Online Personals Watch: News on the Online Dating Industry and Business

Patti Stanger's Ex-Employee Starts Her Own Matchmaking Agency

MODERN MOM - Oct 19 - Chelsea Autumn was Patti Stanger's go-to employees. After eight years working for loud-mouthed Patti, Chelsea has had enough. She is starting her own matchmaking agency called "Queen of Hearts." Chelsea says that while she is grateful for the opportunity she had, Patti "treated people like crap", adding that "karma is a bitch." Well, it's pretty obvious that Patti could be a tough employer, but her bitchy persona is what got her into the biz and made her uber successful.

The full article was originally published at Modern Mom, but is no longer available.

Virtual Dating Expands Into Social Networking

PR WEB - Oct 19 - BoonEx, a provider of social networking software, has released a virtual dating feature, developed by OmniDate. Virtual dating is fun and safe way for people to get to know each other in a virtual environment, such as a virtual cafe, before meeting in person. Users interact through photo-realistic 3D characters, which respond naturally to the typed text (e.g., typing LOL makes an avatar laugh). They can even blow a kiss or reach over and touch the hand of the other avatar. Companies using the Dolphin platform, BoonEx flagship product, can now activate virtual dating on their websites. FULL ARTICLE @ PR WEB

See all posts on BoonEx
See all posts on Omnidate

Ashley Madison Targets Adulterers In Europe

CANOE.CA MONEY - Oct 18 - Controversial infidelity website AshleyMadison is launching across Europe this month. CEO Noel Biderman said the European response has been “mind-blowing” with 600K clicks on the German site and 100K members already signed up to the U.K. service. After Germany, Ashley Madison will land in Austria and Switzerland before hitting France, Spain, South America and Asia next year.

The full article was originally published at Canoe.ca Money, but is no longer available.

See all posts on AshleyMadison

Lead Generation And iDating Directories

OPW - Oct 19 - There's a great interview on Mixergy with Jay Weintraub who runs the LeadCon shows which see ~3500 attendees a year. He points out a few sites that are doing well with Lead Gen. I recommend affiliates help users discern which idating sites they should be using with honest and forthright reviews. That kind of affiliate idating guide/site is still a great rarity unfortunately. - Mark Brooks

Read the full post on FrequentFlirters.

Merchants Of Dissatisfaction

SETH GODIN'S BLOG - Oct 17 - Many marketers are able to sell their wares by making us dissatisfied with what we already have.  It's not that far from, "This will make you happy!" to "You're unhappy/ugly/lonely/using obsolete technology, better buy this which will help fix the problem." FULL ARTICLE @ SETH GODIN'S BLOG

Mark Brooks: Daters are more choosy these days. Why? Just have a look at this picture! Magazines run glossy ads with pictures of women, and men, with unobtainable physiques. This is a major problem for our personal satisfaction levels. Firstly, we feel like we're inferior because we look nothing like the images we see in magazines. i.e. I don't have 'cut' abs. Secondly, I think many singles aspire to meeting people like the ones they see in magazines. Forget it! They don't exist.  

Is this good or bad for the idating industry?

What Your Personality Says About Your Love Life

MSN.COM - Oct 15 - Helen Fisher, a professor of anthropology at Rutgers University, can determine your personality and your characteristics within a relationship. After pouring over 40,000 responses to a questionnaire she developed for chemistry.com, fisher believes she's solved the riddle of romantic chemistry and has zeroed in on four different personality types based on chemicals in our brain. In her book "Why Him? Why Her?", she characterizes four dominant traits - Explorers, Builders, Directors and Negotiators - that guide who you’re attracted to and how you can use that knowledge to find lasting love. Throughout this book, Helen fisher has offered many comments on how each primary personality type thinks, courts and loves; described some of their tremendous assets (and challenges) on a date and in a relationship; and discussed how each might improve their partnerships. FULL ARTICLE @ MSN.COM

Online Dating Surges In Ireland

INDEPENDENT - Oct 17 - Online dating is becoming the norm for young singles in Ireland. Jill McGrath, managing director of Maybefriends.com, tells me how over the last year she has seen a tremendous growth in the 28--35 age group -- and how it is now the largest age group on the site. "The site database has grown by 30% since January of this year, with the younger age group making up ~53% of this growth. While Ireland is not quite at US and UK levels yet, where it is almost mandatory for singles to be on a dating site, Jill believes we will be there within the next 18 months or so. FULL ARTICLE @ INDEPENDENT

Mark Brooks: Maybefriends competes with Anotherfriend for pole position for the top Irish paid dating site.

See all posts on MaybeFriends

EasyDate Poised For Rapid Growth

DAILY MAIL - Oct 16 - EasyDate was founded five years ago by Bill Dobbie, an entrepreneurial Scot who already knew a fair bit about the potential of the internet, having set up and sold an online DVD rental business. Dobbie was looking for a new venture and hit on online dating. Since then, internet dating has mushroomed and EasyDate has developed into a company valued on the stock market at £85m. EasyDate operates in 29 countries and recently bought cupid.com in the US. ~20% of the group’s revenue comes from outside Britain and Dobbie hopes to increase that to 50% in the next few years. Analysts forecast rapid growth for the firm as profits are expected to more than double from £2.3M in 2009 to £5.2M this year and £8.5M in 2011. FULL ARTICLE @ DAILY MAIL

Mark Brooks: I made the intro for EasyDate to Cupid.  ;-)

See all posts on Cupid plc 
See all posts on Cupid.com

Mobile Payments New Opportunity For Both Merchants And Fraudsters

IOVATION BLOG - Oct 14 - A recent study by Javelin Strategy & Research found that fraud losses from mobile payments as a percentage of total revenue were 1.13% compared to the 0.83% for online-only merchants and 0.86% for multi-channel merchants. iovation protects online businesses and their end users against fraud and abuse and will lead the Mobile Anti-Fraud Roundtables at the Mobile Shopping Summit on October 25 in New York.

The full article was originally published at iovation blog, but is no longer available.

See all posts on iovation

eHarmony To Move To Santa Monica

SM MIRROR - Oct 14 - eHarmony is moving to Santa Monica after the City Council changed an outdated ordinance which outlawed match making services from operating in the city. eHarmony is leaving their current Pasadena location for the roomier location and a closer proximity to other technology firms. In order to move to Santa Monica the council had to look at an ordinance dating back to the 1950s forbidding matching making services that were lumped together with escort services. The council voted to update the ordinance now that online dating services are much more acceptable. FULL ARTICLE @ SM MIRROR

See all posts on eHarmony

Online Dating In Argentina

LA NACION - Oct 9 - According to Match, there are more than 16M singles in Argentina; that's why online dating is an attractive business in Latin America. The number of Match.com's registered users grew 250 % compared to 2009. Zonacitas, the local player, has more than 300.000 registered users and hopes for 400.000 at the end of the year. Claudio Gandelman, General Manger of Match.com Latin America, says his site sees 50.000 new subscribers per month in Argentina and that 800.000 e-mails are exchanged each day in Latin America. FULL ARTICLE @ LA NACION

See all posts on Match.com

Gay Sex Vs. Straight Sex

OK TRENDS - Oct 12 - Gay sexuality is not a threat. Gay people are not sexually interested in straights. OKCupid found out that:
- only 0.6% of gay men have ever searched for straight matches.
- only 0.1% of lesbians have ever searched for straight matches.
- only 0.13% of straight people's profile visitors are gay.
Another common myth about gay people is that they sleep around, but the statistical reality is that gay people as a group aren't any more slutty than straights. OKCupid asked 252,900 straight people have you ever had a sexual encounter with someone of the same sex? ~25% answered 'yes'.
FULL ARTICLE @ OK TRENDS

See all posts on OkCupid

Internet Advertising Hits New Revenue Record

MASHABLE - Oct 13 - According to IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report, businesses and individuals spent ~$12.1 billion on online advertising in the first six months of 2010, up 11.3% from the from the first half of 2009 and 13.9% from the Q2 '09. Search advertising has attracted ~$5.7 billion in spending between January and June this year — a YOY increase of 11.6%. Display advertising, which includes banner ads, digital video, rich media and sponsorships, garnered ~$4.4 billion in the first half of 2010, a 16% increase over the same period in 2009. FULL ARTICLE @ MASHABLE

Mark Brooks: Ad Tech should be busy this year. 

This post also appears on FrequentFlirters.

Looking For A Job?

OPW - Oct 12 - We've updated the iDating industry job listings again. Here are some sample job listings that we thought were interesting:

Be2
Business Intelligence (Senior) Analyst
More info: http://corporate.be2.com/jobs

Cupid Media
   Web Site Translators and Localizers
   Bilingual Customer Service Representatives and Translators
More info: http://www.cupidmedia.com/Career.cfm

eHarmony
   Director, Staffing / USA - CA, Pasadena
   Director, Strategic Planning and Analysis / USA - CA, Santa Monica
   Product Manager (Content/Publishing) / USA - CA, Santa Monica
   HR Generalist / USA - CA, Santa Monica
   Senior Director, Creative Services / USA - CA, Santa Monica
   Public Relations Manager / AU - NS, Sydney
  
FriendFinder Networks
   Product Manager / USA - CA, Sunnyvale
   Business Analyst / USA - CA, Sunnyvale
   Fraud Prevention Coordinator / USA - CA, Sunnyvale
   Fraud Review Analyst / USA - NV, Las Vegas
  
FriendScout24 (description in German)
   Product Owner / Germany - Munchen
   Controller / Germany - Munchen

Gaydar
   Customer Relations Officers 

Global Personals (Webdate, Fling, WealthyMen)
   Internet Affiliate Sales Managers / Online Buyers 
More info: http://www.globalpersonalsmedia.com/careers.html

Lavalife
   Customer Service Representative / Canada - Toronto
More info: corp.lavalife.com/web/corp/careers

Match.com, Chemistry.com, People Media
   Associate Manager, Online & Mobile Marketing / USA - CA, Los Angeles
   Product Manager / USA - TX, Dallas
   Director, Marketing - Singlesnet / USA - TX, Dallas
   Manager, Product (Mobile) / USA - TX, Dallas
  
Online-Buddies
   Mobile (Android) App Developer / USA - MA, Cambridge
   Mobile (iPhone) App Developer / USA - MA, Cambridge

RSVP
   Product Manager
More info: http://jobs.camdenadvertiser.com.au/overview/7568902/

Shaadi
   SEO Expert / India - Mumbai
  
Smartdate
   COO / France - Paris
   Product Manager - CRM / France - Paris
More info: http://jobs.smartdate.com/

Spark Networks
   Director of Acquisition Marketing / USA - CA, Beverly Hills and UT, Provo
  
WhiteLabelDating
   Cold Fusion Developer / UK, Windsor office
   JavaSript/Front-end Developer / UK, Windsor office
   Software Engineers / UK, Windsor office, remote working considered
   Ruby on Rails Developer / UK, Windsor office

WooMe       
   Community Manager
More info: http://www.woome.com/woome/jobs/#sysadmin

Zoosk
   Accounting Manager / USA - CA, San Francisco
   Product Manager / USA - CA, San Francisco
More info: http://www.zoosk.com/jobs.php?from=footer

For the full listing, go here.

Do you have an idating job offer which is not included? Please, send the details (company, job title, location, link to details) to [email protected] and we will add your offer to the list.

Fernando Rips On Recommender Systems

OPW - Oct 12 - Fernando is on the rampage again. This time he's ripping on recommender systems. He says that new recommender systems are rubbish. They provide many false positives. Ultimately, people don't know what they want, and what they say they want is often inaccurate. So I had to ask Nick and Gavin at IntroAnalytics what they thought? Here's their response...

We are more interested in the sweet-spot of "attraction", or grey areas of discovery and serendipity, rather than finding the bull's eye of an exact life-partner match. I'm quite annoyed with him that he is calling all dating recommender systems rubbish. Not sure he understand how sophisticated our work is. Is he going to claim that Netflix and Amazon's use of recommender systems is rubbish too?

I'll be launching InternetDatingScience.com at iDate Miami in January. We'll be making more sense of academia and next generation matchmaking for you. - Mark Brooks