DALLAS OBSERVER - June 22 - On Tuesday, another federal suit was filed in Dallas naming Match.com as a defendant. Two Texas men claim, among other things, that Match.com is bilking subscribers by lying about how emails are sent to and read by (or not read by, as the case may be) non-subscribers to the service. They also allege that Match.com creates "bogus online profiles as evidenced by the number of profiles of allegedly different Members containing identical photographs and identical phrases."
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Yet Another Federal Deceptive Trade Practices Suit Filed Against Match.com
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You Deleted Your Dating Profile. Is It Really Gone?
GLOBE AND MAIL - June 21 - Beware what you share while searching for love online, your intimate details may linger long after you have found it. That’s the warning from the Privacy Commission of Canada in a report tabled today in Parliament. A Canadian woman asked eHarmony to delete her account. eHarmony said it could not “entirely delete her record of having joined, or remove her personal information.” eHarmony only “anonymizes” the information because 40% of member reactivate within two years. The online dating site should give users a chose between deactivating accounts and deleting them permanently – and needed to be clear about the process for doing so. eHarmony responded by saying it would keep personal information of departing clients for two years. While the commission accepted eHarmony’s actions, the report also pointed out that many of the online dating sites do not have privacy policies.
by Erin Anderssen
The full article was originally published at Globe and Mail, but is no longer available.
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Interview: Henry Badenhorst, the Gaydar Guy
PINK NEWS - June 21 - Henry Badenhorst is arguably one of Britain’s most influential gay men. The source of his influence comes from his ownership of Gaydar, the online dating platform he co-founded, which boasts ~6M subscribers worldwide. While Gaydar is hugely popular in the UK, South Africa and Australia, the service hasn’t replicated that success in America. Gaydar initially entered the US market via a partner, but with mixed results. Looking ahead Badenhorst is contemplating becoming involved with London’s annual Pride event, which he thinks pales in comparison to similar events held by Sydney and Brighton.
by Laurence Watts
See full article at Pink News
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Inaugural iDateStartup.com to Take Place June 22 in Los Angeles
PRESS RELEASE - June 21 - iDateStartup.com are a series of free business networking events that provide a relaxed and enjoyable forum for entrepreneurs to make new contacts, network with colleagues and business leaders. The inaugural iDateStartup also coincides with the 8th annual West Coast Internet Dating Industry Conference. The conference takes place on June 22-24, 2011 at the SLS Hotel in Los Angeles, CA. Pre-registration is required and can be made at http://www.idatestartup.com.
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Kerrang! Radio Launches Dating Site on WhiteLabelDating.com Platform
WLD - June 21 - Kerrang! Radio has launched into the world of online dating with KerrangDating.co.uk, powered by WhiteLabelDating.com. KerrangDating.co.uk aims to provide their listeners with the perfect place to meet like-minded singles. Kerrang! has won many awards in its time, from Media Brand Of The Year to Station Of The Year, taking away 21 awards in its launch year alone.
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Poll Results: How Many Payment Processors Do You Have?
OPW - June 21 - We wondered how many dating services had backup payment processors so we ran rough-n-ready poll on the side bar of OPW. Here's the results.
We asked dating site managers: How many payment processors do you have?
There were 46 respondents. 39% said they had only one. 26% said they had two, it's always good to have a backup. 15% said they were using three and 20% even had 4 or more payment processors.
So, according to the results of this survey, more than a half of dating sites use more than one payment processor. This survey was kindly sponsored by Courtland Brooks client Optimal Payments, which provides payment processing to some of the biggest names in idating.
If you'd like a copy of a free advisory spreadsheet listing ALL the major payment processors in use by the dating industry, please email me at mark@courtlandbrooks.com.
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New York Magazine Partners with HowAboutWe
MEDIABISTRO - June 20 - New York magazine and the online dating site HowAboutWe have partnered to launch a new dating site, housed within New York’s site. The site will be promoted heavily by the magazine, and revenue between the two brands will be split evenly.
by Chris O'Shea
The full article was originally published at MediaBistro, but is no longer available.
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Time Spent on Mobile Apps Has Surpassed Web Browsing
TECH CRUNCH - June 20 - According to mobile app analytics firm Flurry, the average user now spends 9% more time using mobile apps than the Internet. In June users spent an average of 81 minutes daily on mobile apps, compared to 74 minutes on the web. This compares to 66 minutes on mobile apps daily in December of 2010, and 70 minutes spent daily on the web. Games and Social Networking categories dominate, capturing 47% and 32% on consumer time spent daily, respectively.
by Leena Rao
See full article at Tech Crunch
This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.
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BeautifulPeople Dumps 30,000 Members
GUARDIAN.CO.UK - June 20 - BeautifulPeople was meant to be a dating site exclusively for the use of "beautiful men and women", where members ruthlessly selected and excluded those who did not match their definitions of good looks. But last month when BeautifulPeople.com was attacked by a computer virus, some claim standards slipped and ~30K new members gained admittance. Now, in a move which has made those rejected "apoplectic" with rage, they have been unceremoniously booted off at a financial cost of ~$100,000 (£62,000) to the site's operators. The virus was quickly named Shrek. Shrek had affected the software that existing members use to rate prospective new entrants, allowing anyone to join.
by Rupert Neate
See full article at Guardian.co.uk
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TennisDate.com for Sale
OPW - June 19 - Niche dating site TennisDate.com is for sale and listed on Flippa.com, "eBay" for websites. You can bid here if you are interested. The price is now at $4500 and the bidding is closing in 25 days.
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New Branding Rules: Tell Me a Story
OPW - June 18 - If you're not hitting your audience at their hearts, and sexual senses, you're probably not converting users on your dating sites very well. Intel, used the story of wedding photographers in China.
So, Intel, of all companies, is featuring a wedding story? How are you showcasing your success stories on your dating sites? Isn't it worth sending a cameraman to the weddings of some of your users?
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Last Day to Register Online iDate Los Angeles
OPW - June 17 - Today is the last day to register online for the 7th annual west coast Internet Dating Industry Conference. The event takes place in Los Angeles on June 22-24, 2011 at the SLS Hotel. You can also register at the event.
Some of the speakers include:
- The Honorable Mae Flexer (Connecticut State Assembly)
- Liz James (CEO of PinkSofa.com)
- Brendan O'Kane (CEO of Messmo Media)
- Robinne Burrell (Director of Mobile Products at Match.com)
- Monica Ohara (Director of Marketing at Click2Asia)
- Joel Simkhai (CEO of Grindr)
- Julie Ferman (CEO of Cupid’s Coach)
- Peter McGreevy (Attorney at McGreevy & Henle, LLP)
- Vanae (CEO of Vanae.com)
- Mark Brooks (Publisher of Online Personals Watch)
- Ann Robbins (CEO of eDateAbility)
- Chas McFeely (CEO of HookChasUp)
- Tai Lopez (CEO of DatingHype.com)
- Michael McQuown (CEO of Thunder Road)
Special pre-event sessions have been added to the event: one for startups, one for seasoned CEO’s and one for matchmakers.
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Apple Researching How the iPhone Can Help You Find Date
MACRUMORS - June 16 - Social networking has been the biggest trend in the recent years. Apple has already tried delve into this market with its iTunes network Ping, though with limited success. Based on a new patent app published today, it seems Apple has been exploring far more ambitious attempts using the iPhone, location-based services and interest matching. iPhone could find you your next friend, business partner or date. Common interests and experiences of two or more users located close to each other can be identified from content, including automatically created usage data of the mobile devices. (e.g., songs downloaded), a trajectory of the mobile device (e.g., places traveled), or other public data available from the mobile device (e.g., pictures shared).
by Arnold Kim
See full article at MacRumors
This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.
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Can DesiSpark.com Disrupt the Paid Online Matrimony Business?
MEDIANAMA - June 16 - DesiSpark.com has been launched as a free online matrimonial portal. The pitch which DesiSpark makes in its press release is that it is trying to end India’s Matrimony Monopoly, highlighting a key differentiator is that compared to the others, it is free. Can a free service matrimonial disrupt existing paid businesses? Probably not. It is key for matrimonial services to be able to put a certain barrier to entry for contacting prospective partners, else they will be over-run with non-serious solicitations. In fact, there’s a market for a higher barrier to entry, which has seen the launch of Elite Matrimony.
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Economy of Sex: It’s Cheap These Days
WASHINGTON TIMES - June 15 - We put a price tag on sex. Sex, at one level, is an exchange. Each person gives the other person something of themselves. But it is typically a different something", said University of Texas sociology professor Mark Regnerus. Mr. Regnerus and co-author Jeremy Uecker use sexual economics theory in their new data-driven book, “Premarital Sex in America: How Young Americans Meet, Mate and Think About Marrying.” Many young women like to spend some time in the sex market before moving on to the marriage market,” Mr. Regnerus said. The new sexual economy is especially disadvantageous to any woman who wants to remain a virgin until her wedding day. These women essentially never enter the sex market, but instead “hold out for the highest price for sex, which is marriage.” Today, that is a high-risk strategy, Mr. Regnerus explained, using a housing-market analogy: “You can’t just decide that your house is worth $500,000 if everyone else is getting $200,000. The price of sex is pretty low.”
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