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

Indonesia's Bid To Make Homosexuality Illegal Has Been Put On Hold

GAYTIMES - Apr 30 - Back in January, Indonesia began banning gay dating apps. Their actions against the LGBTQ community didn't stop there, as they announced plans to criminalise homosexuality by Valentine's Day, as it had the backing of all 10 major parties. Although they didn't meet that deadline, the bill is still going ahead. However, the LGBTQ community have been granted a temporary reprieve as the government announced that the bill was being put on hold for "two to three months" so that the public can have their say.

by Matt Moore
See full article at Gay Times

Summarized by the IDEA team

Ashley Madison Chief: No Publicity Is Bad Publicity

TELEGRAPH.CO.UK - Apr 30 - "After the events of 2015, we had to rethink who we were", says Ashley Madison chief Ruben Buell. "It included a realisation that "most of our clients are attached and want discretionary tools to date on the side, so that's what we've focused on". The breach barely made a dent. "We are now signing up 20K Britons a day and revenue growth in the US this year went up 17% and Canada 18%", Buell adds. The Canadian, who wears a ring on his finger, took up the role as president of Ruby Life in 2017 after serving as CTO, and now runs its three dating sites: Ashley Madison, Cougar Life and Established Men.

by Margi Murphy
See full article at Telegraph.co.uk

See all posts on AshleyMadison

Summarized by the IDEA team

Egyptian Matchmaking App Harmonica Raises $150K From 500 Startups

WEE TRACKER - Apr 27 - Cairo based matchmaking startup Harmonica is set for expansion having qualified for seed acceleration from the global accelerator, 500 Startups to the tune of $150K. The startup is a part of 18 startup companies that received seed acceleration in the 23rd batch of 500 Startups global accelerator in the Silicon Valley. Currently, the app claims 70K unique users which 10k are daily active users. The recently raised funds will be used to improve its technology and algorithm and add to its team members. Harmonica was founded by Sameh Saleh, Tamer Mohamed, Shaymaa Aly and Aly Khaled. The app prides itself on being strictly an Arab oriented matchmaking app.

by Joshua Moses
See full article at Wee Tracker

See all posts on Harmonica

This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

Summarized by the IDEA team

New Dating App CultureCrush Lets User Search By Ethnicity

TECH CRUNCH - Apr 28 - Dating app CultureCrush, created by a team led by former attorney Amanda Spann, lets users search by nationality, ethnicity and tribe. "We have 24k users, 5% of which are paid users, and the app has generated revenue every month since its existence." The app also supports friend-to-friend matchmaking and has a three-day message countdown that dumps matches after 72 hours.

by John Biggs
See full article at Tech Crunch

Summarized by the IDEA team

Taimi - New Dating App For LGBTQI People

DAILYMAIL.CO.UK - Apr 28 - The app named Taimi has been created by former employees of Silicon Valley tech companies who believe their sexual orientation damaged their careers. The app also provides information and tips on healthcare. The founders hope the platform will facilitate those who are looking for true love and friendship.

by Aoibhinn Mc Bride
See full article at DailyMail.co.uk

Summarized by the IDEA team

How Virtual Dating Assistant Works

QUARTZ - Apr 26 - There are two main types of writers at Virtual Dating Assistants: "Profile Writers," who create profiles based on facts their clients have supplied about themselves, and "Closers," who log in to clients' accounts at least twice a day to respond to messages from matches. Profile Writers follow strict guidelines, often recycling the same half-dozen clichés over and over again. The process for Closers is a bit more complicated. The initial training period lasts several weeks before they're given access to clients' accounts, during which they must read several training manuals and submit draft responses to fake matches. A third type of employee, "Matchmakers," send out opening messages en masse across every dating platform. Originally a sales guy with no time for "real dates," Scott Valdez grew ViDA's brand out of his own experiences in the dating world. "I found myself wishing there were two of me," he continued. "I thought, 'Why couldn't I just take what I had developed, and train someone else to sound like me, and outsource my online dating to him?'" The company's practices may be unethical - but they're not illegal. Once the company obtains the client's permission to impersonate them online, there are no laws against what Closers do.

by Chloe Rose Stuart-Ulin
See full article at Quartz

See all posts on Virtual Dating Assistants

Summarized by the IDEA team

Thanks To Our Sponsors

Ponder: A Trusted Referral Dating App On The Blockchain

GLOBAL COIN REPORT - Apr 25 - The importance of the blockchain is that it reduces the reliance on a third-party to verify transactions. Ponder uses blockchain and gamification techniques to both generate trust among the participants and to make the process more enjoyable. The first segment Ponder targets is online dating. The Ponder App is already in beta and is a game for playing matchmaker where users can earn real money by making successful matches. The app already has over 70k registered users in the US. With the app, users earn $10 if the couple that they recommend to each other become a match. If the couple marries, the matchmaker receives $1K.

See full article at Global Coin Report

See all posts on Ponder

Summarized by the IDEA team

Match.com Partners With William Shatner For Perfect Date Giveaway

MATCH BLOG - Apr 25 - "Miss Rhode Island, describe your perfect date." We all remember the iconic Cheryl Frasier quote from Miss Congeniality, where she replies "I'd have to say April 25th, because it's not too hot, not too cold. All you need is a light jacket" - a response that has become a cultural moment. Now almost twenty years later, William Shatner is asking the same question to Match.com users. They can go to Match.com Instagram or Twitter and say what their perfect date is for a chance to win $500.

The full article was originally published at Match Blog, but is no longer available.

See all posts on Match.com

Summarized by the IDEA team

DateCoin (DTC) And DeHedge Sign Hedge Agreement

CRYPTONINJAS - Apr 25 - DateCoin (DTC) and DeHedge, the cryptocurrency hedging platform signed agreement to hedge a limited volume (2M) of DTC tokens. The hedged DTC tokens will soon be available on the DeHedge platform. The founders of DateCoin aim to employ cutting-edge technologies for intelligent dating. It is about artificial intelligence and big data processing. The AI will analyze user preferences, contact history, etc and provide a pool of the best-matching partners. The blockchain is used to create a trusting environment and to solve user identification and verification problems.

See full article at CryptoNinjas

See all posts on DateCoin

Summarized by the IDEA team

One Month Left Before New EU Data Rules Come Into Force

FINANCIAL TIMES - Apr 25 - There is one month to go until the EU's new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force, governing all data that companies hold on individuals. Fines for breaches are as high as 4% of annual global revenue. The UK information commissioner's office (ICO) has said there will be no "grace period". Here is the ICO 12-step guide that lays out how to document data, know the rights of individuals, deal with subject access requests, obtain consent, lawfully process data - and what to do in case of a breach.

by Barney Thompson
See full article at Financial Times

Summarized by the IDEA team

In China, Unmarried Sons And Daughters Bring Social And Financial Burdens

NIKKEI ASIAN REVIEW - Apr 25 - China's internet dating market surged 16% last year to 4B yuan ($633M), according to iResearch Consulting Group. The figure is expected to increase by 10% a year to reach 5.27B yuan in 2020. Chinese parents have a few reasons to prod their sons and daughters to find a match. One is the concept of mianzi, or reputation, which plays a major role in Chinese society. In northeastern China, it is considered the norm to be married by 25. Many parents feel embarrassed if their children remain single too long, especially if they see their friends' children getting married. But there are also financial concerns. It is customary to give gifts of money to friends when their children get married. So unless one's own child weds, parents are continually paying others without recouping any of the cash. Plus, many parents rely on their offspring after retirement. This means it is crucial for the children to settle down as soon as possible.

by Daisuke Harashima
See full article at Nikkei Asian Review

Summarized by the IDEA team

Hornet Partners With Planned Parenthood

HORNET BLOG - Apr 20 - Hornet Gay Social Network is partnering with Planned Parenthood Federation of America as well as the LA LGBT Center to build a culture of consent and respect within the LGBTQ community. Together they'll be creating and sharing social media and editorial content to educate users on why and how to talk about consent.

See full article at Hornet Blog

See all posts on Hornet

Summarized by the IDEA team

Spark Networks Financial Results: SilverSingles Launch, More M&A Expected

SEEKING ALPHA - Apr 25 - Spark Networks full year revenue increased 16.5% to €85.6M due to the 20% growth in paying subscribers as well as marketing efforts in North America and the Affinitas-Spark merger in Nov 2017. For the full year 2017 adjusted EBITDA was €6.6M, a YOY increase from €5.9M. It includes €509K of post merger adjusted EBITDA from Spark. The company ended the year with ~465K paying subscribers. (158K in North America and 307K international). Here a few key points from Spark Networks earning call:

• Spark Networks is expecting future M&A to accelerate growth
• EliteSingles is the largest and fastest growing brand (20% growth in 2017); ~60% of Spark Networks revenue comes from EliteSingles.
• Elite Singles is expanding in North America
• Jdate and Christian Mingle stable and expected to grow in 2018, marketing focus in North America for now, although new languages were introduced in April
• The company launched a new matchmaking site SilverSingles in Dec 2017 in US, Canada, UK, France, Germany and Australia. The site targets serious daters who are 50+. 15% of Spark registrations coming already from this brand.

See full article at Seeking Alpha

See all posts on Spark Networks

Summarized by the IDEA team

Match Group's Long Term Sustainable Competitive Advantage

OPW - Apr 25 - I came across this great article on sustainable competitive advantage by the V.C. company Greylock Partners. It got me thinking about Match Group. They're the clear leader in the dating industry now, of course. But what aspects of their business are contributing to their long term sustainable competitive advantage?

Let's look down the list that Greylock Partners' article lists...

1. Network Effects - NO
2. Scale - YES, ABSOLUTELY!
   (i) Negotiated Leverage - YES
   (ii) Amortization of Fixed Costs - YES
   (iii) Product Density - YES, VERY SUBSTANTIALLY YES
3. Brand - YES
4. Non-Network Switching Costs - YES
5. Regulatory - NO
6. Technical Advantage - YES
7. Cornered Access to Limited Supply - NO

Read the full article on IDEA blog

See all posts on Match Group

Post by Mark Brooks, CEO IDEA