Online Personals Watch: News on the Dating Industry and Business

BeautifulPeople.com Thrown Off eBay For Auctioning Date With The Virgin Mary

TELEGRAPH.CO.UK - Dec 7 - BeautifulPeople.com encouraged men to bid for a date with blonde Heather Seychelle, 25, shown dressed in a "sexy" Mary outfit. Miss Seychelle appears in the dating site's nativity scene and attracted hordes of male fans. Controllers at eBay pulled the listing – complaining it contained "adult content". Greg Hodge, managing director of the site, said: "eBay accused us of posting adult content onto their website – but we simply uploaded portrait photos of our nativity stars as they appear on our home page in the hope we'd raise money for charity.

See full article at Telegraph.co.uk

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The Top Ten Online Dating Lies

TELEGRAPH.CO.UK - Nov 15 - Women lie about their looks whilst men lie about their jobs in the battle to find a partner through internet dating, a survey commissioned by BeautifulPeople.com, has found.

The top ten lies told by men:

1. Job (better than it is)
2. Height (taller)
3. Weight (losing or gaining a few pounds)
4. Physique (athletic)
5. Money

Top ten lies told by women:

1. Weight (losing a few pounds)
2. Age (losing a few years)
3. Physique (toned)
4. Height
5. Money

See full article at Telegraph.co.uk

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BeautifulPeople.com Release ‘REALLY?’ Video in Response to Shrek Virus

IB TIMES - Oct 25 - BeautifulPeople.com, the dating site that only allows good-looking people based on the opinions of the people who use it, have released a 90-second video in response recent attacks on the site's concept. The site was attacked by a computer virus - named Shrek. 30K people gained membership without going through the ruthless membership process. They were then then unceremoniously kicked off the site at a financial cost of more than £62,000 to the site's operators.

by Ewan Palmer
See full article at IB Times

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BeautifulPeople Dumps 30,000 Members

GUARDIAN.CO.UK - June 20 - BeautifulPeople was meant to be a dating site exclusively for the use of "beautiful men and women", where members ruthlessly selected and excluded those who did not match their definitions of good looks. But last month when BeautifulPeople.com was attacked by a computer virus, some claim standards slipped and ~30K new members gained admittance. Now, in a move which has made those rejected "apoplectic" with rage, they have been unceremoniously booted off at a financial cost of ~$100,000 (£62,000) to the site's operators. The virus was quickly named Shrek. Shrek had affected the software that existing members use to rate prospective new entrants, allowing anyone to join.  

by Rupert Neate
See full article at Guardian.co.uk

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Online Dating Sites Are Way Past Hook-ups

TORONTO SUN - Aug 26 - At CanDoBetter.com, you can have folks you've never met rate your mate. Why anyone would want to do this is a mystery, but thousands of couples are posting photographs on the site to find out how well-matched a bunch of strangers think they are. If you think you can turn heads, BeautifulPeople.com will be the judge of that. This controversial singles site is said to be for hotties only. In contrast, TheUglyBugBall.co.uk is for the less attractive portion of the population. The site is just over a week old, and already has thousands of potential daters. A recent Canadian-born dating site called LuvHertz.com has added a social media twist to the online dating scene. If you're unsure about the person you're seeing, want to dish the dirt on an ex, or get feedback about a cute single who's caught your eye, this is the place to go. FULL ARTICLE @ TORONTO SUN

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Dating Site Launches Online Sperm And Egg Bank For “Beautiful People”

MASHABLE - June 21 - BeautifulPeople.com, the controversial dating site, now has a forum/sperm bank where one may search for genetic material from beautiful people. Members can use these forums to meet other members who are keen on having a family. FULL ARTICLE @ MASHABLE

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BeautifulPeople.com Launches German Site

PR NEWSWIRE - May 24 - BeautifulPeople.com, the elite dating site for beautiful people only, launches a new German language version of the site specifically for the German market. A recent survey by the controversial website found German women and men to be among the least attractive members of BeautifulPeople.com. German women have an acceptance rate to BeautifulPeople.com of just 13%. This is considerably low compared to other countries around the world like Russia, United Kingdom and Italy. 15% of German male applicants have been accepted by BeautifulPeople members so far. BeautifulPeople.com is free to use.  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 @ PR NEWS

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Internet Dating Industry Weekly News Jan 11th, 2010

This is the news for January 1st through January 11th, 2010. Please follow this link to enjoy the high-resolution version. Here is the news we covered:

• BeautifulPeople.com dumps 5,000 members
• Niche dating is fueling growth, Australian market thrives
• Cold weather heats up membership for AshleyMadison.com
• CityDate launches SensualityDating.com for women

eLove Accepts Fat Rejects From BeautifulPeople.com

 MIAMI NEW TIMES - Jan 8 - After posting their holiday pictures on BeautifulPeople.com, 5,000 so-called fatties were shuffled once more into the ratings system for re-approval. Only a few hundred were allowed back. Mark Brooks, an analyst and consultant for the online dating industry, says it's normal for online networks to exclude people, but only as a matter of certain obvious preferences, like sexual orientation. "I think the BeautifulPeople tactic is rather amusing," he remarked. "We've been accustomed to magazine cover culture for over 50 years now," he said. "We need to break away from that. People have been aspiring to unnatural extremes of physical beauty." Paul A. Falzone, CEO of International Dating Ventures, which owns eLove, also believes that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but clearly he shines a different light. "We think everyone is beautiful, and frankly, were disturbed to hear about the way that these people were treated," said Falzone in a statement. eLove is coming to the rescue, opening its doors to all the rejects from BeautifulPeople. FULL ARTICLE @ MIAMI NEW TIMES

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BeautifulPeople.com Axes Holiday Weight Gain Members

BBC.CO.UK - Jan 4 - Dating and social networking site BeautifulPeople.com has axed ~5,000 members following complaints that they had gained weight. The members were singled out after posting pictures of themselves that reportedly showed they had put on pounds over the holiday period. The site allows entry to new members only if existing members vote them as sufficiently attractive to warrant it. FULL ARTICLE @ BBC NEWS

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BeautifulPeople.com Holds True To Its Ideals

THE STAR – Nov 10 – It's only been two weeks since www.BeautifulPeople.com launched across the globe and the site has already rejected 1.8 million applicants and approving only 360,000 new members. Members of the opposite sex vote on each new applicant and only those approved are allowed to join the site. Despite the controversy it has faced, BeautifulPeople.com claims to have over 540,000 members wordwide and 4 million unique visitors each day. FULL ARTICLE @ THE STAR

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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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BeautifulPeople.com Puts Beauty In The Eye Of The Beholder

VANCOUVER 24 HOURS -- July 11 -- Ugly folk need not apply. Well, they can, but good luck getting past the judges. That's the goal of the dating website Beautifulpeople.com. The controversial concept, which first hit cyberspace in 2004, has had its share of critics. And since its recent Canadian launch, it's facing backlash once again, including a Toronto Sun poll in which 66% of those surveyed found it offensive. So far, more than 5,000 people have signed on. But only one in 10 applicants gets past the heavily guarded gates. "What we realize is that looks and the way we present ourselves matters a lot", said BeautifulPeople founder Robert Hintze. He has a point. Numerous studies have shown that attractive folk get a leg up over the more average-looking set. They get paid up to 25% more and, statistically, taller men garner higher wages than their shorter counterparts. FULL ARTICLE @ VANCOUVER 24 HOURS

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Ugly Need Not Apply

NATIONAL POST -- June 23 -- Anyone can apply to join a new online dating site about to launch in Canada, but just a gorgeous few will be admitted. BeautifulPeople.net allows its members to determine who is hot enough to be part of the exclusive dating pool and who is simply not. BeautifulPeople.net has about a one-in-10 acceptance rate worldwide. Of 1.8m prospects, the site now has 175,000 members. FULL ARTICLE @ NATIONAL POST

 Mark Brooks: There's a growing number of elitest dating sites. BeautifulPeople.net joins the likes of Hotenough.org and the by introduction only VIP matchmaking service EliteIntroductions.com.