
Oct 11, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1)
POKER LISTINGS.COM -- June 24 -- A free dating site for online poker players, Poker-Online-Dating.com has launched to "match poker players together from around the world who are looking for true love." Cupid, the online matchmaker, will help by making matches based upon the results of the Cupid compatibility form. FULL ARTICLE @ POKER LISTINGS.COM
Mark Brooks: In theory, adding games to dating sites is a great idea. It gives prospective daters something to do that is fun and can give them more insight on each others character. In fact, however, I've not seen a sizable site introduce games successfully yet. That's a shame really. Your comments please...
Jun 25, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1)
PR WEB -- May 22 -- 49% of all Internet users have partaken of an online dating Web site in one form or another. Of the 49%, 20% were committed users, either by paying for a subscription or using a free service. Another 29% admit to at least browsing profiles, even if they don't take that final step of signing up and making a connection. Those who do commit tend to stick around – 62% trying their luck for two months or longer. 68% of respondents prefer services that provide personality questionnaires, analyze compatibility and offer matchmaking recommendations. And users want that service for free. Free sites are preferred over subscription services at a ratio of five-to-one. 72% still feel there is a social stigma to online dating. Nearly two-thirds will admit that, upon meeting their significant other online, they would tell the truth if asked about how they met. Online daters are highly selective. 58% rely primarily on photographs to quickly filter matches. Deal breakers that tend to cause prospects to be rejected include smoking, 23% say no, and having children, 32% aren't interested. 45% will reject someone because of their weight. FULL ARTICLE @ PR WEB
Mark Brooks: PlentyofFish has introduced a personality profiling system, btw. See the PlentyofFish Compatiblity Predictor here.
May 24, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1)
OPW -- Mar 26 -- Since November 2006, Match.com moved up from 4th place to take first spot in February 2007 with 19.6 million user logins, pushing Y! Personals, Singlesnet, eHarmony and PlentyofFish down one spot. BlackPeopleMeet and Manhunt.net enter the top 10 at #7 and #9 respectively.
Compete.com also provided OPW with data for the average visits per month for February 2007.
1. Manhunt.com - 13.37
2. PlentyofFish - 10.46
3. BlackPeopleMeet - 7.94
4. Gay.com - 7.15
5. Cupid.com - 6.88
Mar 26, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0)
OPW -- Feb 26th -- Here are the male/female ratios, most popular age range, and proportion of visits from 'regulars' and 'addicts.' Ranking courtesy of Hitwise. Ratios, age range and addiction levels courtesy of Quantcast. '100' represents the 'internet average.'
1 Singlesnet
Male 112, Female 88, age 45-54, 91% of visits from regulars and addicts LINK
2 Yahoo Personals
Male 114, Female 85, age 45-54, 78% regulars and addicts LINK
3 RUET
Male 116, Female 83, age 45-54, 77% regulars and addicts LINK
4 Match
Male 100, Female 99, age 45-54, 94% regulars and addicts LINK
5 eHarmony
Male 73, Female 125, age 25-34 and 35-44, 95% regulars and addicts LINK
6 Plentyoffish
Male 112, Female 87, age 45-54, 98% regulars and addicts LINK
7 Mate1
Male 97, Female 102, age 45-54, 74% regulars and addicts LINK
8 Blackpeoplemeet
Male 94, Female 105, age 35-44, 96% regulars and addicts LINK
9 Manhunt.net
Male 177, Female 24, age 35-44, 99% regulars and addicts LINK
10 Adam4Adam
Male 170, Female 31, age 35-44, 99% regulars and addicts LINK
11 American Singles
Male 120, Female 89, age 45-54, 82% regulars and addicts LINK
12 Gay.com
Male 171, Female 30, age 35-45, 96% regulars and addicts LINK
13 Hot or Not
Male 122, Female 78, age 18-24, 95% regulars and addicts LINK
14 MSN Match
Male 103, Female 97, age 45-54, 71% regulars and addicts LINK
15 Cupid
Male 110, Female 89, age 45-54, 95% regulars and addicts LINK
eHarmony clearly has more guys than girls. Given the raunchy TRUE advertising, one would expect a higher representation of males than the 116 scored here. I think this is because TRUE is using their raunchy advertising in male oriented spots, and also, the edgy ads still manage to attract women. American Singles scored higher with a 120 for males. The gay sites and PlentyofFish have the highest addiction levels. Yahoo Personals, TRUE, and Mate1 scored a little low for user engagement. All in the 74-78% range. - Mark Brooks
Feb 27, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (2)
OPW -- Feb 6th -- I'm live blogging from the Decathlon Club in Silicon Valley where Cupid.com is attempting a world record attempt for speed dating. Over 3000 singles, across the U.S.A., will be brought together for speed dating this evening. There are 46 people here. It's a classy venue, and at $34 a head it should be. One person left at the interlude, that's typical, and there were several no shows, which always amazes me, at $34 a pop. People get shy, or busy, or get hooked up and bail on the event at the last minute. Then they get hotlisted as no-shows by PreDating and can't book again. No shows are a major pain for speed dating events. I've run and monitored many speed dating events, and Ace-Club events and I think speed dating events are still the easiest way for singles to get out from behind the computer and easily meet a room full of people. Hikes and wine tastings are better events in many ways, but speed dating events are more consistent and controllable as an event format that is safe and scalable. On average people make two or three double matches each evening. - Mark Brooks
Feb 06, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (3)
THE NORMAN TRANSCRIPT -- Jan 12 -- On Feb. 6, singles around the U.S. will participate in one of more than 117 speed dating events to be held in close to 100 cities. It's estimated more than 3,100 eligible singles will participate.
Cupid.com hosts monthly speed dating events in more than 173 cities across the country.
The full article was originally published at NT, but is no longer available.
Jan 17, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0)
OPW -- Jan 2 -- Online Personals Watch is for online personals marketing managers and executives to stay ahead of the news, and for the press to research the industry. It's not really designed for end users. Having said that, I make a few bucks from affiliate text links. $5k last year. Not too shabby. I thought I'd share the conversion numbers with you, for open discussion. I'm listing companies with which I had more than 1000 click throughs. I'm told affiliates will usually send an affiliate program 300 clicks before drawing initial conclusions on conversions. Here's the rankings drawn from stats for January 1st 2005, through December 25th 2006. I'll redo them for a smaller date range later this quarter.
|
Dating site | Affiliate System | Total Commission | Total Uniques | Income per Unique | |
#1 | PerfectMatch | Commission Junction | $899 | 2567 | 35c | |
#2 | SexSearch | In House | $1,580 | 4690 | 34c | |
#3 | TRUE | Commission Junction* | $1,459 | 5626 | 26c | |
#4 | AdultFriendFinder | In House | $1,523 | 6144 | 25c | |
#5 | Yahoo Personals | Commission Junction | $1,595 | 6780 | 24c | |
#6 | eHarmony | Commission Junction | $502 | 3536 | 14.2c | |
#7 | American Singles | Commission Junction | $285 | 3591 | 7.9c | |
#8 | Match | Link Share** | $503 | 4887 | 7.7c | |
#9 | Cupid | Direct Track | $210 | 3334 | 5c | |
#10 | Joint: Webdate and Love Access |
Both In House | $0 | 2923/1916 | 0c |
* I switched out to TRUE under Primaryads.com and they are paying out a little better.
** I've not had a good experience with LinkShare.
All the sites pay out slightly differently. Where I had an option, I opted to be paid by % of revenue generated. I've focused on Dollars per Unique for this comparison. If you want the full spreadsheet, email me at [email protected] and I'll send you the stats including the number of registrants, paying members, revenue and additional ratios. Your comments please…
Jan 03, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (5)
PR WEB -- Sep 27 -- The most common searches purchased by members of services like eHarmony.com, Cupid.com and Match.com include background checks, marriage and divorce searches and criminal history checks. FULL ARTICLE @ PR WEB
Oct 02, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
STAR LEDGER -- Aug 7 -- People can post reviews of their dates on TrueDater.com and also plug in a prospective date to see if anyone else has posted a comment about the person. More than a half million people have used TrueDater since the site launched last year. TreuDater staffers monitor the remarks. Mark Brooks, onlinepersonalswatch.com, said "I think it answers a definite need in the online dating market." Brooks said Friendster allows people to write testimonials about a date, but the person being reviewed has to approve it, "so nothing negative gets in." Brooks said TrueDater is the kind of site that makes people think more about their reputation, which is a new issue in online dating. Marcus Frind, founder of plentyoffish.com said both men and women are equally guilty when it comes to fudging profiles. "With women, it's weight; for men, it's height. A third party (giving an assessment) is the simplest way to go." "You have to be honest," said Moreno, Ph.D. student in social psychology at Rutgers University. "The picture is the hook, it gets you in. You see a cute picture and you click on it. I met one guy for dinner a couple of weeks ago and his picture resembled him, but you would not have been able to pick him out of a crowd based on his picture." Moreno suggested singles should not upload their best shot. That way dates can be pleasantly surprised on the first meeting. Eric Straus, president of Cupid.com, said "I don't think it adds all that much to the process," he said. "People tend to exaggerate and I think that's the nature of the beast."
The full article was originally published at NJ.com, but is no longer available.
Aug 07, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (5)
CHICAGO TRIBUNE -- July 30 -- Lawmakers and Web sites clashing over legislative proposals to keep clients from being scammed. "You guys can either be part of the solution or feel like you're victims of someone taking over your business," Florida state Rep. Kevin Ambler told industry insiders at a conference in SanFrancisco this month. "But this is going to come ... like a freight train roaring down the track." New York already has passed a consumer statute to regulate dating sites. A half-dozen other states--including Illinois--are considering similar laws to require matchmaking services to conduct criminal background checks, or at least post a notice alerting clients that they are on their own. Eric Straus of Cupid.com stated: "Government is sticking its nose where it doesn't belong." Still, during the last year, Yahoo Personals and Match.com were sued for allegedly posting phony profiles and using "date bait"--sending employees to act as members--to keep subscribers from bolting. While no background checks can be foolproof, they can go a long way to deterring scammers, supporters say. Some say the dangers are exaggerated and that the response is an overreaction. Others say that a basic check--about $1.50 each--would be inadequate, plagued by out-of-date information and riddled with inaccuracies. A first-rate search, on the other hand, would be more expensive.
Mark Brooks: Truedater.com allows singles to enter the member id's of online daters after a date, give feedback on them, and verify that they represent themselves accurately in their profile.
Aug 02, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (1)
WEBWIRE -- July 2 -- Xfactordates XfactorOnlineDating - Xfactor has run 2,000 dating events to date since 2003 and with 55,000 users. FULL ARTICLE @ WEBWIRE
Mark Brooks: Stateside, Cupid.com and Hurrydate are following similar models meshing real world events with online dating. Events are a true differentiator. Users want instant gratification, dates, real world interaction.
Jul 03, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
THE NEWS TIMES LIVE -- May 3 -- More than a year ago, Cupid.com merged with PreDating, speed-dating events, so people could get a live face-to-face spin on internet dating. Cupid.com/PreDating officials say recent research shows the "chemistry" between two people occurs within minutes of meeting. About 60% who attend these events are speed-dating for the first time. Another 20% speed-date regularly. Many of them don't usually go to bars. FULL ARTICLE @ THE NEWS TIMES LIVE
Mark Brooks: I was dismayed but not too surprised when Match shuttered Matchlive.com in 2004. Events are tough, but can have huge rewards. Cupid knows radio, radio loves events. I joined Cupid.com in 2004 as VP to guide the acquisition of Predating.com and revamp the Cupid.com service. Now, members can peruse profiles and preferences on Cupid, communicate with compatibles, then meet and see if they have chemistry. Or, they can follow that routine in reverse with the speed dating option. They can get out and meet ~12 singles and see if they have chemistry, then go online and communicate with them on Cupid.com and peruse their profiles and preferences to see if they are compatible (e.g. do they want kids). Cupid is now unique in the market, and a great acquisition target.
May 04, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 4 -- I'm rolling the list of internet dating, social networking and business networking industry jobs links into a handy little list. Please let me know if you have any new links for the list by emailing me at [email protected]. Thanks. - Mark
CommunityConnect
Cupid
Friendfinder
Friendster
Hi5
Lavalife
Match
Mate1
Meetup
MySpace
PerfectMatch
PlanetOut/Gay
Shaadi
Spark Networks
Webdate
Yahoo Personals
May 04, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (2)
PR NEWSWIRE -- Apr 11 -- Dorchester Publishing will sponsor Cupid.com speed-dating events in five major cities: New York, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Atlanta, and Chicago. Dorchester will offset the cost of these events for attendees by 30% and give away romances and thrillers, as well as dating tips written by romance authors. RELEASE @ SYS-CON
Apr 14, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)