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

How To Find Happiness In A World Of Password Madness

PC WORLD - Sep 21 - In June, hackers stole ~6.5M LinkedIn passwords and posted them online. That same month, intruders compromised ~1.5M eHarmony passwords in a security breach, and in July hackers grabbed 450K Yahoo Voice passwords. Among the most common passwords used by those Yahoo members: "123456," "welcome," and "password." “These days you have to have dozens of passwords and logins,” says Terry Hartmann, VP of global security solutions for Unisys. All of the passwords breached in the LinkedIn, eHarmony, and Yahoo exploits had been "hashed"—that is, the actual passwords had been replaced with algorithmically generated code. Complex passwords infused with numbers and special characters give you a fighting chance against hackers. Password management programs are essential tools for managing your digital life. A good password manager remembers all of your logins, replaces the simple passwords you choose with complex ones, and lets you change those passwords quickly if a site or service you use gets hacked. Instead of having to remember dozens of unique passwords, you only have to remember one: the master password for your vault. A biometric security system taps into the unique properties of your own physical packaging to authenticate your identity. Biometric systems can scan fingerprints, irises, faces, and even voices to establish whether a person should have access to a service or piece of hardware.

by Dan Tynan
See full article at PC World

See all posts on eHarmony

This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.

10 Questions For Snap Interactive CFO Jon Pedersen Sr.

PC WORLD - Feb 20 - Jon Pedersen joined Snap Interactive late last year as its CFO.

Q: Where did you start in finance and what experiences led you to the job you have today?
A: I started my career as an accountant with Price Waterhouse. After two years with Price Waterhouse, I spent ten years in banking where the main lesson I learned is high-level financial professionals need to be skilled in both the technical accounting and broader finance aspects of the businesses they run.

Q: Who was an influential boss for you and what lessons did they teach you about management and leadership?
A: Steve Macri, whom I worked for at Warner Music Group. Over the six years we worked together, I learned a great deal about how to manage and lead large and diverse groups of people over multiple geographies.

Q: What are the biggest challenges facing CFOs today?
A: Dealing with internal versus external priorities. Communication strategy is critical. In a complicated business environment, having a proper and coordinated IR / PR strategy is key to getting your message across.

Q: What is a good day at work like for you?
A: A good day for me is a busy day. I love to be in the mix, solving problems and adding value.

Q: How would you characterize your management style?
A: I'm focused more on results and less on process.

Q: What strengths and qualities do you look for in job candidates?
A: Smart, motivated people can learn what they need in order to be successful.

Q:  What are some of your favorite interview questions?
A: I really want to know what's on their mind and why they are interested in a particular opportunity.

Q: What is it about your current job, at this particular company, that sets it apart from other chief finance positions?
A: I think that CFO jobs are each unique in their own way. You need to react to the situation that you are in, and work with senior management to build a plan that is accretive to both the organization and the shareholders.

Q: What do you do to unwind from a hectic day?
A: Spend time with my family, enjoy a great meal, or catch the UConn Huskies or the Green Bay Packers in action.

Q: If you weren't doing this job, what would you be doing?
A: I come from a long line of educators, and I've often thought about getting involved in higher education as my career winds down. A mix of teaching and philanthropy would probably keep me busy enough.

by Nancy Weil
See full article at PC World

See all posts on Snap Interactive

The 12 Strangest Online Dating Sites

PC WORLD - Feb 14 - There's a specialty dating site for just about everyone.

• Agematch - for "age gap singles", people interested in intergenerational relationships.
• Asexualitic - for people who identify as "asexual".
• AshleyMadison - for people who are seeking an affair.
• CanDoBetter - The tagline is "Let The World Decide!". This "premier matching portal" gleefully channels its inner Gossip Girl and lets anyone with a free membership judge you on what really matters in dating: your looks.
• Cupidtino - for Mac lovers.
• Darwin Dating - for beautiful people only.
• Date My Pet - for pet lovers.
• DiaperMates - no comment :)
• FarmersOnly
• JuggaLove - for fans of Insane Clown Posse or any other Psychopathic Records hip hop group.
• Pounced - for people who feel an affinity to certain animals and dress up in furry costumes.
• Sugar Daddie - Where the classy, attractive and affluent meet.

by Rick Jensen
See full article at PC World

All 2012 Valentine's Day News

Online Dating Sites: Seek Love, Find Privacy Violations

PC WORLD - Feb 12 - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) reports online dating sites come with big holes in security that compromise at least the privacy and possibly the financial security of their users. EFF points out six major weak points in the security and practices of online dating sites.

1. Dating profiles remain online for months or years after a member has let a subscription lapse.
2. Second, the authentication on most sites isn't what you'd call bulletproof.
3. Google spiders users' profiles.
4. Even if users use a fake name, they're likely to be identifiable using TinyEye or Google Image Search.
5. Most sites also package their preferences and profile information (theoretically sans identifying data to sell to marketers).
6. There isn't much hope of protecting or recovering users' privacy once they lose it to an online dating service

by Kevin Fogarty
See full article at PC World

Love In The Time Of Smartphones

PC WORLD - Feb 14 - These days, it is even easier to find your future partner on the Internet thanks to mobile versions of your favorite dating sites. Sites like OKCupid, Match.com, and Plentyoffish all have compatible mobile apps. Flirtomatic is part social network and part dating site. More popular overseas than in the United States, Flirtomatic lets you “flirt” with strangers via either the dedicated mobile app or the mobile Web. Location-based apps that allow you to check in to a bar or restaurant, like Foursquare or Gowalla, are all the rage right now, especially since Facebook has jumped on the bandwagon. They can help friends find each other during a night on the town, and they’re useful for sharing tips about a hot-drink special in the neighborhood. But these apps are also a good way to keep tabs on your partner. FULL ARTICLE @ PC WORLD

See all posts on Match.com        See all posts on OkCupid
See all posts on Plentyoffish       See all posts on Flirtomatic

Is OkCupid's Dating Data Safe With Match.com?

PC WORLD - Feb 12 - OkCupid's fans were not reassured by the immediate disappearance of an OkTrends blog entry from last April. OkCupid's CEO, Sam Yagan, says that he decided to remove the blog post on his own, deeming it to contain inaccurate assumptions about the other sites' data. He also maintains that OkCupid will continue to operate separately from Match.com and be free for most users. OkCupid is extremely data driven. The site's OkTrends blog employs sophisticated statistical analysis. Now all of that data is in the hands of Match.com's parent company, InterActive Corp (IAC). According to Match.com's privacy policy, the company reserves the right to share personally identifiable information with "other IAC businesses". However, Yagan insists that OkCupid's privacy policy--which limits the amount of data it shares with third parties--will continue to govern the data that the site collects. "We are not planning to share any personally identifiable information with anyone," he says. "Just because we were acquired doesn't mean we're handing over any user data." FULL ARTICLE @ PC WORLD

See all posts on OkCupid
See all posts on Match.com

Online Dating For Nerds

PC WORLD - Feb 11 - Geek 2 Geek calls itself "the best place on the net to meet geeks." It boasts ~200K members, growing by 6K members each month. OtakuBooty is for fans of anime, manga, gaming, and cosplay. OtakuBooty is part online dating and part social networking. The name comes from a Japanese slang term for "nerd". Cupidtino describes itself as the first (and only) "Mac-inspired" dating site. That's right--if you love Apple products and the people who love Apple products, this site is for you. On Sweet on Geeks you can expect to find geeks, especially girl geeks. The 27K-member site is particularly balanced in the male-to-female ratio, unlike a lot of places on the Internet. OKCupid, a completely free dating site, is full of young singles--~70% of its users are between the ages of 18 and 35. On OKCupid, 55% of the users are men. FULL ARTICLE @ PC WORLD

See all posts on Cupidtino
See all posts on OkCupid

Q&A With GameCrush PlayDates And Co-founder Eric Strasser

PC WORLD - Aug 12 - GameCrush is an online service that offers to connect paying customers with bona fide gamer girls, known simply as PlayDates. GameCrush is essentially an online dating service that substitutes gaming for dating. The private beta launched in March. The service involves voice chat as well as live video streaming. Here is the interview with co-founder Eric Strasser and two of the PlayDates, Gina "SuperVillain" (SV) and Katie "Joybutton" (JB)

Q: How did you come up with the concept of GameCrush?
Eric: GameCrush was conceived two years ago. We saw the transition of people’s relationships online and the interactions people were having on Facebook. And we saw that the gaming community was far behind in social networking. We also felt that there was a big segment of the gaming community that was completely ignored, which was the female gamer.

Q: How many people are registered so far?
Eric: We have ~5000 registered PlayDates and over 2000 players.

Q: So how does one become a PlayDate?
SV: I read a gaming blog and saw Gamecrush.com; basically as a community of girls playing games. I thought it was the best thing for me, because it’s very rare for me to run into another female gamer in the real world who actually knows what she’s talking about.

Q: What is the female-to-male PlayDate ratio?
JB: Predominantly females.

Q: Do you have any horror stories you can tell us about your time at GameCrush?
SV: I have not had any bad experiences. People who play on GameCrush are a lot more respectful compared to the people you’d see on other live gaming platforms.

Q: How does GameCrush protect PlayDates from getting verbally abused?
SV: I can end a session any time I want. I can also flag a person.
Eric: Before the game starts they can see respectful rating of the player.

Q: So what are some of the changes coming up with the upcoming GameCrush public beta?
Eric: There is so much. I can’t go into details just yet. I just want to say it is really going to be cutting edge and we’re pretty excited about it.
FULL ARTICLE @ PC WORLD

See all posts on GameCrush

Dating Sites Hang On Despite Increasing Competition

IDG SERVICE -- Sep 23 -- Owners and companies running dating Web sites are meeting Monday and Tuesday at the Internet Dating Conference in London to discuss challenges in their industry. The top dating sites in the U.K. for June were PlentyofFish, followed by Meetic, Match.com, Gaydar.co.uk and GirlsDateForFree, according to comScore. In North America, the top sites in June were PlentyofFish, Singlesnet, eHarmony, Match.com and Yahoo Personals. The number of page views for dating sites are falling, and people are spending less time but revenues are growing. The main revenue model is subscription. Other dating sites are offering premium services used by traditional matchmaking companies. A site in China, Zhenai, charges $200 a year for access to its online site and team of match matchers who work with singles over the phone. That's far less than fees charged by traditional matchmakers, which can cost $5,000 or more a year, said Mark Brooks, who runs a consultancy focusing on social networks and dating sites. FreeDating.co.uk is free, and makes money by showing ads. It's the same model used by PlentyofFish, a relatively simple site that debuted in 2003 and has surged to the top spot in the U.S. and U.K. markets. FULL ARTICLE @ PC WORLD

See all posts on PlentyofFish                 See all posts on Singlesnet
See all posts on Meetic                          See all posts on eHarmony
See all posts on Match.com                    See all posts on Yahoo Personals
See all posts on Gaydar                         See all posts on Zhenai
See all posts on GirlsDateForFree

BharatMatrimony And Nokia Get In Bed

PC WORLD -- Oct 31 -- Nokia, users in India will now be able to access BharatMatrimony through Nokia Catalogs, a mobile shopping mall that offers a variety of content on Nokia devices. The downloadable app will feature support videos, images and voice introduction.

 

Bharatmatrimony Group Bags PC World Web Award

PC WORLD -- May 8 -- BharatMatrimony ranked as the best website for its overall performance in the Matrimony space. PC World recently conducted a research on 126 online Indian companies from various categories. The awards were based on the sites design, usability, technology usage, navigation, framework of the site, interface, user experience, error handling and security. “BharatMatrimony uses lot of visual aids and perfect eye friendly color combinations which makes the layout of the site attractive. The other award winning websites include Yahoo! Games, FutureBazaar for Shopping, Gmail for E-mails, Yahoo for Portals, MonsterIndia for Jobs, and Orkut for social networking. See PC World.

The full article was originally published at PC World, but is no longer available.

Mark Brooks: BharatMatrimony competes with Shaadi in India. They are the leading matrimonials sites.

Finding Love by Cell Phone

PC WORLD -- Feb 13 -- Mobile dating is gowing partly because of newer cell phones w/cameras, broadband connections and clearer displays. Tole Hart at Gartner said, "Mobile dating will continue to grow because Internet communities like MySpace and Jumbuck Island will grow." Trilibis said Webdate Mobile surged 23% in the past year to 92,000 registered users. Analysts at Frost & Sullivan put global mobile dating revenues at $31 million in 2005, and is expected to grow to $215 million in 2009. Market research firm, Visiongain, said that ~13% of U.S. dating service members accessed Web sites through their cell phones. Sprint offers Webdate Mobile for $3.99/mo and Jumbuck Island for $3.99/mo. Jumbuck Island said 40,000 unique visitors per day use it's Fast Flirting service worldwide. IceBreaker Inc. debuted Crush or Flush on Jan 16th.

The full article was originally published at PC World, but is no longer available.

Mark Brooks: The introduction of the Nokia N95 and Apple iPhone with provide added impetus for the transition to the mobile web and mobile dating.

Just Cancel the @#%$* Account!

PC WORLD -- Dec 22 -- It took me less than 5 minutes to sign up for a NetZero dial-up Internet account and a week trying to reverse a charge that the service levied after my cancellation request. I had a hard time canceling my $5 monthly Gold Classmates.com account, too. I couldn't find any information on how to cancel until I entered the word cancel in the site's search engine and then click through several pages reminding me of the benefits I'd lose. Sixteen days after I signed up for AOL's 90-Day Risk-Free account I cancelled. An AOL rep peppered me with questions as to why I was unsubscribing. I was still hit with a $25.90 charge. Thinking that I had properly canceled my contract with True.com within two weeks of signing up, I expected to be charged for one month of service: $50. Two months later my statement showed $153.

Mark Brooks: Trust me on this. Members should be able to cancel within 30 seconds and three clicks of logging in. Focus on building value, rather than locking members into your service and throwing away the keys.  Your comments please...

MySpace Halts Tracking Sites

PC WORLD -- June 21 -- SingleStat.us was active for only 10 days before a cease-and-desist letter from MySpace caused its creator to shut down the site. SingleStat charged a small fee to be notified by email when the status of a MySpace user changed, from "in a relationship" to "single." On Tuesday, DatingAnyone.com, a Web site with similar functions was also shuttered after a warning from MySpace. MySpace bared its teeth citing California laws against hacking and federal trademark laws. Stalkerati enables searches at Friendster, Facebook, Technorati. MySpace appears to have added a script to prevent searches.

Mark Brooks: Myspace needs to be seen to be very aggressively going after sites that may undermine their user privacy. (What user privacy).