THE ECONOMIST - Oct 3 - Match-making services that promote iju konkatsu, meaning "migration spouse-hunting", are increasingly common in Japan. They are typically operated by local governments. Along with online matching services, municipalities across Japan host parties to help singles mingle. They also organize group tours in rural prefectures, in which half the participants are locals and the other half from cities, to encourage urbanites to marry and move to the countryside. Hundreds of singletons participate in these tours every year.
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Japan's Local Governments Operate Dating Services
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Dating Sites Have Made It Easier For People To Click With One Another
ECONOMIST - Dec 29 - The new year can be an unhappy time but it is a golden opportunity for dating sites, as singles are hoping to find romance—ideally before February 14th. “The period between New Year’s Day and Valentine’s Day is our busiest six weeks of the year,” explains Sam Yagan, from OkCupid. Once seen as the last resort for a bunch of lonely geeks, online-dating services have gradually shed much of the stigma formerly associated with them. ComScore says Match.com and Zoosk saw 4.6M and 4.8M unique visitors respectively in November 2010. Deepak Kamra of Canaan Partners, an American VC firm that has backed Zoosk and BharatMatrimony, estimates that the industry’s revenues now amount to $3 billion-4 billion a year. The online-dating world has also spawned thousands of niche ones. Then there is the fuss over sites such as Illicit Encounters and Ashley Madison, which match people seeking partners for extramarital affairs. But to blame the service for infidelity is to confuse cause and effect. FULL ARTICLE @ ECONOMIST
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Face Value: Marc Simoncini
ECONOMIST - Dec 9 - Marc Simoncini is the founder of Meetic, Europe’s biggest dating site. Mr Simoncini comes from upwardly mobile stock. His grandfather was a poor farmer. His father worked his way up the ranks of France Telecom. In 1986 his father lent him $3,000 to start his own business. After a false start he founded Opsion, an IT-services firm. It took him 14 years to repay his debt to his father. In 1998 he created iFrance, an internet portal which was sold for €182M (then $165M). Mr Simoncini had the idea for Meetic during dinner with three friends who had all recently divorced or separated. When he lost his fortune, Meetic became his job. In 2008 he launched Meetic Affinity, a matchmaking site, which is more expensive. He says he has done what he can for Meetic and is looking to sell his 23% stake, which is valued at ~€100M, by the end of the year. Apart from Meetic, he has invested in Winamax, a poker website. FULL ARTICLE @ ECONOMIST
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Online Dating Giants Learn From Pick-up Artists
THE ECONOMIST – Nov 5 – Love Systems is an American firm that charges up to £3,000 ($5,000) for courses on how to pick-up women. Online dating firms such as eHarmony and eLove have also picked up on the need for dating coach services, though not on the same scale. Mark Brooks, an online-dating consultant, says, “You can meet the best people in the world and still screw it up because you don't know how to date. People need help, guidance, style counselling... feedback when a date goes wrong.” The National Dating Advice Line was launched last month and offers instant guidance from dating “experts” at £1.50 a minute. The British dating market is valued at nearly £100m, with 8% of Britons using online dating sites, compared to an average of 4% in the rest of Europe. However, the roughly 5 million visitors to British dating sites in September are a hard target. Visitor numbers in Britain fall well short of those in America. Mark Brooks believes this is because Britons are more sceptical than their transatlantic cousins. He regularly warns that overblown promises of true love are likely to repel rather than attract. FULL ARTICLE @ THE ECONOMIST
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Online Dating in Pyongyang
ECONOMIST -- Feb 1 -- North Korea's dictator, Mr Kim, believes there are three kinds of fool in the 21st century: smokers, the tone-deaf and the computer-illiterate. One of his young compatriots said, "Officially, our computers are mainly for educational and scientific purposes," he says, before claiming: "Chatting on our web, I also met my girlfriend." N.Korea launched a nationwide intranet in 2000. Known as Kwangmyong ("bright"), it has a browser, an e-mail programme, news groups and a search engine. Only a few thousand people are allowed direct access to the internet. FULL ARTICLE @ ECONOMIST
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