Online Personals Watch: News on the Dating Industry and Business

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

See all posts on Match.com          See all posts on Singlesnet
See all posts on Chemistry.com    See all posts on OkCupid
See all posts on People Media       See all posts on Meetic

IAC/Match.com Reports Q1 Results

PR NEWSWIRE – Apr 27 - Match.com core revenue increased 18% to $93.3M driven by a 22% increase in subscribers. Developing revenue increased 82% to $18.3M driven by the full quarter contribution of Singlesnet, as well as from the venture with Meetic in Latin America and the acquisition of OkCupid, neither of which were reflected in the year ago results. Subscribers logging in through mobile grew 135% YOY to 30% of total on Match.com U.S.

For more details visit the link on the side bar under 'FINANCIALS'

See full article at IAC

See all posts on Match.com        See all posts on Singlesnet
See all posts on Meetic              See all posts on OkCupid

IAC Q3 Results: Strong Revenues From Match.com

PROACTIVE INVESTORS - Oct 27 - IAC revenue increased 25% in the Q3 to $421.7M. Match.com posted a 31% increase in its sales to $106.2M, fueled primarily by organic growth at Match US and People Media, as well as by the acquisition of Singlesnet and the company's venture with Meetic in Latin America. IAC reported a profit of $17.5M, down from $21.6M a year earlier. On a per-share basis, earnings were flat at 16c as shares outstanding were 21% lower. FULL ARTICLE @ PROACTIVE INVESTORS

See all posts on Match.com
See all posts on People Media
See all posts on Singlesnet

Match.com’s Free Alternate Service Becomes Singlesnet

EHARMONY BLOG - May 25 - Apparently Down to Earth, the free version of the Match.com, now redirects to their newly acquired company, Singlesnet. FULL ARTICLE @ EHARMONY BLOG

See all posts on Match.com
See all posts on Singlesnet
See all posts on DownToEarth / Stir.com

IAC Posts Earnings

BUSINESS INSIDER - Apr 28 - IAC/InterActiveCorp reported a net loss of $18.7M, or 16 cents per share, for the Q1 2010. That's compared with a net loss of $28.4M, or 19 cents per share, during the same period last year. Match.com revenue declined slightly reflecting the sale of Match Europe to Meetic on June 5, 2009, partially offset by the contribution from the People Media and Singlesnet acquisitions and solid growth from the Match domestic business. Revenue and subscribers grew 8% and 2%, respectively. FULL ARTICLE @ BUSINESS INSIDER

See all posts on Match.com             See all posts on People Media
See all posts on Meetic                   See all posts on Singlesnet

eHarmony Is #1 Personals Site Of February

EHARMONY BLOG - Mar 25 - eHarmony was the most visited dating site during the busiest month for dating sites. Online Personals sites grew in popularity during the month, experiencing a 5% increase to 24.2M visitors. eHarmony ranked as the #1 Personals site during the month, attracting 5.0M Americans (up 82%), while Match.com ranked second with 3.4M visitors. PlentyOfFish.com attracted 2.8M visitors, followed closely by SinglesNet.com with 2.6M. FULL ARTICLE @ EHARMONY BLOG

See all posts on eHarmony
See all posts on Match.com
See all posts on PlentyofFish
See all posts on Singlesnet

Internet Dating Industry Weekly News March 2nd, 2010

This is the news for February 23rd through March 2nd, 2010. Please follow this link to enjoy the high-resolution version. Here is the news we covered:

• PlentyofFish continues to grow rapidly
• Match.com to acquire Singlesnet
• German online dating market booming
• Smartdate.com raises 2.2 million Euros
• Australians suffer heavy losses to online fraud
• Weopia.com launches new virtual dating service
• HerWay.com partners with HonestyOnline
• Maryland Bill proposes tight restrictions
• Harvard Professor Michael Norton to speak at iDate L.A.

IAC’s Match.com To Acquire Singlesnet

PR NEWSWIRE – Feb 25 – Match.com has signed an agreement to acquire Singlesnet. Terms of the deal are not being disclosed. Greg Blatt, CEO of Match.com said, “While Singlesnet’s traffic is currently in decline, we believe we can reverse that trend, increase the site’s profitability and improve the overall user experience. This is more of a value acquisition than a strategic one, and Singlesnet will predominantly be run as a standalone business. Nonetheless, the addition of the site’s considerable traffic to our existing aggregation of traffic in this single category should open new monetization opportunities for Match.com’s collective portfolio of domestic online dating brands.” 

Adrian Ong, who joined Match from Soulmates Technology, a company acquired by Match.com in 2002, will assume responsibility for Singlesnet. Mr Ong has held various leadership roles within Match.com's International business, primarily in the areas of product and technology, and most recently has led Match.com’s effort to transition its European business to Meetic in connection with its sale last year. Quinn Lipin , Singlesnet's founder, will continue to work for the company in an executive capacity. FULL PRESS RELEASE @ PR NEWSWIRE

Mark Brooks: Traffic is down from over 7 million uniques a month in January 2009 to 4.5 million a month in January 2010 according to Compete. Singlesnet has been rogue-ish in its marketing tactics in the past so its good its coming under Match.com's wing. They can polish the site up and make it less of an embarrassment to the experience that should be 'internet dating,' and then put it to bed.

Match.com Flirting With Singlesnet

TECH CRUCH - Feb 18 - We’ve heard a rumor that online dating service and IAC property Match.com is acquiring Singlesnet. Match is in the habit of buying up potential competitors. The dating giant scooped up People Media last year for $80M. FULL ARTICLE @ TECH CRUNCH

See all posts on Match.com
See all posts on Singlesnet

Will Match Acquire Yahoo Personals Or Singlesnet?

OPW - Feb 17 - Match acquired 27% of Meetic in February last year and then acquired People Media for $80 million in July, 2009.   They took a piece of the German market last week by partnering with Neu.de.  Diller showed interest in Yahoo Personals back in April 2009.  Sometime soon, perhaps Match will announce a deal to power Yahoo Personals USA.  Match already powers Yahoo Personals in key European markets.

The real question is, how can you possibly compete with the behemoth Match?  Its has niches with People Media, Europe with Meetic and Yahoo Personals, and growth this season is looking very strong.  I hear concerns about growth stalling for second tier dating sites. However, Piper Jaffray predicts U.S. spending on online dating will reach $1.7 billion by 2013, with $1.2 billion being spent in 2008.  Meanwhile, Forrester expects the market to reach $1.6 billion by 2013, up from an estimated $957 million in 2008. - Mark Brooks

• See All Posts On Match
• > Launched in Jan 1998
  - GM for France Interview, Arnaud Jonglez, August 9th, 2008
  - CEO Interview, Thomas Enraght-Moony, June 8th, 2007
  - CEO Interview, Jim Safka, December 27th, 2006
  - CEO Interview, Jim Safka, October 14th, 2005
  = Match.com Official Twitter
• 
  
  • See All Posts On Yahoo Personals
  • > Launched in Nov 1998
    - GM Interview, Egon Smola, January 1st, 2008
    - GM Interview, Lorna Borenstein, October 4th, 2005

Internet Dating Industry Weekly News Nov 19th, 2009 - 4 mins

This is the news for the week of November 6th through November 12th, 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:

• October Online Dating Rankings from Hitwise
• Earnings Reports from Spark Networks and Meetic
• Number of Senior Online Daters on the Rise
• Interview with Steve Odom, founder of Gelato

Worlds Top Dating Sites

PARADIGM SHIFT - Sep 24 - Here are the top dating sites in the world, from the latest Comscore July 2009 report.

The most interesting trend over the last year is the growing difference between usage at paid sites verses free sites and hybrids like Singlesnet. If you combine total visits at Singlesnet and Plentyoffish in the US,  those 2 sites combined already have more monthly visits than all pure paid sites combined.
FULL ARTICLE @ PARADIGM SHIFT

See all posts on PlentyofFish
See all posts on Singlesnet   

Free Sites Don't Appeal To Lower Income Users

THE PARADIGM SHIFT -- Feb 13 -- We will still grow at least 80% organically this year but I don't think all that much is because of the recession. Most of PlentyofFish users are higher income and aren't really effected by the current economic problems. 

Hitwise demographic stats for 4 weeks ending  2/7/2009
12.36% of singlesnet users are under 25
10.15% of match.com users are under 25
9.65% of  Plentyoffish users are under 25
7.28% of downtoearth  users are under 25.

Hitwise income statistics for 4 weeks ending  2/7/2009.
4.11% of singlesnet  users make over $150,000 a year.
5.05% of match.com users make over $150,000 a year.
6.23% of eharmony users make over $150,000 a year
12.37% of Plentyoffish users make over $150,000 a year.
FULL ARTICLE @ THE PARADIGM SHIFT

See all posts on Singlesnet       See all posts on Plentyoffish
See all posts on Match.com      See all posts on eHarmony
See all posts on Downtoearth

Why Pay When Dating's Free Sites Beckon?

BUSINESS WEEK -- Feb 6 -- In December, free sites accounted for ~25% of all traffic to the top 10 U.S. dating sites, up from 15% a year ago, according to Hitwise. During the second half of 2008, PlentyofFish was the most-trafficked dating site in the U.S., according to Hitwise. "We are going to double our staff this year," said Markus Frind, CEO of PlentyofFish.com. "The economic downturn doesn't affect me." OkCupid.com says growth picked up in Sep, as the economic decline accelerated. Some paid sites are getting hurt more than others. Traffic to Yahoo Personals fell 15% in Dec from a year earlier, according to Hitwise. In the same period, eHarmony's traffic dropped 61% and True.com's tumbled 68%. At the same time, traffic to Match.com jumped 31% while Singlesnet.com's traffic rose 16%. FULL ARTICLE @ BUSINESS WEEK

See all posts on Plentyoffish               See all posts on True.com
See all posts on YahooPersonals          See all posts on Singlesnet
See all posts on eHarmony                  See all posts on Match.com
See all posts on OkCupid

PlentyofFish.com #1 Dating Site In USA

OPW -- Nov 21 -- We have just updated Hitwise US online dating rankings for October. PlentyofFish.com is now the #1 dating site in the US followed by Singlesnet, Yahoo Personals and Match.com. PlentyofFish.com is also the #1 dating site in the UK according to Hitwise.

Dating Sites Hang On Despite Increasing Competition

IDG SERVICE -- Sep 23 -- Owners and companies running dating Web sites are meeting Monday and Tuesday at the Internet Dating Conference in London to discuss challenges in their industry. The top dating sites in the U.K. for June were PlentyofFish, followed by Meetic, Match.com, Gaydar.co.uk and GirlsDateForFree, according to comScore. In North America, the top sites in June were PlentyofFish, Singlesnet, eHarmony, Match.com and Yahoo Personals. The number of page views for dating sites are falling, and people are spending less time but revenues are growing. The main revenue model is subscription. Other dating sites are offering premium services used by traditional matchmaking companies. A site in China, Zhenai, charges $200 a year for access to its online site and team of match matchers who work with singles over the phone. That's far less than fees charged by traditional matchmakers, which can cost $5,000 or more a year, said Mark Brooks, who runs a consultancy focusing on social networks and dating sites. FreeDating.co.uk is free, and makes money by showing ads. It's the same model used by PlentyofFish, a relatively simple site that debuted in 2003 and has surged to the top spot in the U.S. and U.K. markets. FULL ARTICLE @ PC WORLD

See all posts on PlentyofFish                 See all posts on Singlesnet
See all posts on Meetic                          See all posts on eHarmony
See all posts on Match.com                    See all posts on Yahoo Personals
See all posts on Gaydar                         See all posts on Zhenai
See all posts on GirlsDateForFree

Nielsen Internet Dating Rankings Update

OPW -- Sep 16 -- We have updated Nielsen Online U.S.A. internet dating rankings. Yahoo! Personals, Match.com and Singlesnet maintained their 1st, 3rd and 4th position respectively. TRUE ousts MSN Dating from it's 5th position. PlentyofFish jumped from #9 to #7. AOL Personals went down to #8 from #7. Mate1 and MSN Dating slide off the top 10.

Let's Say You Want To Date A Hog Farmer

NY TIMES -- Apr 27 -- A growing number of people have found love on dating sites that pair members based on a specific shared interest or background, like Nerdsatheart.com, DateMyPet.com, STDmatch.net and Veggielove.com. "Singles are increasingly eager to narrow the audience and really target their needs," said Mark Brooks, a consultant who keeps his own blog, OnlinePersonalsWatch.com. "It's the same reason why Procter&Gamble makes so many detergents. We are all drawn to things that cater to our very specific desires." According to Hitwise there are now 1,378 U.S. dating sites, up from 876 three years ago. Mr. Brooks estimates that 44% of those sites in the U.S. are niche sites, up from 35% in 2006. Large companies like Match.com, eHarmony, Yahoo Personals and SinglesNet.com have the general market cornered, Mr. Brooks said, "the only real entrepreneurial opportunities left in the online dating world lie in the niche market." FarmersOnly.com has attracted 90,000 members so far, 50,000 in the last year alone. One month's membership costs $15.95. Mr. Brooks said the most successful niche sites pair people by race, sexual orientation or religion. The 20 most popular dating sites this year as ranked by Hitwise include JDate, Christian Mingle and ChristianCafe.com, Manhunt, Love From India, Amigos, Asian People Meet, and Shaadi. "A few years ago, a company called Spark Networks was putting major funding into its general dating site, American Singles," Mr. Brooks said. "But when executives saw that the Jewish market was huge and relatively untouched, they switched gears and ratcheted up JDate." FULL ARTICLE @ NY TIMES. Also in THE LEDGER

Niche Dating Sites Grow Steadily As Mainstream Ones Flail

TECH CRUNCH -- Apr 24 -- In the internet dating space, bigger is not always best. According to the latest U.S. numbers from Hitwise, the top niche dating sites are steadily gaining market share while their big mainstream counterparts stagnate. In March 2008, the top 5 overall sites held 7% less market share than they did in 2007 (Plentyoffish and Singlesnet were the only sites to buck this trend individually). Meanwhile, the top sites (Adam4Adam, Manhunt, Gay.com, BlackPeopleMeet, BlackSingles, BlackChristianPeopleMeet, ChristianMingle, JDate, and ChristianCafe.com) from the top five major niche dating categories made considerable gains. The biggest niche in terms of total traffic is casual dating, which consists of sites like Fling, AdultFriendFinder, and SexSearch. While the top 10 mainstream dating sites gained only 0.01% of total Internet traffic over the past year, the top three casual adult sites gained 0.07%. That's a hefty 56% increase in the traffic. (Authored by Mark Brooks)
FULL ARTICLE @ TECH CRUNCH 

Dating Site Visits Up, Pre-Valentine's Day

CNET NEWS -- Feb 14 -- Visits to dating sites were up 26% in the week ending February 9 in comparison with the equivalent week in 2007, according to Hitwise. At the top of the rankings was SinglesNet.com, followed by PlentyOfFish.com.  Rounding out the top five were eHarmony, True, and Yahoo Personals. FULL ARTICLE @ CNET NEWS