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

Online Dating Services Get Into Matchmaking Big Leagues

USA TODAY - May 20 - Match.com and Three Day Rule announce partnership to get Match into high-dollar matchmaking. eHarmony launched eH+ ($5k service) matchmaking in Jan. "They've got very significant market shares. Between them, they own the industry, and where do they go from there?" dating industry analyst Mark Brooks says. "They have two problems — a limited number of people left to reach and a limited price point."

Matchmaking has exploded in the past few years. Bravo's The Millionaire Matchmaker and other copycats have targeted the professional who has plenty of money but not enough time to hunt for a relationship. Traditional dating sites, which have millions of daters, haven't tried to reach this profitable market until now. Match.com gets a cut from each customer at Three Day Rule, says Sam Yagan, CEO of Match Group. Three Day Rule has matchmakers in New York, L.A., Chicago and San Francisco and will add matchmakers in Dallas, Boston and Washington by the end of the year. Six months costs $5k.

by Sharon Jayson
See full article at USA Today

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Minnesota Senator Introduced Bill To Protect Users' Privacy On Mobiles

USA TODAY - Mar 27 - As mobile dating proliferates, the focus no longer is just on daters leery of scams or sexual predators but also on keeping their location confidential. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., introduced legislation requiring companies to get customers' permission before collecting location data off their mobile devices and sharing it with others. It's a move that would greatly affect dating sites and apps.

by Sharon Jayson
See full article at USA Today

Mobile Video A Growing Trend In Online Dating

USA TODAY - Jan 26 - Mobile video communication is one of the latest trends in online dating and is the focus of a number of services including Dating.fm, Flikdate, VideoDate, View N Me and Instamour. "Skype started the whole genre change and FaceTime took it into mobile," says Marc Lesnick, founder of iDate. "FaceTime already proves that the model works." Mobile video communication is made with advances in mobile technology and allows for a limited first date experience without the full commitment of an in-person meeting.

by Sharon Jayson
See full article at USA Today

OurTime.com's Dating Over 50 Survey

USA WEEKEND - Sep 21 - Among those ages 50-65, the top three deal breakers are poor health (78%), financial instability (76%) and a potential partner they find physically unattractive (75%), according to OurTime.com survey. The survey also asked whether respondents want to marry at this stage of life. 51% want to marry and 49% are against it.

by Sharon Jayson
The full article was originally published at USA Weekend, but is no longer available.

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SMS Have Blown Up The Dating Culture

USA TODAY - July 18 - Casual, easy and non-threatening — the simple beauty of SMS. For dating, it has given rise to new ways of flirting and even defining exactly what's going on between two people. Hearing someone's voice on the phone is still a key element for a relationship, yet people are increasingly more likely to rely on the relative "safety" of a text for initial contacts. An Independent research firm conducted a survey in May for ChristianMingle.com and JDate.com. One third of singles agree it's less intimidating to ask for a date via SMS, the survey found. One in four say an hour is the longest acceptable response time to a text. According to Nielsen, 764 SMS per person were sent/received each month in the USA in 2012, compared with 165 mobile calls per month.

by Sharon Jayson
See full article at USA Today

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Mobile Apps Tap The Changing Face Of Online Dating

USA TODAY - Feb 13 - The mobile dating revenue is projected to double over the next five years ($415M). There is a site for everybody, many with their own apps as well. The niches range from ethnic, religious or age-based to sites for occupations (FarmersOnly.com) or eating preferences (VeggieDate.org). For gay men, there's Grindr.com and Stagg, DateMyPet for pet lovers. With the dating industry moving so rapidly, the phrase "online dating" will soon disappear from the lexicon, says Sam Yagan, CEO of Match. "The idea of differentiating online and offline in five years will be anachronistic," he says. Nielsen reports that the number of Americans using apps or a mobile version of a dating site was 13.7M in November 2012, more than double the previous year's 5.8M. Mark Brooks, a consultant who has studied the industry from its infancy, says the online and mobile dating industry is more than just a business: "Going from where it is now and where it's going to be in the next 20 or 30 years time, I'd be hard-pressed to think of a business -- outside of the medical industry -- that will have more impact on society."

by Sharon Jayson
See full article at USA Today

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Match.com Survey: What Singles Want

USA TODAY - Feb 5 - According to a survey conducted by MarketTools for Match.com 42% of respondents would not date a virgin, 65% would not date someone with credit card debt greater than $5K. 49% would consider getting into a committed relationship with someone who lived at home with parents. Among the "must haves," women want respect and men want someone in whom to trust and confide; both rate a sense of humor as key qualities for a partner. When judging a potential date, both men and women rate teeth at the top, followed by grammar. 28% say they've dated someone they met online, 48% of gay men and lesbian women have dated someone they met online.

by Sharon Jayson
See full article at USA Today

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Online Dating Has Changed Everything

USA TODAY - Jan 23 - In his new book, Love in the Time of Algorithms: What Technology Does to Meeting and Mating, writer Dan Slater argues that online dating has changed society profoundly.

Q: What is it about online dating today that you believe has made such a big difference?
A: It's the vast expansion of the dating pool. People tended to be moving from one relationship to the next a lot faster than they seemed to before online dating existed.

Q: You suggest that online dating has made relationships more disposable. Why?
A: It made a lot more people feel they are part of a larger mating pool than they were used to.

Q: How much science is really involved in matching people the way online dating does?
A: Online dating does seem to be improving at is the likelihood of two strangers getting along well on a first date.  The psychological science has not provided the ability to predict long-term compatibility between a couple who have never met.

Q: How did you meet your wife, Sophie?
A: I used a total of two sites through which I dated on and off about 12 months.Sophie and I actually met in a yoga class in January 2009. I asked her out, but she had a boyfriend. We went our separate ways for 2½ years. Then we reconnected on Facebook.

by Sharon Jayson
See full article at USA Today

Dating Sites For All Ages. AARP Launches Dating Service

USA TODAY - Dec 3 - The latest trend in online dating? Going offline as fast as you can. AARP is launching an idating service in partnership with HowAboutWe. 25% of AARP's 37M members are single and over half of the singles are under 70. Online dating industry consultant Mark Brooks says the AARP move into dating seems smart. "Seniors is a very good niche. Most dating sites skew toward guys, with more guys than women. But senior dating sites have more women. Being a 75 ­year­ old single man is the equivalent of being a 21­year­ old hottie."

Older sites such as Match.com and newer ones such as DinnerDate, CupidRadar and Grouper, all are focusing on the importance of a personal connection offline. "I cringe a little when people describe it as online dating," said Michael Waxman, co-founder and CEO of Grouper. The typical experience for a Grouper member is to spend ~5 minutes on our website and ~2 hours at a bar with your friends." By the end of this year, Match.com say the site will have hosted ~ 2K events with 150K singles. PlentyofFish, a free online site, also hosts face­to­face events.

by Sharon Jayson
See full article at USA Today

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Sites That Cater To 'Discreet' Encounters Thriving

USA TODAY - Feb 14 - For Noel Biderman and others who have founded dating websites for married people, it's a lucrative business. "The day after Valentine's Day is one of our biggest days of the year," says Biderman, founder and CEO of AshleyMadison (AM). Some of the sites are based in Europe and increasingly have become international, with their eye on the USA. "American people are really hypocrites about infidelity," says Teddy Truchot, co-founder of Gleeden, which launched in Europe in 2009, moved into Australia and entered the U.S. market last fall. "Everything from the U.S. which comes to Europe is about infidelity," says Truchot. "You see cheating all over TV and in real life." Data from 2010 from the General Social Survey shows that 19% of men and 14% of women reported ever having had an extramarital partner. AM earns well over $60M a year, suggests online dating industry analyst Mark Brooks. Biderman says that estimate is "on target," but he's expecting greater revenue this year ($100M). Industry tracker Brooks counts well over 30 cheating websites. He is quick to disclose that he has been a paid consultant for many online dating services, including those he calls "philanderer sites." "The philandering sites are specific to people who are wanting to be discreet," he says. "As much as I abhor these sites, they do actually do something good for the industry. People can be who they are on the philanderer sites," he says, rather than have married people claiming to be single, which happens on singles dating sites, he says. Biderman says it took five years to get the first 1M anonymous members. Currently, ~2.3M are registered and considered active by logging in or taking an action within the past 30 days. Brooks says he's surprised that in 10 years, Biderman's site hasn't had a lot of direct competition. Part of it, he says, is that "people don't like to start that kind of business." But Gleeden is ready to take that on.

by Sharon Jayson
See full article at USA Today

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All 2012 Valentine's Day News

Men, Women Flip The Script In Gender Expectation

USA TODAY - Feb 4 - According to a new survey conducted by market research firm MarketTools for Match.com, men are more interested in love, marriage and children than their peers in earlier times; women want more independence in their relationships than their mothers did; and hooking up and one-night stands aren't necessarily meaningless sexual encounters. "Men are now expressing some traditionally female attitudes, while women are adopting some of those long attributed to men," says biological anthropologist Helen Fisher. Data show men are quicker to fall in love and more likely than women to want children: 54% of men say they have experienced love at first sight, compared with 44% of women; among singles without children under 18, more men (24%) than women (15%) say they want children. 77% of women say having their personal space is "very important," vs. 58% for men; 78% of women say the same about having their own interests and hobbies (vs. 64% for men). And 35% of women (vs. 23% of men) say regular nights out with the guys/girls are important. FULL ARTICLE @ USA TODAY. Also read in TIME or watch on ABC NEWS.

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What's The Attraction?

USA TODAY -- Feb 11 -- Within the past few years, researchers have begun to focus on the nature of physical attraction. Personality, evolution and even economic compatibility can all be factors in why people are drawn together. Research suggests that some physical characteristics — a symmetrical face, for example — are considered more universally attractive. Other studies have found romantic attraction among those who have similar family, religious and economic backgrounds. Attraction is even more complicated for those who date online. SpeedDate.com allows people to "meet" for three-minute interactions through live audio-video and IM. FULL ARTICLE @ USA TODAY    

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More Singles Finding Love After Age 45

USA TODAY -- June 27 -- A USA Today analysis of Census records of Americans ages 45-55 shows that the percentage of those who said they had never been married in 2006 had doubled since 1990, and the percentage of those who were currently married had dropped by 9%. According to the most recent data from the federal Survey of Income and Program Participation, which includes marriage, 13% of those who wed in 2003 were 45 and older. Internet dating has largely made it possible for many of these later-life first marriages. Yahoo Personals reports a 33% increase from January 2006 to November 2007 among users ages 45 and over who say they have never been married. Match.com reports an increase of almost 10%.

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

Mark Brooks: Things are looking up for the internet dating industry, and singles are getting more choosy. Jupiter Research predicts the internet dating industry to grow to $1.9B revenues in 2012, up from $900 million in 2007.

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Headhunters For The Heart

USA TODAY -- Feb 12 -- Matchmakers seem to be popping up all over the country, many targeting their personalized services to eligible businessmen. Matchmaking has become such a buzzword that some dating websites use it in their marketing. In December, Match.com unveiled Match My Friends, which allows friends and family to play matchmaker. Engage.com came up with that premise when it launched in 2005. Matchmaking as a field also has grown since the 2003 opening of the Manhattan-based Matchmaking Institute, which sells a home study kit for $1,500. LaRosa's research suggests there are about 1,600 matchmakers in the USA, and about 100 are added each year. It is a very difficult business because matchmakers are dealing with emotional currency and extreme expectations. FULL ARTICLE @ USA TODAY

Online Daters Report Positive Connections

USA TODAY -- Mar 5 -- An estimated 16 million Americans have used a dating site or other site to meet people, the Pew Research Center reports; 45% of these have never been married. 79% say online dating is a "good way to meet people", 52% say the experience was mostly positive, 29% say it was mostly negative. 24.6 million people visited personals sites in January, comScore Media Metrix says.  FULL ARTICLE @ USA TODAY

Mark Brooks: I've heard it said, there are two kinds of internet daters. Those who met someone and are happy and those that didn't, and are unhappy. Online dating takes a significant investment of time and energy.  Sites such as eHarmony, TRUE, Chemistry and others are popular because they promise more compatible matches...and the promise of saving time.