to even more events around the country and the world.

Online Dating Made Easy With Mobile App

FOX4NEWS - Jan 8 - More and more marriages are starting out with an online connection. FOX 4′s Rich Demuro shows how the matchmaking app makes meeting people easy. “Over 20% of the people have met their spouses in some way online,” eHarmony Senior Research Scientist Gian Gonzaga said. "542 people a day on average get married after meeting on eHarmony, which is pretty extraordinary,” Gonzaga said. eHarmony recently launched a new iPad app.

by Sarah Clark
See full article at Fox4News

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Tingle Claims To Be Safer Mobile App

EXAMINER - Jan 6 - Tingle is Canada’s most popular mobile-only iPhone dating app, and is now extending its service to the U.S. It comes with some interesting new features, including a Voice Chat system that allows people to talk via phone without actually exchanging phone numbers. Another feature is called "Karma" - so named for its intention to bring out better behavior in Tingle's users. Karma prevents people from setting up fake profiles and discourages them from stalking other users. Members have to earn their Karma points to reach more people and send more messages.

by Kelly Seal
See full article at Examiner

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WhiteLabelDating.com Unveils Its Mobile Platform

WLD - Dec 28 - With the mobile market worth an estimated £152 Billion in 2011, the world of mobile is big business. Mobile traffic is plentiful and relatively cheap. cquisition cost is up to 50% lower through mobile than desktop channels and WLD has found that 16% of their traffic is already accessed through handheld devices, even without a dedicated mobile platform. The mobile platform features are:

• A multi-button dashboard
• Dynamic member profile view 
• Local member search - using the mobile device’s built in geo-location 
• Advanced search functionality
• The ability to upgrade to full membership to get the best experience from the mobile site
• Accepts all common debit/credit cards

See full article at WLD blog

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Ian Bell, CEO Of Tingle, An iPhone Dating App

THE MORNING SHOW - Dec 18 - Ian Bell is the founder and CEO of Tingle, an iPhone only dating app. "We use location as a way for people to run into each other electronically”, Ian Bell explains in the Morning Show in Canada. “We have an engine that works on the back end of our system and is constantly looking for people who are in similar places." Tingle launched in Vancouver earlier this year and Ian Bell claims his app is the most popular mobile dating app in Canada.  "The future of social is mobile," said Mark Brooks, editor of Online Personals Watch. "Mobile dating apps like Tingle will begin to disrupt and will eventually usurp traditional web-based dating sites."

See full article at Global News Toronto

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SinglesAroundMe Launches GaysAroundMe

PR WEB - Dec 14 - The popular global LB mobile dating app SinglesAroundMe launches a customized version for gays called GaysAroundMe. The main feature of GaysAroundMe is a search tool called "GAM" which shows singles from 100 feet to 100 miles of your current location worldwide. Results are displayed on a geographical map, where users can then view pictures and profiles and send winks and messages to begin flirting.

See full article at SF Gate

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The IceBreak iPhone App Helps Couples Keep The Flame Alive

INTOMOBILE - Dec 8 - IceBreak is a new app for Couples that helps couples discovering new things about their relationship, and going out and doing activities together. For instance, it will present couples with personality-type questions to answer like “What’s your ideal Sunday morning together?” Moreover, couples will be prompted to privately snap and share pictures of their day with each other, so that they get a glimpse into each other’s days even when they are apart. In addition, IceBreak will also help its users remember important information like clothing sizes, anniversaries, ring sizes and birthdays.

by Dusan Belic
See full article at IntoMobile

Hornet: Gay App On The Buzz

TIME OUT - Dec 7 - A new dating app is hitting the LGBT scene. Developed in Hong Kong and San Francisco, Hornet operates much like Grindr. Setting up a Hornet account requires users to state their HIV status. If you choose ‘negative’, the app requests the date of your last doctor’s visit. Hornet will then send you a reminder when it’s time for your next HIV testing. Hornet is still in its beta phase – it’s slow, it crashes and chats aren’t uploaded properly. But it does have a lot of potential and provides interesting features that rivals lack. 

by Arthur Tam
See full article at Time Out

Apple Axes Match.com's iOS App Over Billing Squabble

FIERCEMOBILE CONTENT - Dec 2 - Apple has removed Match.com's iOS application from its App Store after the dating site failed to adhere to the storefront's subscription billing policies. It enabled users to pay for Match subscriptions with a credit card using an external link, bypassing the App Store's billing mechanisms and denying Apple its 30% cut of subscriptions and content sold via iOS apps. Apple and Match.com are currently in talks on how to revamp the app to meet the App Store's guidelines.

by Jason Ankeny
See full article at Fiercemobile Content

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Siri Dating?

OPW - Nov 26 - Which dating site will be the first out with a Siri-connected app?

'Find me a hot blonde to have dinner with tonight'

Here's a great article on Siri on PaidContent, which basically says Siri came to fruition because of a $200 million DARPA project. It's hot, it works (somewhat), and dating sites should start thinking about how this applies to the next-gen of mobile dating.

Social Networking Apps Bring The Close Closer

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD - Nov 25 - Blendr enables users to check their smartphones and then text other users a few metres away. If they hit it off, they can meet up for a date within minutes. Blendr is the heterosexual version of Grindr, which has more than 2M gay users in 192 countries. Joel Simkhai, who founded Grindr and Blendr, says the main difference between the two apps is that the straight version is less focused on casual sex. Other geosocial networking apps, such as OkCupid Locals and HowAboutWe are popular.

by Rachel Wells
See full article at Sydney Morning Herald

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This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.