NYMAG - Oct 31 - Pure sex app has officially opened itself to the public but it had been forced to rebrand as an "instant companion finder," and take all the talk of instant sex to the subtext. Roman Sidorenko, Pure's co-founder commented that women are much more into meetings "right now" and have sex later if there is no pressure about having sex before the meeting. And they don't like the idea of committing to sex before the meeting. Staying within our concept "Help people to find company right here, right now within a specific context" we decided to change our marketing to "The right way to get a date. On-demand." And I don't think this is a pivot or change of focus.
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Apple Approved Pure But It Had To Turn Into A Dating App
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IUM, Korean Matchmaking App, Goes Global
TECH IN ASIA - Oct 31 - IUM, the popular Korean dating app with 1M users, is now going global. The team behind the app is launching Hey app in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Hey picks out three matches for users every day at 10am. They then have 24 hours to decide if they want to go out. Same concept as NoonSwoon which is also targeting Southeast Asia.
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Singles In Spain
QUE.ES - Oct 31 - There are ~15M singles over 20 years old in Spain. This number is growing 7% each year. 42 % of romantic relationships started online. There are more single women (51 %) than men (49 %).
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Meetic Q3 Results
BUSINESS WIRE - Oct 30 - Meetic's Q3 revenue for the first nine months of 2013 increased by 2.7% to Eur 126.1M. The number of subscribers increased by 72,998 or 9.5% YOY to 840,801. Marketing expenses totaled Eur 62.0M, corresponding to 49.2% of revenue, compared with 47.4% a year ago. Net profit: Eur16.2M.
The full article was originally published at WSJ, but is no longer available.
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IAC Profit Doubles On Dating Sites
MARKETWATCH - Oct 30 - IAC recorded stronger revenue, especially from its online dating portfolio. Match.com revenue grew 13% YOY to $201M in Q3. Operating income was ~65M, up 16% YOY. Total paid subscribers increased 17% YOY.
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Carrot Dating: Bribery Will Get You A Date
CNN - Oct 29 - Carrot Dating is a new dating app developed by Brandon Wade. The app lets users entice potential partners into romantic outings by offering them gifts. Carrot Dating is just the latest in a fleet of dating sites Wade has founded. They include SeekingArrangements.com, WhatsYourPrice.com and MissTravel.com. All three have been accused of promoting prostitution. The sites may be crass, superficial and self-loathing, but then again so are many people. Why not let them mate....
by Peggy Drexler
See full article at CNN
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Tinder Sees 350M Swipes A Day
TECH CRUNCH - Oct 29 - Sean Rad, founder and CEO mobile dating app Tinder, suggested that there’s been a larger shift, where social networks allow people to improve existing relationships, but they haven’t made it easier to meet new people. Tinder, which already filters its recommendations by proximity, could become more closely tied to real-world locations. The apps sees 350M swipers a day and 3.5M matches.
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Sugar Daddy Sites
NYMAG - Oct 29 - HiDine is a new dating site for people who like fancy meals, and agree that men pick up the check. Carrot Dating, a site that launched two weeks ago, has a similar concept. The app asks potential couples to agree on a “bribe”, which could be a plastic surgery or a tank of gas, before the date. The app already has 30K downloads.
by Chloe Angyal
See full article at NYMag
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Looking For Love - ITV Documentary
ITV - Oct 30 - In the last night ITV tonight show - Looking For Love, Jonathan Maitland investigated the shift in attitudes towards Internet dating and its effect on relationships. There are 9M online daters in UK. 1 in 5 relationships now start online and ~23% of recently married UK couples met on the Internet. The online dating clearly works but there are some downsides such as scammers. Jonathan interviewed Sonia Richards who was a victim of “romance dating fraud” and sent ~12K pounds to a Nigerian scammer. He talked to Ryan Pitcher, a former GlobalPersonals.co.uk's employee about his job to send fake messages of love to help boost company profits. Jonathan also attended the last iDate conference in Cologne and asked Mark Brooks whether singles are spoiled for choice because of online dating. You can watch the show here.
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Last Chance To Nominate For 2014 iDate Awards
OPW - Oct 30 - The last day to nominate for the 2014 iDate awards is tomorrow, Oct 31st. Make your nominations here.
You can nominate in these categories:
You can nominate in these categories:
- Best Dating SiteBest Matchmaker
- Best Software Provider
- Best Mobile Dating App
- Best Dating Site Design
- Best Dating Coach
- Most Innovative Company
- Best New Technology
- Best Payment System
- Best Affiliate Program
- Best Marketing Campaign
- Best Niche Dating Site
- Best Up and Coming Dating Site
- Now to Oct 31 - Nominations Accepted
- Nov 10 to Jan. 3 - Voting
- Jan 15, 2014 - Awards ceremony and winners announced
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Spark Networks Falls Behind In The Online Dating Revolution
SEEKING ALPHA - Oct 28 - While some dating sites are making the right moves to gain ground, Spark Networks continues to fall behind. Here are 4 reasons:
1. Stock Underperformance
One of the most common ways to look for quality stocks is to compare their performance against the broader market. Over the past 52 weeks, Spark Networks is underperforming the market by ~5% and is off its 52 week high by ~18%. The stock fell ~10.5% on the last earnings report.
2. Poor Earnings
Despite the continued growth in revenue, the company continues to see increased operating and net income losses. For the quarter, the company's net loss came in at $3.3M.
3. Aging Business Model
More users flock to sites that continue to innovate upon the social media concept.
4. Competition
Increased competition from young, innovative companies like Snap Interactive.
The full article was originally published at Seeking Alpha, but is no longer available.
See all posts on Spark Networks
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
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Smeeters: New Group Dating Site
STANDARD.CO.UK - Oct 28 - Smeeters Social Club launched in London last month. The site matches two groups of existing friends - three guys and three girls, for an organized fun. The site originated in Paris. Expansion is planned in Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Berlin and Barcelona. “Smeeters is not exclusively a dating’ site but a social club,” explains Michelle Songy, who oversees the London operation.
by Phoebe Lockhurst
See full article at Standard.co.uk
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Single.dk Interview With CEO Rune Heickendorf
OPW INTERVIEW - Oct 29 - Single.dk is one of the two biggest dating sites in Denmark. Here is our interview with Rune Heickendorf, CEO of Single.dk. - Irena Brooks
What is Single.dk founding story?
Single.dk was one of the online dating pioneers in Scandinavia. The site, formerly Netdate.dk, was founded in 1999. At that time, the only competitor was Dating.dk, who quickly acquired the new player on the Danish market. Netdate.dk had been living a rather silent life until 2007 when my two partners and I bought a 50% stake of the company, and started the growth strategy that has led to its current position as one of the market leaders in Denmark. In 2012 we renamed Netdate.dk to Single.dk and increased our visibility through several TV campaigns. We've been profitable for 7 years in a row now and are seeing triple-digit growth this year.
Single.dk is partly owned by Dating.dk, can you tell us more about Dating.dk and the deal?
You can say we live in a complicated but happy marriage. Our rather unusual company structure tends to create some natural turbulence from time to time, which can be both healthy and disruptive. Our partnership with Freeway (the company behind Dating.dk) started in 2005 when they took over 50% of our gay dating site Albert.dk. They were also involved in another niche dating site we originally started in corporation with the major media conglomerate Egmont Media Group. Later on, we acquired 50% of Single.dk from Freeway. So they own 100% of the country's most well-consolidated and stable dating brand and 50% of the second largest and fastest growing dating site in the nation.
What is Dating.dk/Single.dk market share?
We have no valid traffic or revenue data on our international competitors, so it would be nothing but guesswork. I can say with high certainty that we dominate the market.
What is your business model?
To provide a service people love to use and charge a fee. We have a strict pay wall policy, and only allow paying members to communicate with each other. We haven't found it very difficult to convert our premium-model onto mobile devices.
How would you say the Danish market is different from the US market? What do you think is the biggest challenge for sites like Match.com/Meetic entering this market?
They are entering the market instead of evolving from within the market. The Scandinavian audience has a distinct sense for their regional cultural values, and appreciate brands that feels familiar from first sight and speaks their language in every term. You can't really compensate that with a giant marketing budget. That’s why most Swedes still prefer Volvo over Volkswagen, and also why the typical Danish single feel like he belongs on Single.dk rather than Match.com. Besides that, Denmark is a small market that has already been extremely saturated by Single.dk and Dating.dk.
Do you have a presence in Norway and Sweden? If not, are you planning on entering these markets as well?
At the moment we focus only on the Danish market. We prefer to earn every cent before we spend it, so we haven't looked for venture funding that would have allowed us to expand rapidly on many markets. But we do have specific plans about how and when we're going to enter the other Nordic countries.
Who do you consider to be your direct competitor in Denmark?
The only players who has real loyalty from the Danish audience is Dating.dk and Single.dk, but we don't really consider each other as competitors. We focus jointly to avoid international competitors from entering the market, rather than fighting each other.
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Chinese Gay Apps Surging
SBS.COM.AU - Oct 28 - Grindr-like app are surging in popularity among gays living outside Beijing and Shanghai. Founder of Blued, an app that allows gay men to search for potential partners nearby using their phone, says third and second tier cities make up 80% of the users. Seeing the market grow, Sense Lou, founder of gay dating site Xuanta, decided to launch a new location-based LGBT dating app before the end of this year. A study found that one in ten gay men live in fear of being outed by their partners - a threat particularly potent in China where Confucian traditions and the importance placed on having children keep many in the closet.
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PositiveSingles Will Delete Members Not Infected With An STD
PR WEB - Oct 28 - PositiveSingles.com, an STD dating site, is going to cancel the accounts of members who are not infected by a Sexually Transmitted Disease. The checking and cancellation process will start on Nov 1st and will last one week. The site wants to make sure the privacy of its members is protected.
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