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

Spark Network to Create Co-branded Site for Berman

BUSINESS WIRE -- Sept 12 -- Berman Health and Media announced today that the Showtime network picked up its reality television series "Sexual Healing" starring Dr. Laura Berman anticipated to premier in Spring of 2006. Berman also announced an agreement with Spark Network to create a co-branded electronic dating website with American Singles called datingsmart.com sharing revenue 50/50.

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

Mark Brooks: Smart move.  I think we'll see more of these kinds of cobranding deals. 

Spark Networks Reports Q2 Results

PR NEWSWIRE -- Aug 30 -- JDate revenue increased 9%.  Also among the highlights of the company's quarter was the acquisition of MingleMatch, which added ChristianMingle, BlackSingles Connection and LDS Mingle, among others.  EBITDA for Q2 2005 was $368,000, compared to an EBITDA loss of $3.1 million in the same period last year. Revenue was $15.5 million, a decrease of 2%, compared to $15.8 million for Q2 last year. The company reported a Q2 net loss of $859,000, compared to a Q2 net loss of $4.1 million last year. Q2 2005 revenue for AmericanSingles was $7.3 million, a decrease of 16%.  Average paying subscribers for the company totaled approximately 215,600, a decrease of 6%. (Jdate 68,100, a decrease of 3% / AmericanSingles 109,000, a decrease of 18%).  Direct subscriber acquisition cost was $31.11, a decrease of 23%. (JDate $13.82, an increase of 90% / AmericanSingles $41.30, a decrease of 23%).

Mark Brooks: It's good to see the acquisition costs diminishing.  Looks like American Singles is finding it's balancing point between growth and profitability. 

Tell-All Sites Put Online Dater Profiles to Truth Test

WASHINGTON POST -- May 30 -- There's a handful of new Web sites that are making it their business to let users review their online dates.  "This dater takes great photos, but when you meet face to face, he's small and skinny. The face is the same, but none of his photos show his true size," says a typical posting.  Singles, be afraid. Be very afraid.  Truedater launched in January.  Visitors can input online identities from Match, American Singles, Yahoo Personals and JDate and search for reviews that'll tell them if, say, Lovinit62 isn't quite the six feet he claimed, or if Cutedoctor14 seems longer in the tooth than 32.  Helpful links take you to the target's profile with a button click.  The site's basic question: whether the person reviewed is a "truedater," i.e., truthful in his or her self-portrayal.  Match.com's Kelly  says, "a free-form venue to discuss people is interesting.  That does seem to be something that consumers want to do. But you have to be real careful about violating people's privacy."  Opinity.com launched last month as an "online and social reputation services company," also guards its information carefully.  "We don't let users browse the reviews," says CEO Ted Cho. "This is not for fun."  Users can rate other people online under the categories of commerce (say, a seller on eBay) , community (a voice on a Yahoo message board), gaming (a player of Ultima Online) or dating.  FULL ARTICLE @ WASHINGTON POST

Mark Brooks: This idea may well catch on.  Bodes well for Truedater.com.  How will they make money though?  Background check add-ons perhaps?  Advertising?

Spark Acquires MingleMatch

PRNEWSWIRE -- May 23 -- Spark Networks announced that it has completed the acquisition of MingleMatch.  MingleMatch's brands will join Spark Networks online personals communities led by AmericanSingles® and JDate®. 

Mark Brooks: MingleMatch runs 21 dating sites: Adventist Singles Connection, Asian Singles Connection, BBW Personals Plus, Black Singles Connection, Canadian Personals, Catholic Mingle, Christian Mingle, Deaf Singles Connection, Greek Singles Connection, Indian Matrimonial Network, Interracial Singles, Iranian Singles Connection, Italian Singles Connection, Jewish Mingle, Latin Singles Connection, LDS Mingle, Military Singles Connection, Muslim Matrimonials Network, Prime Singles, Single Parents Mingle, UK Singles Connection

Spark Networks Reports Q1 Results

PRESSE PORTAL -- May 5 -- Spark Networks reported Q1 2005 results.  Revenue for the first quarter of 2005 was up 10% to $16.5 million.  Net income was $2 million, compared to a net loss of $3 million.  EBITDA for Q1 2005 was $3 million, compared to EBITDA loss of $2.2 million in the same period last year.  JDate revenue was $6.5 million, up 10%.  AmericanSingles revenue was $8.1 million, down 5%.  Average paying subscribers was 222,700, up 7%.  JDate had 70,400, up 3%.  AmericanSingles had 121,600, up 4%. 

The full article was originally published at Spark website, but is no longer available.

Dating in the City

GREATER MILWAUKIE TODAY -- Apr 15 -- Most have heard of the concept of "speed dating." The FastDater process consists of three minute "dates." From there, participants are able to rate and select whom they’d like to date again. If a match is made, via e-mail the pair is contacted for further communication.  I subscribed to eHarmony.com, Match.com and AmericanSingles.com. The matches that had been made for me by the futuristic, ultra complex eHarmony.com computer were not exactly what I was looking for.  Says a DJ user,"I do believe many people misrepresent themselves and embellish on their looks, but I would do it again. In fact, quite a few couples that have used my DJ service met online and got married. Go figure."  Milwaukee resident Heather Lane met her husband, Anthony, through Match.com. "Match.com was recommended by friends. I went into it with an open attitude and by the third date, I met him.  It was fun and I’m definitely happy, he’s a great guy." 

Mark Brooks: PreDating is still the leading spee dating company.  I helped Cupid tie the knot with them last year.  Hurrydate and 8 Minute Dating follow on.

Keeping Online Daters Honest

WIRED -- Apr 1 -- TrueDater, not to be confused with True.com, is a database of reviews written by people who met through online personals. The goal here is not to rate (or berate) the person, but to compare how he or she matched the profile that got your attention. Does she look like her pictures? Is he really 6 feet tall?  Currently, you can read and submit reviews for members of Match.com, JDate and AmericanSingles.com. To post a review, you indicate which dating site they belong to and enter their profile ID. Rate them with a "yes" (they tell the truth in their profiles) or a "no," and add a few words of explanation. 

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

Mark Brooks: Why do they limit to Match and Spark I wonder?

Online Personals Sites Customer Experience Ranking

BUSINESS WIRE -- Feb 14 -- Yahoo! Personals, Match.com and True.com provided the best search functionality and dating information, earning the highest customer experience rankings. Yahoo! Personals, AmericanSingles and eHarmony ranked highest among prospective customers.  The Keynote Customer Experience Rankings are based on research with 2,000 customers and 2,000 prospective customers using American Singles, Black Planet, eHarmony, Friend Finder, Friendster, Lavalife, Match.com, PerfectMatch, Tickle, True and Yahoo! Personals.  "Consumer satisfaction with online dating sites is considerably lower than satisfaction levels seen with other online services. However, these diminished satisfaction levels are driven primarily by the personal expectations of the customer and their interaction with other members," said Dr. Bonny Brown. The best sites were well organized and easy to use.  Poorer sites were cluttered with ads or heavy text.  83% of start at a search engine. A clear advantage for Yahoo! Personals; 40% started at Yahoo.  eHarmony was the most common destination for Google searchers.  50% of customers expressed interest in personality tests, 50% in physical attraction testing. 45% interested in background checks.  30% of online dating service customers in the study were married or living with a significant other/partner!  Tickle is considered the "fun" site; 73% described the site that way. Yahoo! Personals is considered the "friendly" site (76%), and True is the "safe" site (69%).

Mark Brooks: How did Keynote end up with a sample set containing 30% non-singles?

Looking For Love in Cyber Places

BANKRATE -- Feb 11 -- Internet dating is by far the most common, and least expensive, matchmaking method. There's something for everyone, from AmericanSingles.com, Match.com and Yahoo! Personals to the more specialized.  With fees starting at $10,000, single men can use Selective Search and receive the "white glove treatment." Staff members are all former corporate recruiters and the company uses the same executive-search model as headhunters to find women to introduce to the men. "If you think about a traditional dating service, it's flawed in the sense that it's such a limited pool to pick from," says Adler.

Mark Brooks: See the future.  Well heeled singles will shell out more money for higher end services online. 

MatchNet plc Changes Its Name to Spark Networks plc

PRNewswire -- Jan 10 -- MatchNet plc (AmericanSingles, JDate) today announced that the company has changed its corporate name to Spark Networks plc, effective today.  It expects the Spark Networks name to more sharply distinguish the company in the marketplace.  The company also said that it has launched a new corporate Web site at www.spark-networks.com. 

Lonely Hearts, Deep Pockets - Yahoo Personals Premier Service Launched

REUTERS -- Yahoo has launched Personals Premier, a premium online dating service aimed at attracting serious relationship seekers with deeper pockets. Yahoo's new premium service costs $34.95 a month and features searching and matching technology that uses results from relationship and personality tests. Yahoo's existing personals service costs $19.95 a month. eHarmony visitors are much more likely to be in the age range of 25 to 34 while Yahoo's visitors are older or younger -- with lower incomes. Yahoo Personals is #1 in the online dating category with about 21% of the market, EHarmony fourth with about 6%, after Match.com and American Singles, Hitwise reported.

AmericanSingles.com Salutes U.S. Service Men and Women With a Special Offer

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Sept. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- AmericanSingles.com today introduced a special offer to help U.S. military personnel, currently on active duty, connect with its members for companionship, dating, or friendship with a complimentary one- month Premium Membership.