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

Invisible Partner Helps Singles Fake Relationship

SDCITY NEWS - Apr 21 - Invisible Boyfriend and Invisible Girlfriend, both owned and run by Invisible Partner, give users a custom-assigned fantasy romantic partner who will text them up to 100 messages, leave them 10 voicemails and even send them a handwritten note, all for $24.99 per month. The service was created by Matthew Homann who had the idea for the app after divorce. "I got tired of everyone asking if I was dating again", he said. The messages are not robotic. With real live people, the service’s texting operation is powered by Crowd Source.

by Torrey Spoerer
See full article at SDCity News

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Invisible Boyfriend Offers Virtual Love

THE GUARDIAN - Feb 9 - Taobao, China’s version of Amazon, offers virtual girlfriends and boyfriends for $2 per day. These are real humans, but they only relate with their paying customers via the phone to perform fairly unromantic tasks such as wake up calls, good night calls, and “sympathetically listen to clients’ complaints”. Similar services already exist in India, where biwihotohaisi.com helps bachelors “practice” for married life with a virtual wife. A new US app, Invisible Boyfriend, allows users to customise the looks, personality and interests of an imaginary male partner and pay $25 for his virtual company.

by Thomas Chamorro-Premuzic
See full article at The Guardian

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'Invisible Boyfriend' The World's Saddest Dating App

TECH TIMES - Jan 21 - "Invisible Girlfriend and Invisible Boyfriend" are the result of one man's frustration, and a little bit of desperation. Co-founder Matt Homann was newly divorced and tired of feeling pressured to jump into something new. Subscribers can choose a name, personality, age, race, hairstyle and photo for their new virtual companion - or, can have the app build one for them. Features include having fake texting conversations, fake phone calls and receiving fake handwritten letters, all in a bid to fool family and friends into thinking you're not as lonely as they think.

by Steven Schneider
See full article at Tech Times

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InvisibleGirlfriend.com: The Website That Fakes Relationship

TELEGRAPH.CO.UK - Sep 16 - Invisiblegirlfriend.com (and invisibleboyfriend.com) is a new site, still in private beta, that claims to provide social and real world proof that a user is in a relationship. Users create their own girlfriend, give her a name, choose her age and photo and create her personality. The site also provides a real-time interactive texting service. The whole thing is weirdly reminiscent of the virtual relationships which are becoming increasingly popular in Japan. More and more Japanese men are conducting online romances with what are essentially intelligent computer games known as "otaku".

by Helen Coffey
See full article at Telegraph.co.uk

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'Invisible Girlfriend' Provides Fake Girlfriend For A Price

BUSINESS INSIDER - Nov 23 - Invisible Girlfriend is a new startup that provides users with fake girlfriends so they have a better story to tell to their friends and family. The company has three monthly subscription options: "Just Talking," which offers text messages, automated calls, and gifts for $9.99, "Getting Serious," with the previous options plus Facebook relationship change, and real voicemails and gifts for $29.99, and "Almost Engaged," which offers "custom girlfriend characterization" and live phone calls at $49.99.

by Paul Szoldra
See full article at Business Insider