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

Is It Time to Try Speed Dating?

NEW YORK TIMES - Ambyr Club is a new speed dating service that launched last December and has since hosted seven events at trendy bars in Manhattan. "What's old is new again," said Julie Spira, a dating coach who runs a company called Cyber-Dating Expert. She noted that the first documented speed dating event was held at a coffee shop in Beverly Hills in 1998. Using data from a speed dating company called HurryDate, a 2005 University of Pennsylvania study found that most people gauge attraction within three seconds of meeting. Maxine Williams founded We Met IRL, a speed dating company for people of color, in January. "I came up with the idea in December after attending a speed dating event in Manhattan that wasn't very diverse," she said. CWAQ, which stands for "connect with a qutie," was also inspired by disappointment. Kevin Rabinovich, a freelance event producer, was let down by the lack of structure and diversity at such events.

by Becky Hughes
See full article at New York Times

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Cyber-Dating Expert Launches a COVID-19 Advice Site

PRESS RELEASE - May 7 - Julie Spira, founder of Cyber-Dating Expert, has launched Love in the Age of COVID-19: How to Keep Love Alive in Quarantine. It is an advice site to help couples during social-isolation. In addition to providing relationship advice, Spira is offering a new suite of support services on the site, including:

• 15 Magic Minutes - A complimentary private Zoom session to answer dating and relationship questions, and to critique dating profiles.
• Quarantine Reboot - A deep dive in a private Zoom session to help couples learn to improve communications.
• #LoveDuringQuarantine - Heartwarming stories of couples who were thrust into quarantine, whether together or apart.
• COVID Love Poll - A chance for couples to weigh in on how the lockdown has impacted their romantic life.
• Quarantine Playlist - A setlist of romantic songs on Spotify

Earlier last month, Spira launched DatingintheAgeofCovid19.com: How to Find Love in a Pandemic, to help singles master virtual dating.

See full article at PR Log

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Dating In 2018

GLOBAL NEWS - Dec 27 - 2018 isn't going to be that much different for love but we will see some new trends according to online dating expert Julie Spira. "We'll see more people meeting through Facebook and Instagram." There are apps like Hinge and Coffee Meets Bagel that have a video chat option, and matchmaker Carmelia Ray believes this will only continue to expand through the market in 2018.

by Arti Patel
See full article at Global News

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

2017 iDate Awards Winners

OPW - Jan 26 - The 2017 iDate Awards winners were announced and provided trophies at a ceremony last night in Miami. The iDate Awards are the dating industry's most recognized awards, highlighting the best and most innovative aspects of the business.

The 2017 winners are:

Best Affiliate Program:
Wamba & Mamba.ru

Best Niche Dating Site:
Christian Filipina

Best Dating Coach:
Julie Spira

Best Payment System:
CCBill

Best Dating Site:
Match.com

Best Product Design:
Dating Pro

Best Marketing Campaign:
eHarmony

Best Software & Saas:
Dating Pro

Best Matchmaker:
Andrea Messent (Drawing Down the Moon)

Best Up & Coming Dating Site:
Lively

Best Mobile Dating App:
Bumble

Most Innovative Company:
eHarmony

Best New Technology:
Smart Match App

Post by Courtland Brooks team

Dating Apps Will Get More Selective

WASHINGTON POST - Jan 6 - Dating experts are calling 2016 a bad year for dating trends. Having constant access to a pool of potential matches at their fingertips is making people more impatient, causing unrealistic expectations for first dates and a general decline in effort. There are so many dating apps, the market is getting saturated and daters are feeling overwhelmed. So online dating is trending toward niche apps. Julie Spira, founder of CyberDatingExpert.com, believes that 2017 will see more of a push for people to meet in real life. She predicts a rise in apps like Whim, which skips the pre-date conversation and immediately matches people for meetups.

by Sarah Polus
See full article at Washington Post

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Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Happy Ending Added To Online Dating Expert Julie Spira's Book

PRWEB - Feb 2 - Seven years ago, author Julie Spira released her memoir and online dating book, The Perils of Cyber-Dating, which chronicled her 15-year journey while looking for love online after she broke up with her former long-time love. She is now re-leasing the book, updated with new dating advice and how she reunited with the love of her life after 16 years.

See full article at PRWeb

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Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Eli Finkel & Julie Spira: Online Dating Algorithms

WASHINGTON POST - Sep 9 - Julie Spira and Northwestern University psychology professor Eli Finkel tell Nia-Malika Henderson where online dating sites' matching algorithms fall flat. "I'm skeptical that you can learn from browsing profiles and skeptical that anyone has yet cracked the mathematical code for love," said Finkel, "really the only way that you are going to know if somebody is compatible with you is meet up with them, and mobile dating is a really efficient way to do that. It resurrects the spontaneity in dating".

See full article at Washington Post

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Online Dating Sites Sponsor Offline Singles Events

TRIB LIVE - Feb 26 - What seems like a return to the old days of singles mixers and blind dates is actually a move among companies to improve user experiences, industry insiders say. “The goal has always been to bridge the online dating with the offline world,” says Cayla Gebhardt, Match.com spokeswoman. Match.com launched The Stir, events that can include everything from happy hours with ~100 people to smaller happenings like wine-tastings or rock-climbing. There have been 1,500 events since the launch. “The ultimate goal is to meet somebody in the real world,” said Julie Spira, online-dating expert, “Otherwise, you end up with a digital pen pal.”

by Rachel Weaver
See full article at Trib Live

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Dan Slater Interview

HUFFINGTON POST - Feb 2 - Dan Slater, author of Love in the Time of Algorithms.

Q: What inspired you to write a book about online dating?
A: I become single at the age of 31. I started using online dating and also found out my parents met through a computer dating service in the '60s. I went to iDate in 2011 to learn about the business and wrote an article in GQ, which became a launching pad.

Q: You take the position that online dating threatens monogamy.
A: People who are in relationships, which aren't fantastic, might have stayed together before. Online dating makes it easier to leave and find someone better.

Q: Do you think the dating algorithms help to create better matches?
A: I believe online dating is getting better at predicting who would get along on a first date.

Q: Do you agree marriage will become obsolete?
A: No. People who are in successful marriages will tell you that marriage is one of the best things that has ever happened in their lives.

Q: With the announcement of Facebook's Graph Search, how do you think that will affect the traditional online dating sites?
A: It will help the industry. Once people experience dating on Facebook, it sends society a huge message that any stigma attached to this is now gone.

Q: What's next for Dan Slater?
A: I'm a journalist and I want to write. I will now be a lifetime follower of the industry and who the players are as well.

by Julie Spira
See full article at Huffington Post

Facebook Unleashes Cupid Potential

USA TODAY - Jan 17 - Facebook is becoming an online love connection — or maybe a meat market. Facebook's new Graph Search, in limited beta release, extends searches for singles on the network to friends of friends. The new feature, primarily for finding what friends "Like" from music to food and more, is expected to be available more widely over the next few months. It offers a speedy way to sort potential mates. Men will be able to hunt for single women who live in their locale and like a particular taco stand, action movies and sports teams, for example. Dating norms, however, have already taken root on Facebook. People have long-perused the photos and postings of members in the game of attraction, says Julie Spira, a digital-dating maven who runs CyberDatingExpert.com. "It's the world's largest social network, and they could be the world's largest dating network if they want to go there," Spira said. The Search Graph, for now, only culls "Like" selections and has yet to tap into profiles or News Feed data.

by Scott Martin & Jon Swartz
See full article at USA Today

This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.

Future Of Mobile Dating Depends On Getting Women To Sign Up

NPR - Aug 21 - Grindr, for gay men, has ~4M users worldwide. And straight guys are signing up for a bunch of dating apps, as well. Women haven't demonstrated quite as much enthusiasm about broadcasting their availability and their location to potential dates. There are dozens of GPS dating apps to choose from: SinglesAroundMe, MeetMoi, Badoo, Assisted Serendipity and Skout. "Most women are a little uncomfortable with meeting somebody right away," says cyber dating expert Julie Spira.

by Lauren Silverman
See full article at NPR

Mobile Dating Apps Connecting More People Looking For Love

NBC MIAMI - June 20 - Some 14M people use the apps, an expert says. It's estimated that mobile dating apps will be a $1.4 billion industry in just two years. "They're not just using them for phone calls,” author and online dating expert Julie Spira said. “They're making dates, reservations, buying shoes, buying books ... and dating fits into that as well." Meet Moi is one of those apps that alerts you when a match is nearby. It also became the first matchmaking service to integrate with Facebook.

by Christina Hernandez
See full article at NBC Miami

Julie Spira: Top 10 Mobile Dating Apps

PRESS RELEASE - Sep 21 - The year 2011 has quickly become the year of mobile dating. Julie Spira has announced the Cyber Dating Expert Top 10 Mobile Dating Apps for 2011.

1. eHarmony
2. Match Mobile
3. Are You Interested?
4. Skout
5. Plenty of Fish
6. OkCupid
7. Zoosk
8. SpeedDate
9. Grindr
10. Jazzed

According to Comscore, ~14M people worldwide access dating sites through mobile app.  A recent Flurry report showed that mobile usage has now surpassed web usage for dating. Mobile app usage rose from 3.7 minutes in June of 2010 to 8.4 minutes in June of 2011.

The full article was originally published at 1888PressRelease, but is no longer available.

The Business of Love

HUFFINGTON POST - June 29 - "Worldwide, ~122M people monthly log into dating sites with 14M people using mobile dating services," said Mark Brooks, publisher of Online Personals Watch. The business of love and these statistics from Comscore were discussed in detail at the Internet Dating Conference recently held in Beverly Hills. Location based or not, everyone needs a mobile dating strategy. "We're seeing 2.5 times more activity on mobile than on the web because it's easy to wink and flirt on the go" said Robinne Burrell, Director of Mobile Products at Match.com. Match reports 10-15% of their new subscribers are coming from mobile with 56% of singles aged 25-54 going mobile.

by Julie Spira
See full article at Huffington Post

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It Was All About Mobile at the Internet Dating Conference

EXAMINER - June 29 - The most recent iDate was held in Los Angeles at the SLS Hotel. About half of the sessions dealt specifically on mobile dating. The message was clear. You need to have a mobile dating strategy. Match.com’s director of mobile products Robinne Burrell told the group that their subscribers logging on from mobile devices has grown 135% YOY to ~30% of their members. Monica Ohara from Speed Date said their 5-minute online speed dating service reached ~15M members. Unlike Match and Speed Date, Joel Simkhai, founder of the Gay mobile app Grindr, started on mobile. "Two million gay singles have downloaded Grindr's popular location based app", he said.

by Julie Spira
See full article at Examiner