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

Group Dating Is On The Rise

NY TIMES - Nov 10 - “Traditional online dating takes too much time,” said Lauren Kay, 24, a founder of the Dating Ring, a group dating company that started last spring. She requires singles to meet with an in-house matchmaker, before being set up in groups of three single men and women ($20 a date). "Group dating is simply a version of general night life, said Abel Acuña, a founder of Martini, a group-dating service in New York, Paris, London and Seoul, South Korea. These services make fewer claims about arranging romance, promising only the low-stress opportunity of hanging out. ­Grouper bills itself as a social club. “We are more excited about groups that are 12 and higher,” said Sam Yagan, founder of OKCupid.com and CEO of Match.com.

by Marisa Meltzer
See full article at NY Times

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Group Mixers With Martini App

PR MAC - May 28 - Martini is a new app that sets groups of friends up on mixers in cities across the country. Scheduled Mixers, a new feature of Martini, allows members to choose which nights they are available and introduces them to groups that have the same availability.

See full article at PR Mac

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Martini: New Groupon-Like Dating App

BUSINESS INSIDER - Apr 2 - Martini App lets a group of friends to go out with another group of friends. Users pick up to three Facebook friends, and are matched with a similar group each night at midnight. They then have 24 hours to decided if they would like to go out with that group.

by Kevin Smith
See full article at SF Gate