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

Badoo COO on Social Network Dating

STRATEGY EYE - Aug 19 - Badoo describes itself as a ‘meeting network’, enabling users to find, chat and flirt with each other online. Here, COO Bart Swanson talks competition in the social networking space.
                    
Q: How do you stand out from other social networking sites?
A: We don’t believe there’s a social network out there that’s in the meeting network space. Dating sites are after people who are looking for serious relationships; Facebook is the place where you go to meet with your existing friends. 

Q: What platforms are you available on?
A: We have our own platform. We have an app on Facebook. We’re also on mobile. iPhone, Android and a WAP site. iPhone is the biggest and we see 2M downloads. 

Q: What is your business model?
A: Badoo is first and foremost a free service. We have two ways in which we monetize. By customers who pay for subscriptions, getting various added services such as advanced search. The other part is premium one-offs. For example, you can promote yourself. We have been profitable for the last 24 months. 

Q: You’ve raised $30M in VC funding. Are you looking to raise more cash?
A: We’re trying to figure it out right now. The company does not need any cash for expansion.

Q: What do you think is the hottest trend in digital media right now?
A: Location-based services on mobile

by Sarah Vizard
The full article was originally published at Strategy Eye, but is no longer available.

See all posts on Badoo

Sell Your Internet Dating Site!

OPW - Aug 24 - Courtland Brooks has a number of clients who are actively looking for internet dating site acquisition and investment opportunities, along with co-reg and profile buys. Budgets run from the $thousands to the $millions. Interested?  Please let me know what you've got, and we'll vet and forward to clients for their consideration.  If you don't mind being public, and have a reasonable 'priced-to-sell' price in mind, we can also list your site for sale on OPW.  There's not cost for this.  You can see a list of our current clients under on the right bar of OPW. - [email protected].

iDate INSIDE Series: Episode #1 - Inside SpeedDate.com

OPW - Aug 23 - iDate INSIDE are a series of videos covering the inner operations of internet dating companies. The video shows the offices and the culture. Here is the first episode, a sneak peek into the SpeedDate.com's office.

See all posts on SpeedDate

For Sale: Be2.net, Bachelors.com, CupidCab.com

OPW - Aug 23 - Be2.net domain is for sale along with ~200K profiles. Contact Sladur LTD, if you are interested. Contact Alan Mooney for Bachelors.com. The asking price is $100k; and Mike Garcia  is selling cupidcab.com for $10K which includes the pink cab :)

See all domains & sites for sale

Dating Disasters in 140 Characters or Less

ABC NEWS - Aug 23 - FirstDateHell and its sister site Crapdate.com, which archives the jaw-dropping tweets, were founded by columnist and tech writer Rhodri Marsden. Since the beginning of FirstDateHell earlier this month, the page has received hundreds of comments and stories about similarly traumatic dating scenarios.

by Nina Terrero
See full article at ABC News

Call for Volunteers, for InternetDatingScience.com

OPW - Aug 23 - We could really use a couple more reviewers for InternetDatingScience.com (IDS). Care to help? It would entail reviewing a paper a month, and summarizing it for IDS, the sister site to OPW. Write us at [email protected].

Interview with Steve Pasternack, CEO of SugarDaddie, 7orbetter and MeetAtTheAirport

OPW INTERVIEW - Aug 23 -

You’ve got an interesting background I understand. What did you used to do?
I was a Bonds trader. I worked on the New York markets exchange.  I was a trader for 18 years.

What prompted the change?
In 2001 things were changing financially for the markets and my 18 years on the trading floor were starting to take their toll, so I decided to move back to Florida. At that time all the .coms were collapsing. It wasn’t the best industry to be in. I was looking for something different when I heard something from Ron Jeremy, a new way to make some money. The idea made me think of my multi-millionaire friends in NY and my friends in Florida and how I could put these people together through a dating site, make everyone happy.

Why would you encourage people to meet at the airport?
There are so many reasons. For example, say you’re flying to a new city, you can arrange to meet someone at the airport and they can be your tour guide, companion, possible romantic fling. It’s exciting flying somewhere and meeting someone new. The airport is actually a good place to meet a complete stranger. They have had gone through security and proven their ID, proven they are not carrying any weapons.

For 7OrBetter.com...  Do you know how many guys are 7 or better in the USA?
Obviously men in general are not 7 or better, that is not the average size. However, there are 1000's of men out there that are 7 or better and it can be difficult for them to find a woman who can accommodate their size. There are also women that require a guy that is a bit larger.

What’s your male to female ratio, are there more guys than girls?
It’s generally about 50:50.

Sugardaddie.com, is your most frequented property.  There's some controversy surrounding the sugardaddy concept. Is it really just prostitution? What’s your thoughts?
That’s a question I always get asked and sometimes it’s difficult to explain.  If a woman is charging by the hour/day then that’s a business transaction and that’s prostitution.  But if it’s part of an ongoing relationship in which the guy is taking care of the woman, not necessarily helping her financially but always taking her on trips etc then that’s a legal relationship. Some say it’s the same as a marriage, where the husband pays for everything and the wife doesn’t have to worry about anything. It’s because of the age difference and the fact that the man takes care of the woman that raises an eyebrow but apart from that it’s just the same as any other relationship.

Do you have any plans to launch more dating sites?
I’m always looking for ideas but at the moment I just have the 3 sites.

See all posts on SugarDaddie.com
See all posts on 7OrBetter
See all posts on MeetAtTheAirport

The Attraction-Similarity Model and Dating Couples

INTERNET DATING SCIENCE - Aug 23 - Internet Dating Science, a new service by Courtland Brooks, summarizes the best academic papers so you can improve your idating site, and help users make better connections.

Study: The Attraction-Similarity Model and Dating Couples: Projection, Perceived Similarity, and Psychological Benefits  

Authors:  Marian M. Morry, Mie Kito and Lindsey Ortiz; all of University of Manitoba

Are we really attracted to people who are similar to us? Or do we, instead, find similarities with those to whom we are attracted?  The authors of this article report on three studies.  Their theory states that attraction leads to finding and, sometimes inventing, a sense of similarity between two dating people.  Taken together, these studies demonstrate that psychological benefits are related to the perception of similarity between two people who are dating.

FULL SUMMARY

Dr Brenner: Based on this information, you should:
1. Not over estimate the appeal of matching systems that predominantly emphasize similarity as this will likely be insufficient in creating a connection between prospective dating couples.
2. Watch for member fatigue or burnout on marketing or matching or communication systems that emphasize similarity. Repeated experience with feeling as though your system is miscalibrated and untrustworthy is likely if they are not attracted to the people who your system says is similar to them.
3. Consider that attraction is a key element in how much your members will feel an affinity for other members on your site, which in turn leads to more member retention and less member churn.
4. Be mindful that understanding what your members' find attractive is an element of helping them to find a dating connection and satisfaction with your site.

Redemption Clock for eHarmony Is Ticking

REUTERS - Aug 23 - Two of eHarmony's main backers stand to gain extra leverage over the company when redemption rights from its last financing round kick in -- an unusual development in the venture capital business. The rights come into play after November 5 for Technology Crossover Ventures and Sequoia Capital, which invested when eHarmony raised $110M in 2004. The firms will have the right to require eHarmony to buy back their preferred shares in four quarterly installments.

by Alistair Barr
See full article at Reuters

See all posts on eHarmony

Young Gays Are More Comfortable than Straights Finding Love Online

LA WEEKLY - Aug 22 - Despite an exaggerated stereotype that gay men are online looking only for sex, most are actually looking for something more serious. According to OkCupid's in-house analysis of ~3.2M users, 45% of gay people have slept with five or fewer people (vs. 44% for straights), and 98% have slept with fewer than twenty (vs. 99% for straights). Among gay men, the quality of guys available online is allegedly a lot higher, as far more people feel comfortable using the Internet as matchmaker.

by Amanda Lewis
The full article was originally published at LA Weekly, but is no longer available.

See all posts on OkCupid

CEO of City-Date.ru to Speak at the iDate in Moscow

WEBWIRE - Aug 23 - Maria Degtyar, the CEO of City-Date.ru will discuss the business of Speed Dating in Russia at the 8th annual European Dating Industry Conference (iDate) in Moscow. City Date is the event management company providing speed dating and matchmaking services in Moscow.

See full article at Webwire

Dating Site Launches at UCLA

DAILY BRUIN - Aug 22 - DateMySchool.com, a dating site aimed exclusively at college students launched this week at UCLA. The free site follows a format resembling similar social sites, with a profile page and an option to message other users.

by Yanting Li
See full article at Daily Bruin

See all posts on DateMySchool

Cupid Buys Brazilian Dating Sites

STOCK MARKETWIRE - Aug 22 - Cupid has taken over several Brazilian online dating sites for a total of $0.75M. The sites include AondeNamoro.com, a traditional online dating site, and SolteirosComFilhos.com, a dating site for single parents. The combined sites have 1.4M members.

See full article at Stock Marketwire

See all posts on Cupid plc

Marry for Love, Not Money, China Tells Gold-digger Brides

DAILY TELEGRAPH - Aug 21 - With divorce rates soaring, the Chinese government is now trying to stop women marrying for money, rather than love. "There are more and more girls who want to marry rich men and improve their financial position. It has been a notable increase," said Wang Zhiguo, a consultant at Baihe, a Beijing-based matchmaking website. "It is an unhealthy trend and the government is now trying to restrict it." There were 2.68M divorces last year.

by Malcolm Moore
The full article was originally published at Vancouver Sun, but is no longer available.

See all posts on Baihe

Match.com Ordered to Prove it Screens for Sex Offenders

NBC LOS ANGELES - Aug 21 - A LA Superior Court Judge said he wants proof that Match.com is living up to its screening promises. Match.com was sued in April by Carole Markin, who said she was sexually assaulted by a man she met on Match.com. She later found out the man had prior sexual battery convictions. If Match.com provides proof of an operable system being used, the lawsuit would likely be settled.

See full article at NBC Los Angeles

Mark Brooks: S2verify.com and Backgrounchecks.com are the background check providers in use by TRUE and Match.com.

See all posts on Match.com