Online Personals Watch: News on the Dating Industry and Business

As 20-somethings Take To Online Dating

OREGON LIVE - Feb 12 - More 20-somethings are on online dating sites than ever, and their numbers are growing. Only 8% of users on Match.com are under 30. Free sites like OkCupid and PlentyofFish report much stronger numbers among 20-somethings. In fact, the majority of OkCupid's 8M members are under 30, with the most common age being 24. In the past year, countless more sites have sprung up promising to be the next big thing in online dating for the young adult. They tend to be more tech-savvy, carefree and interactive. There's MeetMoi, a mobile-based site that tracks your location through your phone, allowing you to invite nearby users on a spontaneous date. There's Clique, a site that lets New York City singles meet friends of friends by linking their profile to social networks like Facebook. There's Assisted Serendipity, which uses Foursquare check-in data to monitor a user's favorite hangout spots and notify them when the male-to-female ratio tips in their favor. There's even Spoondate, which lets users plan dates based on a mutual craving for, say, udon noodles.

by Kelly House
See full article at The Oregonian

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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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Who's Telling You The Truth About Dating Algorithms?

FAST COMPANY - Jan 27 - Dr. Pepper Schwartz is the author of The Love Test, The Great Sex Weekend, Everything You Know About Love and Sex is Wrong, and more. She's a professor of sociology at the University of Washington in Seattle who mugs on behalf of PerfectMatch.com, where she co-developed The Duet® Total Compatibility System. On the final day of the iDate conference, Schwartz told the audience her system is based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Joining her was Dr. Eli Finkel who staked out his own territory as industry-scold, denouncing eHarmony. eHarmony has refused to reveal its algorithm, Finkel said, and therefore the company should not advertise a scientific approach to matching until it can show, publicly, that its system works according to the standards of scientific rigor. Today it's not the professor-backed dating sites but the ones run by math geeks that seem to be on top. Sam Yagan, a cofounder of OkCupid.com (sold to Match.com for $90M), responded to Drs. Finkel and Schwartz with an occasional eye roll. He dispatched a very brief, slide-assisted explanation of OkCupid's matching process. The users are not required to answer any questions. But the site is premised on the idea that the more questions users answer, the better OkCupid works for them. For each question, users provide three answers: (1) their own answer, (2) the answers they are willing to accept from a match, and (3) the level of importance they attache to the question. The innovation of OkCupid lies in its pliability.

by Dan Slater
See full article at Fast Company

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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.

5 Location-Based Dating Apps Worthy Of Your Love

MASHABLE - Nov 22 - A study by Skout noted that 69% of people were comfortable meeting up with someone they met on their iPhone, and 40% were using a mobile dating service while out at bars, clubs and restaurants.

1. Brightkite - It isn’t a “dating” app per se, but rather, introduces local users on a basic level.
2. MeetMoi - The company’s goal is to “strip down dating to what’s essential — the introduction.”
3. OkCupid - OKCupid introduced its geo-location app to help users keep watch for local singles in July.
4. Sonar.me - By connecting to Facebook and Twitter, the app lets you see, in real time, how to connect with those physically around you. 
5. Skout - With ~1M users, the service hosts one of the largest and most popular location-based dating apps on the iPhone and Android markets.

by Layla Revis
See full article at Mashable

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OkCupid Sets Up San Francisco Labs

ALLTHINGSD - Nov 18 - OkCupid has ventured from New York to San Francisco to create a freshly staffed outpost of start-up folks in order to brainstorm the site’s next act. They call it OkCupid Labs. OkCupid was bought by IAC’s Match.com for $50M in February.

by Liz Gannes
See full article at AllThingsD

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Study Reveals Racial Segregation In Online Dating

THE GRIO - Nov 16 - After analyzing 1M+ profiles on a mainstream dating site, researchers at the University of California Berkeley, concluded that whites are highly unlikely to initiate contact with black people. 80% of the communication initiated by whites was to other whites. Black members were ten times more likely to contact whites. According to a 2009 analysis, black women on OkCupid.com get the "cold shoulder" from everyone, including their black male counterparts. Ron Worthy, a spokesperson for Blackpeoplemeet.com, a subsidiary of Match.com, says that this illustrates the importance and increasing popularity of niche dating sites. AfroRomance.com is specifically geared toward interracial dating. Rob Thompson started the AfroRomance.com because it was difficult to tell who was truly interested in interracial relationships on conventional sites. He went onto meet his wife, who is from Kenya on AfroRomance.com.

by Chelsea-Lyn Rudder
See full article at The Grio

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Match.com Reports Q3 Results

PR NEWSWIRE - Nov 4 - Core revenue increased 15% to $102.5M driven by increases in subscribers. Developing revenue increased 8% to $18.7M primarily due to revenue from OkCupid. Core and Developing revenue collectively increased by 14% to $121.2M. Meetic had revenue of $11.1M which was negatively impacted by the write-off of $9.6M of deferred revenue in connection with its acquisition.

Match Core consists of Match.com in the US, Chemistry.com and People Media.
Match Developing consists of OkCupid, Singlesnet, mobile-only products and non-Meetic international operations.

See full article at Marketwatch

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Instant Date With An App

NY TIMES - Nov 3 - The idea of meeting someone through a mobile app may seem like a risky proposition. But the operators of these services say they are aware of the potential pitfalls and allow users to control how much information they divulge. Some of the apps are stand-alone, while others are new features of established dating sites; including Blendr, OkCupid Locals and HowAboutWe. OkCupid Locals is part of OkCupid, a larger dating site, which says a tenth of its 2.5M active members use the location features in the mobile app. HowAboutWe began a little over a year ago as a site where people post suggestions for dates they would like to have.The trailblazer among these services is Grindr, which is geared toward gay men and has signed up 2.6M members. In late summer its creators released Blendr, aimed at a broader audience.

by Jenna Wortham
See full article at NY Times

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Online Dating Matures: 5 New Sites That Will Get You Lucky

FOX NEWS - Oct 16 - For decades, the online dating scene was limited to a handful of trusty incumbents: think Match.com, LavaLife, eHarmony. But a bevy of new sites are looking to offer the granularity users are now craving.

Here are five sites offering a fresh approach to finding “the one” online.

1. Best Concept: HowAboutWe (400K dates posted. $28 per month)
- One of the fastest growing sites in the scene. Proposing a date gives singles an immediate topic of conversation for emails and way to connect.
2. Best Elite Site: Sparkology (Service has not opened to general public yet)
- The community is invite-only and men must be verified grads of top universities.
3. Best Mainstream Site: OKCupid (7M members)
4. Best Alternative: Ignighter (2M members)
- Allows groups of friends to collaborate on a group profile. 
5. Most Buzzed About: Meexo 
- Meexo isn’t out yet. Meexo is attempting to bridge the gap between location-based gaming and romance.

by Alex Liu
See full article at Fox News

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Top U.S. Websites, Including OKCupid, Share Visitor Personal Data

WSJ - Oct 12 - A study shows that 45% of the top 185 U.S. websites transmit identifying details about their visitors to at least four outside websites. The data transmitted was primarily a “username”. OKCupid sent the gender, age, zip code, relationship status and ‘drug use frequency’ to two companies that sell personal data in auctions, BlueKai and Lotame. Lotame confirmed that it has a data licensing relationship with OKCupid, but said it does not use data in the “drug use category.” BlueKai said that it does not buy or sell data attributes like “drug use frequency” from OKCupid.

by Julia Angwin
See full article at WSJ

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The New Digital Singles Scene

FAST COMPANY - Aug 19 - Online dating startups are using quirky concepts, and emerging technology--from facial recognition to geolocation. Online dating is a $1.5 billion per year industry in the U.S. Match.com generates ~$400M; eHarmony ~$150 million; and Adult Friend Finder earn ~$250M in annual revenue. On most sites, users take the time-honored route of writing up anecdotes about their lives. OK Cupid broke that model by combining traditional "about me" profiles with a personality test a la 20-questions. Dutch startup Soul2Match is using facial recognition software to pair people with similar bone structure. HowAboutWe requires users to suggest unique date ideas to one another. Spoondate asks its members to disclose what they want to eat and where, to match them based on cravings. Luv@FirstTweet tracks its users’ Twitter history to get a sense of their interests and personality.

by Sean Captain
See full article at Fast Company

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OkCupid Revenue Released

POF BLOG - Aug 26 - OKCupid has released its revenue

2010 Revenue: $4.7M
2007 Revenue: $380,912
Employees: 18

Acquisition price was 50M cash and 40M earn out. 

See full article at POF blog

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Young Gays Are More Comfortable than Straights Finding Love Online

LA WEEKLY - Aug 22 - Despite an exaggerated stereotype that gay men are online looking only for sex, most are actually looking for something more serious. According to OkCupid's in-house analysis of ~3.2M users, 45% of gay people have slept with five or fewer people (vs. 44% for straights), and 98% have slept with fewer than twenty (vs. 99% for straights). Among gay men, the quality of guys available online is allegedly a lot higher, as far more people feel comfortable using the Internet as matchmaker.

by Amanda Lewis
See full article at LA Weekly

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Data Matches Daters

MARKETING WEEK - Aug 17 - As the internet dating market continues to grow, dating sites are employing increasingly sophisticated data analysis techniques to find the perfect partner for their users. OKCupid believes there's no such thing as one algorithm that works for everybody, putting its emphasis instead on a set of predictive questions. Plentyoffish claims it was the first dating site to introduce behavioral matchmaking. Markus Frind, CEO of Plentyoffish, explains: “We look at what you say when you complete your profile but, more importantly, we also look at what you do on the site.”Sometimes the elements that people are not looking for in a date turn out to be their partners’ most endearing features. This is why Mysinglefriend puts the onus on users to find matches on the site themselves. Lovestruck has two types of algorithm. When users first join the site, they will be matched with potential partners using Lovestruck’s in-house algorithm based on interests, what they are looking for, age, location and so on. But when they start to use the site, that data is overridden by an IntroAnalytics matching algorithm which learns from the user’s behaviour.

by Maeve Hosea
See full article at Marketing Week

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Bravo Partners with OkCupid

CABLE FAX - Aug 16 - To promote its new show "Most Eligible Dallas", which follows a group of singles as they navigate the Texas dating scene, Bravo teamed up with OkCupid to expand its marketing reach. Bravo is not the first network OKCupid has partnered with. The site ran a promotion in July for Investigation Discovery's "Who the Bleep Did I Marry" with custom content and first-date Q&As posed to users. But Bravo is the first to integrate characters into the search engine.

by Kaylee Hultgren
See full article at Cable Fax

Mark Brooks: Endemol and 51Minds are the companies to speak to if you'd like to sponsor a reality TV show.

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OKCupid Integrates Location Based Dating into iOS and Android Apps

TECH CRUNCH - Aug 12 - OkCupid is making a big move today in the mobile space—the service is adding location-based functionality to its Android and iOS mobile apps. For background, OkCupid singles tend to be younger, which is one of the reasons why IAC’s Match.com decided to buy the dating startup for $50M earlier this year. You can now broadcast if you are free, want others to join in plans and more. The bonus of OkCupid is that you can set up the feature to only send these broadcasts to people who are personality and interets matches for you in your location.

by Leena Rao
See full article at Tech Crunch

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Twitter Dating: Even in 140 Characters, Love Can Bloom

BALTIMORE SUN - Aug 9 - Yes, Twitter love. It’s happening. Love shows up in unexpected places online.  Several dating services and relationship coaches are geared to the social media platform. “Social media has a big role to play in dating because social media is all about connections and communication, and dating is the same thing,” said Ben Parr, editor at large at Mashable. “Twitter will always have a role just as Facebook has a role in dating … and the entire relationship cycle.” Some Twitter-based services, like Luv@FirstTweet, which launched this year, cater to those used to traditional online dating services like Match.com. ~1,200 people are currently signed up for Luv@FirstTweet, a free service that co-founder Jon Lehr bills as “building an online dating profile on the go.” Some would argue the Twitter dating pool may be a bit shallower than general. A recent poll by OkCupid found that people who use Twitter tend to have shorter relationships.

by Raven Hill
Full article at Baltimore Sun

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OKCupid Mobile Dating

DIVINE CAROLINE - Aug 3 - Last month, OKCupid began beta testing GPS-based features on its mobile app that will allow members to broadcast when they’re in the mood to mingle, to suggest activities, and to notify nearby matches that they’d like to meet up. The idea has already taken hold in the gay community thanks to Grindr, a mobile app that specifically targets gay and alerts users when other Grindrers are nearby. Many, including Grindr founder Joel Simkhai, were skeptical that such a product would translate well with women. Women obviously want to see someone that they might find attractive, but they need to know more than that. OKCupid narrows the pool of potentially strange strangers by sending out notifications and broadcasts to best matches based on the lengthy personality survey each member fills out upon joining the site.

See full article at Divine Caroline

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How OKCupid Helps Users Find Their Perfect Match

READ WRITE WEB - July 25 - OKCupid is well known for its data analysis. On average, says OKCupid's CTO Tom Quisel, active users have answered ~3K questions; they've hidden the profiles of several thousand users they aren't interested in; they've voted for ~4K profiles. All that data is in addition to users' personal demographic data and preferences, as well as their site usage information (how often they log in, how often they respond to messages and so on). All that data makes a simple search for a list of potential matches quite complex. In fact, says Quisel, it can take 13 billion seeks in order to load one page of results.

by Audrey Watters
See full article at Read Write Web

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