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Chicago Gays Log On To Grindr
CHICAGO NOW - Jan 27 - Grindr spread like wildfire over the past two years. And all by word of mouth, users say. Chicago has~22,100 active Grindr users as of September 2010, with the average user spending about an hour and 30 minutes logged in a day. They describe Grindr as an evolution in technology from other online gay dating sites like OKCupid, Gaydar and Match.com. FULL ARTICLE @ CHICAGO NOW
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Does Social Media Speed Up Romances?
GLOBE AND MAIL - Jan 27 - A survey of 1,200 men and women by Shape and Men’s Fitness magazines found that 80% of women and 58%of men said using social media accelerates the sexy times. 70% of women and 63% of men said they use Google and other online tools to screen potential dates. 65% said they had been asked out through SMS. 49% said they had been asked out through a Facebook message.
The full article was originally published at Globe and Mail, but is no longer available.
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Lasting Encounters Caters To Professionals Looking For Love
PR WEB - Jan 27 – Lasting Encounters, which is an upscale dating and relationship service, opened its doors to busy professionals on January 3rd. According to founder Patricia Ochoa, Lasting Encounters' mission is to “help singles become their best selves before seeking love.” Lasting Encounters does not arrange dates based on a list of interests. Instead, the relationship coaches spend significant amounts of time working with each client on lifestyle management through one-on-one coaching. There are three levels of membership: Executive, Premium and Exclusive V.I.P.
The full article was originally published at SF Chronicle, but is no longer available.
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Badoo Has Reached The 100 Million User Mark
MOBILE ENTERTAINMENT - Jan 26 – Social dating company Badoo has reached the 100 million user mark with 300,000 new users per day. The four year-old start-up is a global, multi-lingual, location-based, social dating network, focused on chatting, flirting and meeting new people. Badoo is available in 180 countries and its site receives 7 billion page views per month. Badoo's Facebook app is used by over 23 million people per month and ranks seventh in the top 10 of all Facebook apps. “The first and biggest shift is from ‘marital dating’ to ‘social dating’ or casual dating”, says Bart Swanson, Badoo's COO.
The full article was originally published at Mobile Entertainment, but is no longer available.
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iovation Device Reputation Stopped 35 Million Fraud Attempts In 2010
BUSINESS WIRE - Jan 26 – Fraud prevention service iovation successfully protected 4.5 billion financial transactions while thwarting 35 million fraud attempts in 2010. iovation's device reputation technology utilizes a database of over 500 million unique devices, including computers, tablets and mobile phones to block transactions from devices involved with fraudulent activities. Total fraud and abuse experiences reported grew by 76%, totaling more than 4 million events associated with devices and accounts. Greg Pierson, founder and CEO of iovation, is proud of his company's performance in 2010 and is highly optimistic for 2011. FULL ARTICLE @ BUSINESS WIRE
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Groupon Seeks Guinness Record For Largest Speed Dating Event
NBC CHICAGO - Jan 25 – Groupon is teaming up with HurryDate.com and Players Sports Group to try and break a world record for the largest ever speed dating event. 500 tickets will be sold on Groupon for $85 worth of speed dating for only $40. The event will be held on February 8th. FULL ARTICLE @ NBC CHICAGO
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Smartdate Survey Sheds Light On Transatlantic Love
PR WEB - Jan 25 – French dating site Smartdate conducted a survey with 7,400 of its French and American members to uncover the mystery of the French-American love story. Italians, it seems, are a major part of this story as well. Here are the results: If you asked a French single, which “nationality would you rather date?”, the answer would be Italian (39%) and then American (37%). The French-American love story is reciprocal as French men are also a close second for American ladies (35%) behind the Italians - again (38%), while French women rank first (42%) for American men. Pop culture clichés seem to be most influential is these beliefs. FULL ARTICLE @ PR WEB
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Technology And Innovation Transform Online Dating
BUFFALO NEWS - Jan 25 – A host of new online dating services are transforming the online dating landscape with innovative new ideas, adding alternatives to traditional online dating. With more than 800 online dating sites, according to Mark Brooks, who edits Online Personals Watch, consumers have many decisions to make before the dating even begins. Launched in 2010, Cheek'd, provides members with cards, similar to business cards, containing an icebreaker message and a code. Cards are given to potential dates offline to hopefully initiate an online contact. Virtual world, Weopia, allows people to go on cyber dates prior to meeting in person. Other sites, such as SpeedDate, Skout, Goodwizz, and CanDoBetter, are all adding interesting alternatives for the estimated 20 million Americans who date online.
The full article was originally published at Buffalo News, but is no longer available.
See all posts on Cheek’d See all posts on SpeedDate
See all posts on Weopia See all posts on CanDoBetter.com
See all posts on Skout
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BharatMatrimony Announces Facebook Integration
ONLINE PR MEDIA - Jan 25 – BharatMatrimony, based in India, is the world's first and largest matrimonial website. The site is now integrating its service with Facebook to allow social media users to select the perfect life partner for themselves, their friends and family members. Through this service, Facebook users will be able to search BharatMatrimony's database of 20 million profiles and recommend matches to friends and family. Murugavel Janakiraman, Founder and CEO, BharatMatrimony says “Social media is the way forward in the way we communicate and interact.” FULL ARTICLE @ ONLINE PR MEDIA
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Singlesquare App Adds Location-based Dating To Foursquare
CNET NEWS - Jan 21 – Singlesquare is a new iPhone app which builds a location-based dating service using Foursquare's check-in technology. The experience is based around 'sightings' of single people in public venues. Users may add themselves to a specific location and designate themselves as looking for love. The app allows users to browse nearby venues and see how many other Singlesquare users are there, as well as send messages to other users. Singlesquare is the newest member to the location-based dating scene also populated by StreetSpark, MeetMoi Now, Skout and Grindr. FULL ARTICLE @ CNET NEWS
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Butterflysocial.co.uk Looks To Bring Social Dating To The Forefront This Valentine’s Day
RESPONSE SOURCE - Jan 21 – Jenni Regan, founder of Butterflysocial.co.uk, hopes that social dating will revolutionize the dating experience. Social dating is focused on small group events for singles catering to specific interests. This site, and others like it, aim to overcome the common obstacles of traditional dating and online dating. Regan said: “Internet dating can be so daunting and very hit and miss. Butterflysocial.co.uk is all about getting people out in small groups for relaxed and easy-going evening or afternoon events.” FULL ARTICLE @ RESPONSE SOURCE
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IMVU Online 3D World Gaining Popularity As A Dating Platform
MUSIC TALKERS - Jan 21 – IMVU is an online virtual 3D world where users can meet and interact with new people. The service is available to all ages, though there are strict age verification procedures to prevent access to adult sections by minors. This is an important feature, as the service is increasingly being used for online dating. IMVU is free to join and customize your own avatar, with additional features and upgrades available at a cost. FULL ARTICLE @ MUSIC TALKERS
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Victoria Milan Caters To Infidelity Niche In Europe
POLITIKEN.DK - Jan 23 – Victoria Milan launched in Norway in October 2010 and has recently expanded operations to Sweden, England and Denmark. The infidelity dating market has always met resistance, but site manager, Sigurd Vedal defends his business, stating that market analysis revealed that 30-35% of dating site members are in a committed relationship and that this market segment had the most room for growth. When confronted with questions of the morality of offering such a service, Vedal contends that his site, Victoria Milan, did not create infidelity; people choose to be unfaithful long before they sign up for the site. FULL ARTICLE @ POLITIKEN.DK
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The iDate Awards Winners 2011 Were...
OPW - Jan 21 - The 2011 iDate awards took place at National Hotel banquet hall in Miami Beach. We're proud to announce the following award winners.
- Best Up and Coming Dating Site
OKCupid
- Best Marketing Campaign
LoveStruck.com
- Best Affiliate Program
WhiteLabelDating.com
- Best Payment System
PayPal
- Best New Technology
Intro Analytics
- Most Innovative Company
OKCupid
- Best Matchmaker
Julie Ferman, eLove (Cupid's Coach)
- Best Mobile Dating Site
Grindr
- Best Dating Software Provider
WhiteLabelDating.com
- Best Dating Site Design
OKCupid
- Best Dating Site
OKCupid
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Datingstartshere Is Hiring
OPW - Jan 20 - Datingstartshere, a startup, that offers affiliate related distribution to the 1,000 and more online dating sites, is looking for an Affiliate Manager, Dating Agregator.
Prior experience in the affiliate marking field with real estate listing services, travel sellers and resellers, or job boards will be helpful. The position is full time and located in Reston, Virginia. Travel to the home offices of many of the dating sites will be required. A technical team is in place, and financing is secure. Working conditions are excellent, and a substantial performance based upside is available.
Contact Mike Baldock if you are interested in working for Datingstartshere.
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Gotham Wants To Build The ‘Facebook Of The Dating world’
THE STAR - Jan 20 - Gotham Dating Partners, a dating company behind such websites as PrisonHookup.com and UglyPeopleDate.com plans to re-launch the site on Valentine’s Day. Gotham will build profiles of public information from social networks, mailing lists, marketing surveys, marriage and divorce records, government census records, real estate listings and personal and business websites. Once the information is posted, a person can delete or update their profile for free but will be charged a fee if they want to contact any other member. If the profile lists the person as single, their profile will automatically be added to the dating section of Gotham’s site. FULL ARTICLE @ THE STAR
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How Has Internet Dating Changed Society?
OPW - Jan 19 - This morning I'm keynoting at iDate Miami. The biggest conference for the Internet dating industry. We'll be reviewing numbers and trends, but the real long term changes to the dating industry will be determined by the executives leading dating companies. The mindsets of executives will determine how idating will serve singles and prosper. We wondered what their ideals were, and how they considered their work was changing society. So we sent out a survey asking the 400 executive members of the Internet Dating Executive Alliance how they thought Internet dating had changed society, and how it might change society it in the future.
This white paper is a compendium of their responses. Executives from Match, People Media, Shaadi, Bharat Matrimony, Baihe, Fling, Parship, Friendscout24 and Christiancafe responded, among many others. 39 in all. Please take a coffee, take 10, and soak this up and let us know your thoughts as a comment on this post.
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eHarmony CEO Gregory Waldorf Resigns
BLOOMBERG - Jan 19 – Gregory Waldorf, who has run internet dating site eHarmony for nearly five years, will step down from his CEO position. eHarmony's president and COO, Greg Steiner, will assume the role of CEO on an interim basis while the board searches for a permanent CEO. “As eHarmony begins its second decade, the time is right for me to step down,” Waldorf said in the statement, without providing a specific reason for leaving. This leadership change may delay an IPO for eHarmony, which has been a constant consideration according to Waldorf. eHarmony is valued at about $600M according to SharePost Inc.
The full article was originally published at Bloomberg, but is no longer available.
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When Strangers Click - Online Dating Movie To Debut On HBO2 Valentine’s Day
PRESS RELEASE - Jan 19 – The new movie, When Strangers Click, chronicles the stories of five people in search of love online. It will air on HBO2 on Valentine’s Day, 2011. The stories in When Strangers Click were selected from hundreds submitted via the Web, including Twitter, Facebook and Second Life. The movie is directed and produced by Robert Kenner, of Oscar®-nominated “Food, Inc.” fame. FULL ARTICLE @ HBO
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