Dating Sites Become Mainstream And Focus On More Niche Markets

MIAMI HERALD - Feb 12 - Jewcier, a new dating site for Jewish singles, is now open to the public and joins nearly 20 other general and niche dating sites owned and operated by Avalanche, co-founded by Meir Strahlberg and his business partner Kris Covino in 1997. Among Avalanche’s largest sites are Date.com, launched on Valentine’s Day in 1997; Matchmaker.com, which Avalanche bought in 2005, and Amor.com, a Latin dating site also launched in 2005, which has more than 20K members in South Florida alone. Avalanche’s domain names are words people naturally type into the Internet, so they don’t have to spend a lot in marketing, Internet dating experts say. “They’re well respected within the industry for being savvy operators,” said Mark Brooks, an online dating industry analyst and editor of onlinepersonalswatch.com. Within the last six months, Avalanche has added five gay dating sites to its portfolio, which already included GayDating.com, GayMen.com, GayMarriage.net, PinkWink.com, which is oriented toward gay women, MyPartner.com and Gay.mx, a Mexican site. Gay sites are “a growing part of our business,” Strahlberg said. Overall, the company’s sites have 10M members worldwide, and 5-10% of them are paying members, Strahlberg said. Strahlberg, who owns half the company, declined to disclose Avalanche’s revenues, but said it is “highly profitable” and has been since its inception. This year, the company may be looking for outside investors for the first time, he said.

by Ina Paiva Cordle
The full article was originally published at Miami Herald, but is no longer available.

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Comments

[Mark Brooks]

The gay dating market niche is desirable because gay members recur for longer periods. They stick around. Avalanche is going after this niche, but its owned by Manhunt and Adam4Adam at present. (Full Disclosure: Manhunt is a client of Courtland Brooks. MyPartner.com was a prior client.)

[KC]

I signed up to pinkwink.com and realized I'd made a mistake for personal reasons. I asked the company to shut down my profile and they have sent me in circles. They REFUSE to refund me any amount of money even a prorated amount for the two days I was signed up. I called and emailed and the lady I talked to was not only rude with loud music in the background, she hung up on me after I demanded to speak with someone else. This company tricks you! No wonder they're "profitable". I'd like to contact Meir Strahlberg and his business partner Kris Covino to tell them that I am going to spread the word as LOUD as I can that I am disappointed and disgusted with the service and the trickery they have put me through!