LOCKERGNOME - Feb 17 - Of course, as online dating has become mainstream, so has social networking. A recent white paper published by Courtland Brooks, “What is Social Dating?", says that “Social dating is more than simply having Facebook Connect as a registration and log in option on a dating site. It entails creating a social experience that allows users the freedom to discover and create any type of relationship they desire at any given time without a serious time commitment.” In an article published this past week in the New York Times, Dr. Eli Finkel and Co. refuted the science behind sites such as eHarmony, explaining that in an study to be released later this month they found these sites failed to take into account “things like communication patterns, problem-solving tendencies and sexual compatibility.” The ultimate conclusion of Dr. Eli Finkel and Co. was that “None of [their study] suggests that online dating is any worse a method of meeting potential romantic partners than meeting in a bar or on the subway. But it’s no better either.”
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Is Social Dating The New Way To Find Your Next Date?
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HowAboutWe To Launch Deals For Couples
BANGSTYLE - Feb 28 - HowAboutWe Couples, which will launch in three weeks, is a free service that will send users popular date ideas from the singles’ side of the site. Couples can then use the site to “coordinate on date plans and track places they’ve been. As an added bonus, HowAboutWe Couples will receive “deals and experiences” tailored to dates. Co-creator Aaron Schildkrout is hiring a sales team to source local deals, which will be more Gilt City than Groupon,” he says. “The company doesn’t want to deal in discounts, which is a fully saturated market, but in unique or exclusive "experiences".
The full article was originally published at Bangstyle, but is no longer available.
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2 Dating Sites Sued Over Soldier's Photo In Ads
ASSOCIATED PRESS - Feb 29 - The picture of a handsome, uniformed soldier accompanying online ads that proclaim "Military Man Searching for Love" is an Army lieutenant who was killed in Iraq in 2007, according to a lawsuit filed by his parents against PlentyofFish.com and True.com. In December, a friend recognized Peter Burks in an ad on PlentyofFish.com, clicked on it and was directed to True.com. PlentyofFish Media spokesman Paul Bloudoff said hundreds of thousands of third parties advertise via his company's site every month, and that it cannot control nor know about the content of those ads. The ad has been blocked from the company's network, he said. "We dealt with this matter a month ago," Bloudoff said in an email. True.com President Ruben Buell said he will be researching this diligently. He said True.com buys ads that run on other dating sites but does not know what happened in this situation.
The full article was originally published at Associated Press, but is no longer available.
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Interview With Emil Sarnogoev, CEO & Founder Of Skalfa Software
OPW INTERVIEW - Feb 28 - If you're considering starting a dating site, you can create your own custom software using a programming outfit and get maximum flexibility, or buy software off the shelf, like SkaDate 9, or if you want to focus on marketing and not touch coding or deal with servers, go with a white label dating service (see list). Here's our interview with Emil Sargonoev, the CEO/Founder of Skalfa Software. - Mark Brooks
SkaDate 9 is now out, and its worth a look-in.
What improvements have you made with the new SkaDate?
We found out that giants like Facebook have significantly changed the way people interact online. Were we surprised? Not really. Users don't want pure matchmaking sites with limited to no social features these days. What they really want is a hybrid website where they could have fun chatting, playing games and sharing media AND look for a spouse. A social aspect keeps a member engaged and entertained even if 'that model-looking chick' never returns a message. Besides, it creates a more casual and relaxed atmosphere for making new acquaintances.
What makes Facebook equally attractive for a company executive, a college student, and a housewife is the social graph. Besides the social graph, it features the most convenient tool to keep track of on-site activity ever - the newsfeed. So we took another step towards 'socializing' our dating software, and developed a Facebook-style newsfeed that is now available in SkaDate 9.
We also developed a native iPhone/iPad SkaDate application in close cooperation with our partners - SOD Technologies. Currently we are also putting finishing touches on an Android app (both for smartphones and tablets). All that goes along with the SkaDate mobile browser version that works with Opera mini, Safari and Internet Explorer. We aim to cover all the popular mobile devices by the end of February.
SkaDate 9 side improvements include adding a classifieds module, coupon codes and tools for automatic search engine optimization, and two new templates (adult-themed 'Fab', and social-networking content-based 'Rainbow'), created with direct input from visitors of SkaDate's website.
How is SkaDate different and better than other dating software providers?
I could make it a long talk, but I'll list our three main advantages instead:
- SkaDate has unencrypted source code. Which means there are no licensed files that can turn site customization into a nightmare. That also means the customer owns each and every part of their website, and is technically independent from the software vendor. Sounds great, doesn't it?
- SkaDate is basically a what-you-see-is-what-you-get solution. It comes packed with the features available on the demo at a fixed one-time cost. So, no headache comparing the product packages, prices, options and such. We do offer a few paid add-ons, but skipping them won't turn your site into an under-featured 'core'.
- We strive for quality and innovation. We are always looking for ways to integrate seemingly simple and obvious features that later become fundamental parts of dating-specific software and industry staple. For example, our Points system? If they User Points boosts member activity and encourage users to come back to the site more often - then why not? This was also the case with the Speed-Dating module, and with the Advanced Newsfeed. Our customers appreciate this approach, they love to see their ideas brought to life in new software builds and versions. In return we get loyalty, as is evidenced by our runner-up spot in the Best Dating Software Provider category at the 2012 iDate Awards.
Why would someone want to use SkaDate over a white label hosted provider?
White label solutions are effectively affiliate systems. Technically they are not software but I'll leave this question to purists.
From business perspective white label solutions are good for marketers who have the budget and know how to use it most efficiently for lead generation. Those leads are then converted using the existing online dating paradigms. But there's one important thing to remember: you don't own a site, you don't own content, you don't own revenue. You only get a share from someone who converts your traffic. That's the definition of affiliate systems.
On the other hand, owning software (like SkaDate) is a cheap and fast way to try out your own ideas. This is how PlentyofFish, OKCupid, Mingle2 and others started. You can tweak your site, you can maximize conversion by various optimization techniques, finally you can pivot and experiment with business models. In the end of the day, you own the site, content, and all revenue. This is the best platform for innovation.
A lot of people were skeptical about selling software and support to online dating startups. If the past 7 years of SkaDate are any indication, our business gets more and more and more resilient. Lately we are getting a lot of white label systems refugees.
Could you point to a list of preferred programmers who can customize SkaDate?
For a while now we have been providing customization and support services in-house. However, we do understand that customers need alternative options. This could be due to a number of reasons, like more flexible schedules, cheaper freelance fees, etc. To create this alternative we have set up a specialized freelance resource, SkaDateCS, where third-party developers provide customization services for SkaDate clients. In addition we have partnered with the aforementioned third-party development company SOD Technologies, who work on modifications and support services at competitive prices.
Who do you recommend for hosting?
Basically, any software provider, whose servers are configured to meet our system requirements, is a good candidate for hosting a SkaDate-powered site. Also, 24/7 support and server status monitoring are highly preferred, as someone should always be around to get the site up and running in case of server downtime. We have listed a few recommended software providers on our website to ease the choice for SkaDate customers.
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Extreme Internet Dating
EXTREME DATING - Feb 24 - Andrew 35 made a Youtube video inviting women to come and meet him on February 29 in Spitalfields Market in East London. He has created a website, www.andrew29th.com, and set up a twitter feed, @andrew29th, so that he can keep ladies interested by divulging new facts about himself every day. More than 130 women have already said that they would be there. "The reason I am doing this," he says, "is I'm just not very good at going up and talking to the ladies."
by Lauren Paxman
See full article at DailyMail.co.uk
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Interview With Arnaud Passafe, CEO / co-Founder Of Teloop
OPW INTERVIEW - Feb 27 - Arnaud Passafe is one of the two founders and current CEOs of Teloop, a mobile French dating site that launched 6 months ago after one year in Beta. We have interviewed Arnaud for our French version of OPW and here is the translated interview.
What’s the founding story of Teloop?
We are two long-term friends who, while we were still student engineers in 2010, decided to put our knowledge in IT into practice and create a website. At the time we were single, so we had this idea of a dating site.
Given the evolution of smartphones, we thought it’d be interesting to use this technology for the online dating industry. This would allow bachelors to login anytime from anywhere!
We were not expecting this to work out so well but our website meets users’ expectations. According to several predictions, by 2014 one out of two connections on the Internet will be made via cell phones. This is really a developing market.
How is Teloop different from existing online dating websites?
What makes Teloop different in the highly competitive online dating industry is the mobile version, which is compatible with all smartphones available today.
We also put a lot of our efforts in security on the website, which is why all profiles are verified. If we have the slightest doubt, the profile will be deactivated.
Also Teloop offers a geographic localization option to find users near you, on top of all the usual functionality (profile browsing, customized research, blacklisting, contact adding system, instant chat, photo uploading etc.)
Why did you choose the name Teloop?
That’s a good question… There is no particular reason! We liked how it sounds.
How are you monetizing?
The website is totally free for women, so we have nearly as many women as men among users (48% of women, 52% of men).
For men, the site offers a Freemium plan: you can run a customized search for free upon subscription, browse profiles, see photos, or send messages and “bisoop” (virtual kisses and a play on the word bisou, which is French kiss).
For advance functionality such as instant chat, male users can become VIP members for 8€/month.
How are you marketing out your concept?
So far we didn’t want to include external founders, our communication budget is therefore fairly limited. We encourage natural indexing and word-of-mouth.
We have also run a few AdWords campaigns.
Our site currently amounts to 25,000 active users (profiles updated in the last two months).
How do you see Teloop's future over the coming year?
The English version should be launched by the end of the year (finalization in progress).
Besides the mobile version of Teloop, we will launch our website application on the Apple Store and Android Market… Hopefully before the end of this year.
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The Top Woody Allen Quotes On Love & Sex
OPW - Feb 26 -
“I don't know the question, but sex is definitely the answer.”
“Men learn to love the woman they are attracted to. Women learn to become attracted to the man they fall in love with.”
“I did not marry the first girl that I fell in love with, because there was a tremendous religious conflict, at the time. She was an atheist, and I was an agnostic.”
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'No Asian. No Indian': Picky Dater Or Racist Dater?
THE GLOBE AND MAIL - Feb 23 - Racial filtering is alive and well on mainstream dating and hookup sites, which give users the option of checking ethnic preferences alongside ideal body types and social habits like smoking and drinking. While most critics agree that the ethnicity checkbox is vastly preferable to specifying 'No Asians,' they disagree about whether the option is a step backward. Is it any different than hunting through niche sites like Shaadi or JDate? Grindr acknowledged that users can list race in their preferences, but can be banned for posting material "perceived to incite racism". "We also encourage our users to state what they are looking for as opposed to what they are not looking for." A dating poll of 2K Lavalife users found that 74% of women surveyed said ethnicity affected their dating decisions, compared with 49% of men. "Men are more open to meeting people from different communities. They tend to concentrate on physical aspects whereas women are much more interested in lifestyle and background," said Justin Parfitt, CEO of speed-dating company FastLife International. "People should be free to have sex or not have sex with anyone they want", argued Harry Reis, a psychology professor at the University of Rochester who co-authored a review of 400 studies on online dating. "In my estimation, it is fine (although self-limiting) to be racist with regard to sexual preferences", he said. "Throw out the checklist," Mr. Parfitt advises. "What you think you want and where you end up finding chemistry are often two very different things."
by Zosia Bielski
The full article was originally published at Globe and Mail, but is no longer available.
See all posts on Shaadi See all posts on Lavalife
See all posts on JDate See all posts on FastLife
See all posts on Grindr
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Grindr For Equality
TECH CRUNCH - Feb 23 - Grindr has announced that it will use its location-based app to fuel a social movement called “Grindr for Equality”. This will allow Grindr to notify and mobilize the LGBT community in specific geographic areas en masse. Grindr first took a step in this direction during the whole “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal debacle. Grindr for Equality sent out a national broadcast message during that time, welcoming closeted service members to Grindr and seeing more than 5K click-throughs to the linked Servicemembers’ Legal Defense Network’s contribution page. Grindr for Equality can launch initiatives on its own, sure, but users can bring issues that aren’t necessarily on a nationally public scale to light. Grindr is looking for on-the-ground activists all over the world that can send updates on gay rights issues in their area.
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FriendFinder Networks Nears Shorting Territory
SEEKING ALPHA - Feb 22 - FriendFinder Networks (FFN) network consists of 40K sites, with ~520M registrants, 70% above the total US population and 62% of Facebook's (FB) monthly active users. At the end of 2011, the share price was $0.60. Since then, it has nearly quadrupled, to $2.33 now. With more than 31.2M shares outstanding, the total market capitalization is $72.7M. AsiaFriendFinder.com is the largest dating site targeted towards Asians with ~34M members, whereas Amigos.com, which targets Latin Americans, has attracted 75K new members each month. As of September 2011, the company has $617M liabilities, including more than $450M long-term debt. And those long-term liabilities are used to finance $320M goodwill. The equity is a negative number, of $-119M. Potentially, with the large goodwill carried in its book, there is a very high probability that FFN has to write down its goodwill sometime in the future. When it happens, the price will begin to experience contraction. And it might be the time to begin shorting the stock.
by Anh Hoang
See full article at Seeking Alpha
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Top 45 Top Scientific Papers For The Online Dating Industry
OPW - Feb 21 - Here is a list of the most interesting scientific studies relevant to the Online dating industry for you to consider reading. Thanks to Fernando Ardenghi for recommending and researching this list. On InternetDatingScience.com we take the best academic papers and summarize them in plain English so you can improve your dating sites based on the findings in the studies. We will be summarizing some of those studies.
10 selected titles:
- "Online Dating: A Critical Analysis From the Perspective of Psychological Science" 2012 Eli J. Finkel, Paul W. Eastwick, Benjamin R. Karney, Harry T. Reis and Susan Sprecher.
- "Relationship Compatibility, Compatible Matches, and Compatibility Matching" 2011 Susan Sprecher.
- "Personality, Partner Similarity and Couple Satisfaction: Do Opposites Attract or Birds of a Feather Flock Together?" 2011 Adrienne Kaufman
- "The Role Of Linguistic Properties In Online Dating Communication – A Large-Scale Study Of Contact Initiation Messages" 2011 Valentin Schöndienst and Linh Dang-Xuan
- "Knowing your own mate value: Sex-specific personality effects on the accuracy of expected mate choices" 2011 Back, M. D., Penke, L., Schmukle, S. C. and Asendorpf, J. B.
- IDS review by Kathryn Lord - "Assortative mating, convergence, and satisfaction in married couples" 2010 Gian Gonzaga, Steve Carter and J. Galen BuckWalter.
- "What lies beneath: The linguistic traces of deception in online dating profiles. Journal of Communication." 2010 Toma, C. and Hancock, J.T.
- "From Dating to Mating and Relating: Predictors of Initial and Long-Term Outcomes of Speed-Dating in a Community Sample" 2010 Lars Penke, et al.
- IDS review by Dr Brenner - "Assortative mating for perceived facial personality traits. Personality and Individual" 2006 Little, AC, Burt, DM and Perrett, DI.
- "The ideal romantic partner personality" 2006 Figueredo, Sefcek and Jones.
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Maryland Considering A Tax On Finding Love
OPW - Feb 21 - The state of Maryland has proposed legislation that would put a 6% tax on finding love through online dating sites. Currently Maryland’s sales tax only applies to tangible personal property but Governor Martin O’Malley is proposing to expand this to include digital products. This could directly affect pricing models for all online dating sites that operate in Maryland. The Baltimore sun reports that the digital taxes could bring in $26M in revenue which would help Governor O’Malley close the billion dollar budget gap he faces. However, would the 6% price increase cause online daters to go elsewhere?
What can you do?
- Contact Kevin Joyce, Attorney at Law
- Attend AAF Baltimore Sales Tax Workshop on Thursday 23rd Feb 2012 at the Raddisson Hotel Cross keys
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POF.com - The Business Of Finding Love
SYMPATICO.CA - Feb 14 - Business News Networks(BNN) has interviewed Markus Frind, CEO and founder of POF.com.
Q: How do you make money ?
A: Through advertising and we also have optional online subscriptions. With a couple of million people visiting our site a day it’s pretty easy to make money.
Q: How much do you make a year?
A: $10’s of millions.
Q: In online dating does price matter?
A: Our users spend on average $700M per year on paid dating services so virtually all the users that are on a paid online dating site are also on POF, there’s a massive overlap.
Q: So what differentiates you from the others?
A: POF is free and it’s the largest free site.
Q: And what’s the success ratio for every 10 people who use your site
A: We track the relationship numbers and they are usually over 30%.
Q: Is it true that most people lie about their age in online dating?
A: We really don’t see that much.
Q: Have you had any thoughts about taking it public?
A: As a sole shareholder it doesn’t make too much sense for me to go public.
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Online Dating Start-up TwoMangoes Raises Angel Funding
VC CIRCLE - Feb 21 - Targeted at South Asians globally, TwoMangoes has launched its India operations a couple of weeks ago. TwoMangoes has raised an undisclosed angel funding from Andy Jasuja, the co-founder, chairman & CEO of Sigma Systems, an IP solutions services company. The dating portal will use the funds to scale up its user base and develop mobile and Internet apps to reach out to more people. The funds are expected to last for about a year and after that, the firm will be looking to raise series A funding of about $3M.vThe company already has a presence in the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia and the UAE.
by Nandana Das
The full article was originally published at VC Circle, but is no longer available.
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
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