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

More Couples Split in the Week of Valentine's Day Than Any Other

THESUN.CO.UK - Feb 11 - According to a recent survey, the most popular way to end a relationship is by text, followed by a phone call and a chat face-to-face. Todays (Feb 12th) has been dubbed Red Tuesday due to it being the top day of the year to get dumped. The peak day for dumping is just 48 hours before February 14, according to dating site Illicit Encounters.com. Its survey found out that 37% of users said they had broken up with a lover in the week before Valentine's.

by Hayley Richardson
See full article at TheSun.co.uk

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50% of Brits Would Continue With a Date Even if They Didn't Feel Safe

THE SUN - Jan 30 - Dating app Plenty of Fish compiled a Safer Dating report. Just 19% of the 2K adults asked would want to know if their date had a criminal record. And some 49% would stay on a date even if they felt unsafe. A third of people don't tell friends or family when they go on a date, or where they are going.

by Rebecca Flood
See full article at The Sun

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Danniella Westbrook Launches Her Own Dating Site For People Who Are Serious

THESUN.CO.UK - Aug 22 - The 44-year-old TV star is launching a brand new dating website called Serious Dating. She says she felt compelled to launch the new website after growing 'sick' of failing to find love via all the other apps that are already out there.

by Jasper Green
See full article at The Sun

Summarized by the IDEA team

POF Was Down

THESUN.CO.UK - Aug 9 - Dating site POF is down in the UK and elsewhere throughout the world amid complaints from users that they can't login to the site. Some users have also taken to Twitter to complain directly to Plenty of Fish's official account. One tweet dates back to August 6, indicating that the problem is an ongoing one.

by Saqib Shah
See full article at TheSun.co.uk

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Summarized by the IDEA team

ScamSurvivors.com Expose Dating Fraudsters

THE SUN - Feb 13 - Wayne May and Kari-Anne Liebling run ScamSurvivors.com, where they dedicate their free time to exposing online fraudsters. According to Action Fraud, people lost £41M last year. On average, Action Fraud received 10 reports a day from victims of romance scammers, with 18% of them being left at risk of bankruptcy. ScamSurvivors.com forum has been running since 2012 and Wayne claims they receive ~9K emails from all over the world every day. Wayne, who's day job is a carer, typically spends about five to six hours a day "volunteering" on the site. He doesn't charge for his services but people can make a donation to the site if they like.

by Hollie Borland
See full article at The Sun

Summarized by the IDEA team

Millennials Spend 10 Hours A Week On Dating Apps, Research Reveals

THESUN.CO.UK - Jan 23 - Badoo surveyed its 370M users worldwide to unveil modern dating trends. Men were found to spend 85 minutes a day on dating apps, averaging 9.7 minutes each session. Whereas women spend 79 minutes a day on dating apps, typically browsing for 7.6 minutes each session to find a potential suitor. According to the study women were found to log on to dating apps 10 times a day, with men falling slightly behind at 9 times each day.

by Carl Stroud
See full article at TheSun.co.uk

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Summarized by the IDEA team

MissTravel Sends Singles On Romantic Holidays With Complete Strangers

THESUN.CO.UK - Nov 11 - MissTravel lets singles search for a partner based on their looks, interests and holiday preferences. Both male and female members can create trip requests, by filling out a basic outline of where they plan to go, what they plan to do, and how long they plan to be away. It was founded by Brandon Wade, who also runs the sugar daddy dating site seekingarrangement.com. People suggesting trips can choose from three payment options, "pay for me," "I'll pay for you," and "Let's split 50:50." Several women have publicly admitted that they use the site to travel the world and stay in expensive hotels - leaving the bill to rich men. The website now has ~800k members worldwide.

by Caroline McGuire
See full article at TheSun.co.uk

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Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

RichMeetBeautiful Hopes To Recruit 100k 'Sugar Babies' From UK Universities

THESUN.CO.UK - Nov 11 - Huge adverts for RichMeetBeautiful show a couple cuddling with the caption "romance, passion and no student loan, go out with a sugar daddy". On their website the Norwegian company describes itself as a "sugar daddy and sugar baby dating site" but has been accused of encouraging prostitution and preying on the financial insecurity of students. The advertising campaign will target more than 12 universities for next three months and CEO Sigurd Vedal claims 75% of new signups are women, many of whom are aged between 18-26. As well as King's College London, the billboards will be displayed at the London School of Economics and The City Law School.

by George Sandeman
See full article at TheSun.co.uk

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Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Half Of Singletons In Britain Have Never Asked Someone On Date Face To Face

THE SUN - Oct 24 - A study of 1,500 single adults revealed that two thirds of people have never used a chat up line on someone they fancy, while 67% have never written a love letter. 46% have never dumped anyone in person. The research was commissioned by Grace Say Aloe - the brand behind the popular aloe vera drink. The study also found almost half of singletons think people have forgotten how to date in real life, now meeting people has become so accessible online.

by John Shammas
See full article at The Sun

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

POF Is Revealed As The Most Dangerous Dating App In Britain

THE SUN - Aug 11 - A Sun Online investigation has probed crime data from police forces across the country. Among the most popular apps, POF accounted for 56% of all crimes reported. Tinder accounted for 26% of crime, Grindr 10% and Match.com 7%.

by John Shammas
See full article at The Sun

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

What Is Raya And Which Celebrities Are On It?

THESUN.CO.UK - Mar 6 - Dakota Johnson's brother Jesse created the app - but the 50 Shades of Grey actress 'refuses to be a part of it'. Raya is one of the most exclusive online dating tools out there. Among the celebs said to have been on Raya are DJs Moby, Avicii and Samantha Ronson, singer Joe Jonas, fashion designer Alexander Wang, Lord of the Rings actor Elijah Wood, Desperate Housewives star Teri Hatcher, and Friends actor Matthew Perry.

by Jossie Griffiths
See full article at TheSun.co.uk

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Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

PrisonDating.co.uk Is A New Dating Site For Inmates

THESUN.CO.UK - Dec 9 - British lags are using new online dating site - PrisonDating.co.uk - to meet a partner. Users can upload profile pictures of themselves and create a profile based on their interests and backgrounds to attract a new partner. Some reveal their release date, although most avoid the subject of why they've ended up in jail.

by Lauren Fruen
See full article at TheSun.co.uk

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Sex Crimes Involving Tinder And Grindr On The Rise

THE SUN.CO.UK - Nov 4 - Crimes involving the apps have risen 2,000% in four years. 50 sex crimes involving dating apps Tinder and Grindr were reported to Scotland Yard in the six months to June. In all, 187 London crimes were linked to the dating apps in the first half of the year.

by Stian Alexander
See full article at TheSun.co.uk

Mark Brooks: Tinder has experienced explosive growth, so its only natural that the number of Tinder connected and reported crimes rises in unison. All sizable dating apps should have people ready to work with police and assist with reported crimes, and deal quickly with subpoenas. Or they will end up suffering the consequences in the press for not acting swiftly.  

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Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

BeautifulPeople.com To Open LA Club

THE SUN - Sep 27 - Dating site BeautifulPeople.com is opening an exclusive new club where every guest is vetted to ensure they are attractive enough to enter. Managing director of BeautifulPeople.com Greg Hodge says that they are just following the site's users' wishes, as they are apparently tired of going on nights out surrounded by people they don't consider pretty enough.

by Guy Birchall
See full article at The Sun

See all posts on BeautifulPeople

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Cougar's Feel Good Factor

THESUN.CO.UK - Apr 26 - Women who pair off with men the same age or older don't enjoy as many outdoor activities and don't mix with a younger crowd. Those who do feel happier and younger, according to ToyBoy.com. Researchers asked 1,000 women aged between 18 and 65 how young their man made them feel. The average was four years but one in ten said their toyboy had made them feel ten years younger. Older men were lambasted for being too grumpy by 27% of women, 36% said they were set in their ways and 20% said they were boring.

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

See all posts on ToyBoy.com