RBC -- Aug 29 -- Mail.ru, the Russian email service provider
and Internet portal, has acquired a 30% stake in the
Russian dating site Mamba.ru from the Finam Investment Company. Market participants estimate the value
of the deal at $15m. According to experts' opinion, however, Mamba.ru
is running the risk of losing its other major partner Rambler, which
provides the dating service with 25 to 30% of its users. The
client base of Mamba.ru currently amounts to 9.8m people, according to
the company's site, and its revenue topped RUB 300m (approx. USD
12.22m). FULL ARTICLE @ RBC
« July 2008 | Main | September 2008 »
Mail.ru Buys Into Mamba.ru
| |
WhiteLabelDating.com On The Track
WLD BLOG -- Aug 28 -- If you have watched our Partner Testimonial Video, you will see that we have a fantastic relationship with our partners, so, in celebration of this and everyone’s recent success as business is booming, we decided it was about time for a little get together. So off we went to Northampton’s International Raceway, thrashing stock cars around a racetrack! The day included racing Formula 2 stock cars, off-road Capri bangers and the Dell Boy challenge in Reliant Robins.
Mark Brooks: Nothing is more compelling than testimonials, especially in video format. Besides eHarmony, I've yet to see a dating site offer up testimonials in video format. PlentyofFish.com has the most text testimonials of any dating site, followed by ChristianCafe.com. Match has a great testimonials section as well. Courtland Brooks is responsible for MatchmakerSuccess.com for The Right One and Together Dating. (Disclosure: WLD, PlentyofFish and The Right One & Together Dating are clients of Courtland Brooks.
| |
Tsavo, CEO Mike Jones Interview
OPW INTERVIEW -- Aug 30 -- Mike Jones is now an advisor to Userplane and AOL and is CEO of Tsavo. What is this mysterious Tsavo? Here's my interview with Mike. - Mark Brooks
What's your role at Tsavo and AOL now?
With AOL I function as a Strategic Advisor, facilitating the transition to Sam Wick for daily management of the Userplane business. The majority of my time operationally is setting up Tsavo and finalizing the transition with some of our initial, undisclosed acquisitions.
Tell us more about Tsavo.
Tsavo is focused on building technology facilitating highly-personal and relevant experiences with online content. I would like to see a world where, instead of browsing through 30,000 blog posts a day, there is a system that actively understands and learns my media consumption behavior.
What kind of media are you particularly going to be looking at and serving up to users?
Our current focus is on a wide-reaching publishing network with niche vertical focus. Overall we are viewing it from the standpoint that Tsavo will be a multi URL network across a whole series of verticals.
Is there an official launch date?
No there’s not. Since we’re starting off with a few acquisitions, we have active staff and revenue today; my CTO Nate Thelen and his lead engineer Gabe Harriman and our head of product Mike Macaadan focus primarily on building the relevancy sub-structure. You will begin seeing our acquisition announcements in the next few months, and the relevancy technology begin surfacing in the next six months and beyond.
What kinds of sites and services are you looking to acquire at this stage?
We’re looking for content sites that have strong editorial and original content. We’re looking for a few back-end technologies that relate the semantic web and content aggregation.
Are dating sites within your realm of interest?
Probably not. I don’t believe it will fit initially with our focus on media & relevance. I do have interest and am researching other types of subscription services.
| |
Boomers Spend More Money
RESEARCH BRIEF -- Aug 29 -- According to TV Land's "Generation BUY: A Close Look at the Boomer Consumer" study, people 40-59 spend more than three times the amount of money per month on spouses ($514) than adults under 40 ($169). With so many purchase decisions to make for the household, these buyers are an important marketing sector even when they are not the prime target. The study also found that 40 and 50-somethings are more open to new brands.
The full article was originally published at Center For Media Research, but is no longer available.
| |
Randodate's Free SpeedDating Application
NEWS TIP -- Aug 30 -- Randodate is a new free white label dating application which can be integrated into your existing platform.
Key Features For Webmasters
- 100% free; no usage limits- Added revenue with 50% ad inventory
- Simple integration with your site
- No overhead or bandwidth charges
- Helps drive new traffic to your site
- Ability to manage "post match" actions
Key Features For Users
- Seamless login, no input required
- Secure, safe and fun way to meet new people
- No download or installation required
- Video, voice and text based dating options
| |
Interview With ButterfliesAgain Test Creator, Dr. Block
Note: Interviewed by Steve Geschwer, Psy.D.— Psychologist.
NEWS TIP -- Aug 29 -- Q: Which other tests do you consider as competition?
JB: Tests developed by Dr. Pepper Schwartz and Dr. Helen Fisher.
Q: Why are Drs. Schwartz and Fisher's tests special?
JB: For starters, both are bright and savvy. Dr. Schwartz, (Perfect Match) is a sociologist and Dr. Fisher (Chemistry) is an anthropologist. I am making a point of this because I am the ONLY clinician.
Q: Why is this important?
JB: Because for the past 30+ years as a practicing psychologist specializing in love and sexuality, I have been in the trenches, working with couples toward the goal of Lasting Love. The countless intimate hours I've spent over those years have been incomparably valuable in understanding the very heart and meaning of lasting love.
Q: Why do you believe this gives you an advantage in creating ButterfliesAgain?
JB: Drs. Fisher and Schwartz are researchers. I am sitting with struggling couples where the truth about love is constantly revealed. I read about couples endlessly. I merge newfound knowledge with my observations in creating software such as Butterflies. My perspective is strictly psychological. Also I believe that the Fisher and Schwartz' tests are based on attraction. I acknowledge the importance of attraction, but I stress having personality factors that fit well together as being the real key.
Q: What else is there that makes your test superior to your two nearest competitors?
JB: 1. My software is more engaging for the I-dating site subscribers, 2. It does not require a long time to complete, 3. The subscribers will relate to the test.
| |
Gayness Is A Sexual Orientation, Not A Political One
LA TIMES -- Aug 28 -- Manhunt.net is one of the most popular gay websites in the world, with 1m registered members in the U.S. alone and 400,000 unique visitors a month. As its name implies, it's a site where many gay men go to find casual sexual encounters.Two weeks ago, news emerged that Jonathan Crutchley, the co-founder of Manhunt.net, had contributed $2,300 to the presidential campaign of John McCain. Uproar ensued. "I believe McCain will be a better commander in chief than Obama, who also opposes gay marriage," Crutchley wrote on a website that covers the online personal ad industry. That explanation might not please every gay activist, but there are gay people of all races, income levels, occupations, body types and, yes, political beliefs. FULL ARTICLE @ LA TIMES
| |
SpeedDate.com Secures $6 Million
PRESS RELEASE -- Aug 28 -- SpeedDate.com, the online speed dating service, has secured $6m in Series B funding from Menlo Ventures. SpeedDate will use this funding to further grow its user base, expand operations, and enhance SpeedDate.com's functionality. The site launched in October '07. SpeedDate.com allows singles to meet each other through 3-minute online speed dates using webcams, audio, and instant messaging.
See all posts on SpeedDate
| |
Shaadi Partners With Vodafone
REUTERS -- Aug 28 -- Online matchmaking services in India have announced tie-ups with telecom service providers, enabling subscribers to view profiles of eligible partners on their mobile phones. Shaadi.com partners with Vodafone and Bharatmatrimony.com with Nokia. In a country with nearly 300m cellphone users, but where only 11m people have access to the Internet, taking matchmaking directly to customers' fingertips makes sense. FULL ARTICLE @ REUTERS
| |
Engage.com's New Facebook App
ENGAGE BLOG -- Aug 28 -- Engage.com, the introduction platform, launched a new application on Facebook called AwesomeIntros. It's a fun game that relies on your intuition to introduce people to a person they've never met before. You just vote on the person you think Engage should introduce to the guy or girl in the poll.
The full article was originally published at Engage blog, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: Engage has also jazzed up the site with a new design and logo. What do you think of the new design compared to the old one? Your comments please...
See all posts on Engage
| |
YuppieDating And DevilsDating Launched
WLD BLOG -- Aug 26 -- WhiteLabelDating.com announced the launch of YuppieDating.co.uk and DevilsDating.co.uk. YuppieDating.co.uk is aimed at young professionals and is supported built on the WLD general database, whereas DevilsDating.co.uk is positioned to target casual daters.
| |
Adryenn Ashley, Book Author - OPW Interview
OPW INTERVIEW -- Aug 27 -- What are you doing to add content to your dating site? Here’s an interesting book/author for you to consider talking to. Adryenn Ashley is author of “Every Single Girl’s Guide to Her Future Husband’s Last Divorce”.
Adryenn, what inspired you to write the book?
I’m like a lot of future second wives. I postponed getting married until I found the right man, but it took a lot longer then I anticipated. By the time I got married, I had a house, retirement and investment assets. I had a lot of my own net worth; I wasn’t marrying into it. So I did a prenup, but I didn’t know everything that needed to be included, and about a year and a half into it, we got into some family law issues with his ex-wife, and I realized that I was wholly and totally unprepared financially for being a second wife. I didn’t protect myself as well as I could have. I accidentally did almost everything right, but had I really known what I was in for, I probably would have done more.
Why do you think people get divorced?
Seventy-five percent of all marriages break down because of financial stress. This leads to the communication breakdown, which then leads to the lack of sex and affairs.
What red flags should a woman look for in a potential (but divorced) partner?
The first thing I would tell any woman who is thinking about marrying a divorced man: Rule number 1: Read the divorce decree. Make sure you know what’s in it; and that it’s actually signed. That happened to a friend of mine. He had to cancel his wedding because he wasn’t actually divorced. It had been ten years but the judge had never signed the papers. If you’re thinking about living together, definitely pull your credit reports. Start having those financial discussions. “I see you have 40 credit cards, they’re all paid off with a zero balance. But why 40?“
Don’t ever think of a prenup as “I’m protecting myself against my future spouse.” Think of it as “I’m protecting myself for my future spouse.” That’s the whole point. As a very litigious society, we have 92 million lawsuits every year and 98% of them are settled out of court. Only 2% go to trial because people know they can sue you, and your insurance company would rather settle out of court. Bottom line, you want to protect your assets and your privacy.
If you could wave your magic wand, what would you do to improve the world’s divorce rate?
I am trying to get everyone to think of a martial partnership agreement as the rock-solid foundation of their marriage. It sets you up financially, emotionally, it makes sure that your hopes and dreams are aligned. People do grow apart, but the last thing you want is to find out ten years into your marriage that you’re the ‘pay the house off’ type and your partner is the ‘leverage the house, mortgage it to the hilt and invest in higher returning assets’ type.
What is your key advice to women in the book?
Get educated. We tend to put blinders on top of rose-colored glasses. If you look at religious marriage counseling, a four-hour marriage class reduces your divorce risk from 50% to 20%. Those four hours are all about asking those difficult conversation questions, which are key. If you don’t want to have a prenup, don’t have one, but do the work anyway. The work is what is going to get you that low divorce rate, because if you do what I tell you to do in my 40 hour marriage planning class, your chance of divorce drops to about 4% instead of 50%, and down from 70% for a second marriage. I teach this class once a year, and I’ll soon certify others to lead classes throughout the country, but you can do the work yourself by following the steps in the book.
How can men protect themselves from divorce?
Right now, there’s a marriage strike going on. A lot of men are not getting married. They see an outrageous court order of $40,000 for Kimora Lee Simmons children (who makes plenty of money on her own). Why $40,000? Do their children need that kind of lifestyle? How much does it cost to feed a child?
Or let’s say your wife has an affair and gets pregnant. In most states, you’re automatically the legal father regardless of whether or not you’re the biological father. There are so many reasons for men not to get married that there’s every reason for them to do this marital partnership agreement work; to really get to know the person they’re marrying, to have these agreements up front.
According to the Red Cross, 23% of babies born into marriage, just by blood typing alone, could not possibly be the husband’s child. That’s almost 1 in 4. If you take into account the report from the Association of Blood Banks, of the DNA challenges in paternity establishment for unmarried couples, over 30% of the people who said “That’s my baby’s daddy” were wrong.
Bottom line, the best insurance you can give yourself and your marriage is the gift of communication. Make sure you talk regularly, and that big decisions are shared equally. The real secret is that making sure you are financially compatible is the best indicator of whether or not you’ll make it to your 50 year wedding anniversary!
| |
WhiteLabelDating.com By The Numbers
OPW -- Aug 27 -- WhiteLabelDating.com continues its growth streak with a $20m run rate and 15% growth each month. According to WLD's co-founder, Ross Williams, the monthly revenue has quadrupled since September 2007 and is expecting to hit $2m/month by December 2008. WhiteLabelDating.com is a UK-based software company that enables partners to set up their own branded, online dating sites. Products offerings that are in the works include video profiles, video chat and online speed dating.
| |
NYC's New Dating Service
PRESS RELEASE -- Aug 26 -- OnSpeedDating.com is a new dating site ideal for busy New Yorkers. OnSpeedDating.com is a new breed of speed dating where the events are geared more towards interests, backgrounds and/or preferences. Some up-coming OnSpeedDating.com events include speed dating for busy executives, volleyball players, gay men, and Wall Street traders. FULL ARTICLE @ 24-7 PRESS RELEASE
| |
AnotherFriend Adds Virtual Dating, OmniDate
PR WEB -- Aug 25 -- Members of AnotherFriend, one of Ireland's premier dating sites, can now enjoy getting to know each other in a virtual café before meeting in person. OmniDate's plug and play application transforms traditional online chats and emails into interactive virtual dates. Consumers use personalized 3D avatars to interact with each other. "Virtual dates help users really get to know each other and weed out people who are not a good match with minimum emotional and physical investment upfront." explains Ravit Abelman, co-founder of OmniDate. FULL ARTICLE @ PR WEB
| |