MIAMI HERALD -- Dec 18 -- Beth, a leggy brunette and successful lawyer who lives in Dallas, says she enjoys clubbing and rollerblading. But some of these women don't even exist according to a Coral Springs businessman who alleges that Yahoo Personals posts fictitious profiles, date bait. Lawmakers in Texas, Virginia, Michigan, California and Florida are weighing legislation that could make it a crime to misrepresent oneself on a dating site, or fail to inform consumers that they offer background screening for their customers. Analysts say matchmaking sites believe that they can patrol themselves. Most of them use 'report this profile' options to report problem subscribers to a team of 'abuse' monitors who look for risqué photographs, insincere profiles, and users looking for a place to advertise their own business. Mark Brooks, editor of Online Personals Watch, concedes that there is endless potential for abusing the rules. But, he said, that doesn't mean the site owners should be subject to government monitoring. He calls the suits against Match and Yahoo 'ridiculous.' 'If you were sitting in a product development meeting [at Match or Yahoo] and said, 'Hey, let's just have someone do that,' (send bogus emails), that person would be fired,' Brooks said.
0 posts categorized "Outlets - Miami Herald"
Is it Love or a Lie?
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Online Dating is Split Over the Bill
MIAMI HERALD -- Apr 27 -- Love is supposed to steal your heart not your car. The background checks bill passed the Florida Senate Criminal Justice Committee Tuesday but still must be scheduled for a floor vote in the waning days of the session. Although True.com has pushed similar legislation in six other states, no other bill has made it this far. ''I've got complete confidence that True is going to run this thing through,'' said Mark Brooks, the editor of Online Personal Watch, who has been monitoring the bill's progress. "But the industry certainly doesn't like the idea that it's being rammed down their throats." While True.com says it's simply trying to make online dating safer, critics accuse the newcomer, which has 3 million members, of using the legislation to stake out more turf in a crowded and lucrative industry. Said Kristin Kelly, senior director of PR at Match.com. "It's bad for the industry because it continues to promote a stigma that's not accurate.'' True's CEO Herb Vest said, "we don't want criminals and married people preying on our members. There are close to 70 million singles out there that are not using online dating sites right now. If we can let them know that, as an industry, we care about their safety then we're all going to grow at a prodigious rate.'' The Florida DOC database hasn't been updated since August of last year and Rapsheets only searches 15 of the state's 67 counties. Two Miami online dating sites -- Webdate and Date.com -- said they will be offering their clients background checks, regardless of the bill's outcome. ''I think background checks are a relatively good idea, if done properly,'' said Webdate COO Abe Smilowitz.
Mark Brooks: True is leaning on the Florida bill with all it's might, connections and savvy. The session ends Friday 6th May. Watch this space! I'll keep you posted.
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Old-school dating service for the cyber-averse
MIAMI HERALD -- Feb 14 -- It's Just Lunch has stuck in there, and today claims a presence in 75 cities. $1,500 annual membership for 14 lunch dates. An hourlong face-to-face interview follows. Discretion is built into the system. Pannucci works with about 50 restaurants, where she has an understanding with the maitre d': No one is to utter, 'It's Just Lunch.' After the date, Pannucci's staff calls clients to get feedback about whether it was a good setup. ''That's what separates us from all the other services out there: the personal touch,'' she said. She advertises in the Miami New Times and seven airline magazines, and is listed in the Yellow Pages. Members who enroll a friend get an extra first date. She currently has a total of 1,000 members, she said.
Mark Brooks: $1500 a year to meet singles who are screened and really serious about not being single...and can afford $1500.
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Try Mixing Business With Pleasure
MIAMI HERALD -- Feb 9 -- South Florida singles are finding increasingly attractive options for finding love -- matchmaking services, dinner clubs, online websites, community events and singles fundraisers. Introducing Epicuriosity; a wine and dine social club for singles. The owner, O'Leary, plans dinners for six at local restaurants to help busy professionals expand their social circles. She tailors the gatherings by age groups. O'Leary hopes to have dinners planned for most nights each week. She also hopes to find love for herself in the process.
Mark Brooks: I own a similar club for young Silicon Valley professionals ACE-CLUB
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Love Blossoms on the Internet
MIAMI HERALD -- Jan 20 -- Since Miami Beach-based Webdate started offering a free online dating service two years ago, some 2.8 million love-seekers have signed up. The company's traffic surged 800% in 2004, compared to 17% for the online personals industry as a whole. with 8,000 to 10,000 new users signing up daily, Webdate has the fastest-growing black book in the industry. There are almost 850 online dating services worldwide. Giving away service has put Webdate on the charts with the likes of Match.com and Yahoo Personals. On Jan. 19 for example, the firm announced it would expand its mobile dating service by March to cover 80% of all data-ready cell phones. "Webdate MobileT" allows clients to use their handsets to search for potential dates, download profiles and initiate text messages and anonymous phone calls. "You don't have to be in front of your computer to be online dating anymore," Smilowitz said. Since its launch in December, some 40,000 users have subscribed to the mobile service at $2.99 per month. At his new South Beach office, Smilowitz spins his monitor around to show off another high-tech feature: live video chat. On the screen is the small image of a user in Indonesia, busy typing away at her computer. "We've all heard the horror stories about chatting with someone online and they have a great picture, but then you meet them and you realize it wasn't them at all, or that the picture they were using is 20 years old," said Smilowitz, 30. "With this, people get the chance to hear the other person's voice and see their face from the comfort and safety of their own home." But the market is getting more crowded and fragmented. ''There are increasingly more sites aimed at seniors -- it is definitely catching on with the older set -- and just about every other demographic you could think of,'' said Mark Brooks, the publisher of Online Personals Watch.
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Social Networking Coming to Netflix
MIAMI HERALD -- Dec 8 -- In its latest move to fend off competitive threats, Netflix will let subscribers invite their friends to peek at DVDs they've watched and read their opinions. The concept copies an online networking approach that has been popularized by Web sites such as LinkedIn, Friendster and Tribe that provide online communities connecting people who share common friends, hobbies and interests. Netflix expects to enter 2005 with 2.45 to 2.65 million subscribers.
Mark Brooks: I'm surprised social networks haven't embraced referral rewards programs en masse. How about a free Starbucks coffee for each new paying Netflix member and referer? Social networking theory would have us believe that the connectors aren't motivated by rewards. Hmm, I wouldn't mind a free coffee or CD or movie ticket. If you're going to launch a social network that has a clear and apparent commercial agenda, might as well reward the connectors. Any comments?
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