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

Do Dating Companies Delete Users' Data?

AVAST BLOG - June 3 - Match Group says that they don't share users' information between sites unless they ask them to, but they also say in their privacy policy that they might share that info for "limited and critical purposes, including for corporate audit, analysis and consolidated reporting, to comply with applicable law, and help keep our users safe." According to the Bumble Privacy Policy, they don't "sell" user data, according to the legal definition of "sell," but they do share demographic data and location with third party advertisers. They also share non-personal data with third parties for "research and analysis." So what happens to all that data when users leave? Unfortunately, the answer isn't so clear, especially for Match Group. But if someone deletes Grindr account, Grindr expunges everything they have about them after seven days. Spark Networks - the owner of Jdate and ChristianMingle - is based in Germany, which means they're subject to the GDPR. They are legally obligated to delete it. Bumble promises to delete users' data starting 28 days after they deactivate it. They say that they retain any information they might need for legal purposes.

See full article at Security Boulevard

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Spark Networks SE Reports H1 2020 Financial Results

PRESS RELEASE - Aug 27 - Spark Networks, the parent of Zoosk, EliteSingles, Jdate, Christian Mingle, eDarling, JSwipe, and SilverSingles, reported H1 2020 revenue of €103.4, an increase of €54.2M from €49.2M in the H1 of 2019. The increase is primarily attributable to the integration of Zoosk following the Spark Networks / Zoosk Merger in July 2019. Net Loss was €0.4M, an improvement of €4.5M compared to Net Loss of €4.9M in the H1 of 2019. Average paying subscribers increased to 915K in the H1 of 2020, compared to 445K in the same period of 2019.

See the full article at Seeking Alpha

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SparkNetworks Ordered To Pay $500K In Fines For Auto-Payments

PATCH.COM - Oct 15 - Spark Networks USA, LLC, the parent company of niche dating sites Jdate and Christian Mingle, will pay $500K in penalties and up to $985K in restitution to customers whose subscriptions automatically renewed or whose refunds were denied when they requested them. Spark's dating sites were automatically renewing customer payments, without their express prior consent as required by federal and state law, among other alleged violations of law.

by Emily Holland
See full article at Patch.com

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Summarized by the IDEA team

Spark Networks Reports First Half 2018 Results

PR NEWSWIRE - Aug 30 - For the six months ended June 30, 2018, total revenue was €53M, an increase of ~26% YOY. The growth was attributable to the 34% increase in the number of average paying subscribers. Spark contributed 91.3% of the YOY revenue increase through the addition of Jdate, JSwipe and Christian Mingle following the close of the Affinitas / Spark Merger in Nov 2017. "Our growth strategy remains focused on EliteSingles, Jdate, JSwipe and Christian Mingle, and the recently launched SilverSingles brand," said Jeronimo Folgueira, CEO of Spark Networks SE. Net Loss was €(1.1)M, a €557K reduction compared to the H1 2017.

See full article at PR Newswire

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ChristianMingle Is Expanding Across Europe

CHRISTIANTODAY - May 24 - Christian Mingle already has an established presence in the UK, Canada, Australia and the US. The platform will go live across several countries in Europe this summer: it began a presence in France, Germany and Spain on March 13, and Russia, Poland and other countries are set to follow soon. The site is part of Spark Networks SE which owns several other dating brands such as JSwipe and Jdate, and the Mormon site LDSSingles.

See full article at Christian Today

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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

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Jdate And ChristianMingle To Expand Globally

SPARK.NET - Apr 24 - Jdate and Christian Mingle have both expanded services, languages, and local market support throughout Europe. Originally available in English, Hebrew and French, Jdate is now also available in German and Spanish. Christian Mingle is now available in French, German and Spanish, in addition to English. Both Jdate and Christian Mingle will be rolling out Russian and Polish language and local support in the coming months.

See full article at Spark.net

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Spark Networks To Merge With EliteSingles

ACCESSWIRE - May 2 - German dating company Affinitas, which operates premium online dating platforms EliteSingles, eDarling and Attractive World, is merging with Spark Networks. The newly formed company will be named Spark Networks SE and will be headquartered in Berlin, and maintain a significant U.S. presence with offices in New York City and Lehi, Utah. The combination will create a company with ~$115M of pro forma combined revenue over the twelve months. EliteSingles shareholders will own ~75% of Spark Networks SE and Spark shareholders will own 25%. Jeronimo Folgueira, CEO of EliteSingles, will serve as CEO and Robert O'Hare, Spark's CFO, will continue in that role with the combined company. Michael Schrezenmaier, Managing Director of EliteSingles, will become COO. The Board of Directors will be comprised of seven directors, including three to be selected by EliteSingles, one to be selected by Spark, and three to be mutually agreed upon by EliteSingles and Spark.

See the full article at Internet Dating Newswire

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This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Spark Networks Q4 2016 Results: Revenue Down 28%

PRESS RELEASE - Mar 21 - Spark Networks Q4 revenue was $7.7M, a YOY decrease of 28%. Q4 2016 net loss was $3.7M. For the full year 2016, total revenue was $35M, a decrease of 27% compared to the year ago period. The YOY decrease was primarily driven by 10.3% and 13.4% decreases in average paying subscribers for the Jewish and Christian Networks segments, respectively. CEO Danny Rosenthal commented: "We expect 2017 will be a transformational year for Spark. Our priorities are clear: operating profitably, relaunching our technology platform and driving future growth through effective marketing investments. Importantly, we are on track to deliver our new technology platform and re-launch JDate in Q2 and Christian Mingle in Q3."

See the full press release

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Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

For Online Dating Sites, A Bumpy Road To Love

NY TIMES - Dec 24 - JDate was created in 1997; ChristianMingle was added in 2001. Spark Networks, the parent company, eventually grew to ~30 dating sites, but the crown jewel has always been JDate. Since 2011, Spark Networks has been led by a rotating array of chief executives — four over five years. According to Spark Networks' 2015 filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the number of paid subscribers to its Jewish networks declined to ~65k last year from 85k in 2012. Its total for all networks dropped by ~55k people, to under 204k. Some of the decline could reflect Spark's management turnover, but it is also indicative of the challenges facing the online dating industry. "It's never been cheaper to start a dating site and never been more expensive to grow one," said Mark Brooks, a consultant for the Internet dating industry who also runs Online Personals Watch. Part of the problem, he said, is that 70% of Internet dating in the US is now on mobile. "It used to be 10% of those who registered converted to paid," Mr. Brooks said. "Now it's more like 2 to 3%." Some also see a move toward ever more niche sites like MouseMingle.com (Disney lovers) and GlutenFreeSingles.com. Spark Networks already offers niche products, but Lisa McLafferty, Spark's new chief revenue officer, says its aim is now to "refresh the brand."

by Alina Tugend
See full article at NY Times

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Spark Networks Q3 Financial Results - Revenue Down 28%, Loss Decreased

MARKETWIRED - Nov 10 - Q3 revenue was $8.4M, a 28% decrease YOY, driven by decreases in both average paying subscribers and average revenue per user. Total direct marketing expenses decreased 72% to $1.2M. Q3 net loss was $94k, a $728k improvement versus the year ago period. CEO Danny Rosenthal stated: "We have made the decision to focus on improving JDate and Christian Mingle. Accordingly, we have paused work on initiatives that do not support this objective which includes the Church Partnership Program, the CrossPaths mobile application, and the expansion of Christian Mingle into Latin America.

See full article at Spark Networks website

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After Settling Lawsuit, ChristianMingle Allows Gay Dating

READING EAGLE - Nov 6 - ChristianMingle.com opened to gay users after settling a lawsuit that claimed that it violated California's non-discrimination law. But the new search function likely won't prove very useful to gay men or women - the site now lets them view profiles of the same gender, but does not specifically show them fellow gay users. Parent company Spark Networks said it has no plans to advertise the site to gay Christians, or to go further to make the site work for gay or bisexual users.

by Julie Zauzmer
See full article at Reading Eagle

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ChristianMingle App Now Available In Spanish

MARKETWIRED - Aug 1 - The Spanish-language app is the latest offering launched by ChristianMingle's parent company Spark Networks. "The launch of this new app represents our commitment to serve the growing Hispanic online dating community, said Michael Egan, CEO of Spark Networks.

See full article at Marketwired

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ChristianMingle Partners With 15 New Churches

MARKETWIRED - July 29 - The Southern Diocese of the Fellowship of International Churches has joined the ChristianMingle For Churches program. This fellowship includes 15 churches located in Mississippi and Georgia, all of which now offer ChristianMingle memberships for their congregants. CMforChurches.com offers pastors web tools to help connect singles within their church communities such as a custom site for church attendees, church badging so members can easily meet, 50% off lifetime membership for church attendees.

See full article at Spark website

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ChristianMingle Opens Doors To Gay Singles Under Settlement

WSJ - July 1 - Spark Networks, the parent company of ChristianMingle.com, has agreed to let gay and lesbian users search for same-sex matches under a judge-approved settlement of discrimination claims. Two gay men filed class-actions claims against Spark Networks in 2013 alleging that ChristianMingle.com and several other sites in the company's portfolio excluded users looking to meet singles of the same sex. Spark Networks agreed to pay each plaintiff $9K and $450K in attorneys' fees to the two men's lawyers.

by Jacob Gershman & Sara Randazzo
See full article at WSJ

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Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team