Online Personals Watch: News on the Dating Industry and Business

Ignighter: Group Dating

THE INQUIRER -- Dec 3 -- Blind dates can be scary, matchmakers are costly, and speed dating requires nerves of steel. On Dating sites people often misrepresent themselves in their personal profiles. Yet group dating, participants say, demands that you be yourself. "Your friends keep you honest," said Adam Sachs, CEO of Ignighter.com, a Web site that promotes group-to-group dating. On this site, a group of friends create one profile - and from there, groups are matched with other groups. Other Web sites that promote group dates include Teamdating.com and Iamfreetonight.com. FULL ARTICLE @ THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

Mark Brooks: Great concept, but do groups of friends really want to date together?

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Group Dating

8AT8 -- Sep 16 -- On Ignighter.com, groups are formed through an ambassador -- a kind of social director -- who invites his or her friends to join. Groups go out with other groups. Group-dating came on the scene in 1998 with 8at8, a service that sets up dinner dates with four men and four women and now has 25,000 members in six major metropolitan areas. Then came the Internet and, with it, sites like TeamDating.com, which has a concept similar to Ignighter's. IamFreeTonight.com allows its  users to post double-date and group-date listings. Meet New People, a Facebook dating application, has more than 3m users who post when they are free to "hang out" and RSVP to group gatherings. FULL ARTICLE @ 8AT8

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Sites Strike a Match with Users

CHICAGO TRIBUNE -- May 8 -- According to an April study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 31% of American adults (63 million) know someone who has used a dating Web site, and 30 million know someone who in a long-term relationship or married to someone they met online. Niche specialty dating sites are popping up; LawyersInLove.com, TeamDating.com, GoodGenes.com.

Mark Brooks: Niche dating sites are enjoying some great press this year. 

Invite the Gang for a Night of Online Dating

USA TODAY -- Mar -- TeamDating and eTwine (in the USA) and Compa (in the UK) users can sign up in groups of two or more and correspond with other duos, trios or quartets. Group online dating is safer than traditional Internet dating.  "You do everything else with your friends," says Ray Doustdar, president of Los Angeles-based TeamDating. "Why not online date with your friends?"  Since launching last August, Teamdating.com (free for now) has grown to just over 5,000 members on about 2,000 teams mostly in New York and Los Angeles. About 65% of members are ages 25-35, and almost 70% are women. eTwine has 5,000-members and just began group dating. So far, 30-40 groups have registered.  FULL ARTICLE @ USA TODAY

Mark Brooks: I created ace-club.com in 1998 to help small groups of people, professionals typically 30-45, 50% female, get out and play.  It's a singles club that won't admit to being a singles club and enjoys a healthy little membership in the Silicon Valley.

A Guide to Dating Sites for Niche Interests

SEATTLE TIMES -- Oct 30 -- There are the shopping-mall dating sites (Match.com, Yahoo! Personals), then there are the boutiques. JDate.com; Jewish singles community. Engage.com; a social networking site where your friends set you up.  DateMyPet.com; hookup for yourself and your pet.  Teamdating.com; girl-friends join to meet guy-friends go out in a group.  Fitsingles.com; for people who like to run, hike, kayak, cycle and do pull-ups in doorways.  DegreeDate.com; for the educated. SingleParentMeet.com & SingleParentsMingle.com; first you've got to impress your date - then your date's kids.  Chemistry.com; uses an eHarmony-style compatibility test - rejection can take weeks instead of minutes. SpiritSingles.com; new-age site where spiritual integrity trumps the shallow pursuit for hot babes. Riiigghhht. FULL ARTICLE @ SEATTLE TIMES

TEAMDATING.COM Offers Safer, Less Stressful Way to Meet

PR NEWSWIRE -- Aug 22 -- Teamdating.com helps people meet as in the real world ... With your friends. The site is geared to be a natural extension of your current social life. This group approach provides the added security of having "safety in numbers" when teams meet one another. Many are hesitant to engage in the anonymous world of online dating due to safety concerns.

Mark Brooks: Seems everyone is jumping on the 'safety' bandwagon these days.