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

9 Dating Apps and Sites That Died

MASHABLE - Here are nine dating sites and apps that died. RIP.

1. Sparked
   Facebook Dating launched in 2019, five years after founder Mark Zuckerberg claimed that Facebook was a better dating site than Tinder. Facebook Dating has thousands of active users, while Tinder has millions. Facebook tried again with Sparked, a video speed dating app that launched last year. Sparked shut down less than a year after its inception.
2. Chappy
   UK reality star Ollie Locke launched gay dating app Chappy in 2018 with help from Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd. Chappy shut down and folded into Bumble just two years later.
3. Hater
   Hater made waves back in 2017. This app's niche was connecting people through things they despise. App founder Brandon Alper pitched Hater on Shark Tank in 2017 and received $200K from billionaire Mark Cuban, but the following year Hater wasn't making money.
4. HowAboutWe
   HowAboutWe was an innovative dating app in that singles snagged dates by suggesting activities with each other. HowAboutWe's demise was due to a buyout. Match acquired HowAboutWe in 2014, and the site is no more.
5. Spoonr
   First called Cuddlr, the app launched in 2014 to help people find platonic cuddle buddies. Cuddlr shut down in 2015 and rebranded as Spoonr months later. Spoonr closed in 2017 with a tweet: "It was fun while it lasted! SPOONR is now closed! Hugs."
6. Siren
   Siren launched in 2015 by two women of color to "fight the swipe" of dating apps created by men. Instead of swiping, Siren posed daily questions for users to answer and seek potential matches based on whose responses they liked. Siren shuttered in 2017 with a blog post. Co-founders Susie Lee and Katrina Hess claimed that investors didn't complete their payments, and the app ran out of money.
7. Missed Connections
   Oh, Craigslist Missed Connections. Gone too soon.
8. Yahoo! Personals
   A site with the same fate as Craigslists' personals, Yahoo! Personals shuttered in 2010 when it merged with Match.
9. GreatBoyfriends.com and GreatGirlfriends.com
   A two-for-one, GreatBoyfriends and GreatGirlfriends launched in 2002 by then-Elle Magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll. GreatBoyfriends and Girlfriends died after wedding site The Knot acquired them in 2005.

by Anna Iovine
See full article at Mashable

CEO Of Yahoo Tells Mike Arrington To F*&off At His TechCrunch Disrupt Conference

OPW - May 25 - I just love gritty, characterful people who speak their mind. This video is quite hilarious and completely out of control. Carol Bartz gave Mike Arrington a lambasting at TechCrunch Disrupt and told him to F*&off!  Unfortunately, this kind of forthrightness, while perhaps in some form of context at the conference, will now go viral and polarize executives and investors.  Some will laugh and agree. Others will not forgive her loss of control. How long do you think Carol will remain as CEO of Yahoo? Your comments please.

Match.com Partners With Yahoo!

PR NEWSWIRE - May 24 - Match.com will become the exclusive online dating site on Yahoo!. Yahoo! Personals users will have the opportunity to move to a new co-branded Match.com experience, "Match.com on Yahoo!" where they will combine with the Match.com community. The Match.com on Yahoo! service is available starting today.

The full article was originally published at Match Media Room, but is no longer available.

Mark Brooks: The writing was on the wall for Yahoo Personals USA when Yahoo Personals UK partnered with Match.com to power the UK service in June 2006. IAC's Barry Diller showed interest in Yahoo in April 2009. Then sold Match Europe to Meetic for a 27% stake in Meetic. IAC will likely buy Meetic, in time. We surmised Match would either be buying Singlesnet or Yahoo Personals back in February. They bought Singlesnet. Here's a link to the transition options for existing Yahoo Personals users. Users can transition their profile and membership over, or cancel and get a prorated refund, or continue using the service through July 21st when Y! Personals officially shuts down. Users will still be able to move their profiles over to Match through Jan 19th, 2011.

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Will Match Acquire Yahoo Personals Or Singlesnet?

OPW - Feb 17 - Match acquired 27% of Meetic in February last year and then acquired People Media for $80 million in July, 2009.   They took a piece of the German market last week by partnering with Neu.de.  Diller showed interest in Yahoo Personals back in April 2009.  Sometime soon, perhaps Match will announce a deal to power Yahoo Personals USA.  Match already powers Yahoo Personals in key European markets.

The real question is, how can you possibly compete with the behemoth Match?  Its has niches with People Media, Europe with Meetic and Yahoo Personals, and growth this season is looking very strong.  I hear concerns about growth stalling for second tier dating sites. However, Piper Jaffray predicts U.S. spending on online dating will reach $1.7 billion by 2013, with $1.2 billion being spent in 2008.  Meanwhile, Forrester expects the market to reach $1.6 billion by 2013, up from an estimated $957 million in 2008. - Mark Brooks

• See All Posts On Match
• > Launched in Jan 1998
  - GM for France Interview, Arnaud Jonglez, August 9th, 2008
  - CEO Interview, Thomas Enraght-Moony, June 8th, 2007
  - CEO Interview, Jim Safka, December 27th, 2006
  - CEO Interview, Jim Safka, October 14th, 2005
  
  
  • See All Posts On Yahoo Personals
  • > Launched in Nov 1998
    - GM Interview, Egon Smola, January 1st, 2008
    - GM Interview, Lorna Borenstein, October 4th, 2005

The Top Online Meat Markets

FORBES -- Aug 25 -- Online dating is now a $950M industry and according to Nielsen dating sites snared 27.5M unique visitors in June. Forbes used Nielsen's latest unique-visitor data for June 2009 to rank the 10 most popular dating sites. #1: eHarmony.com, with 4.25M visitors, up 48% YOY. Yahoo Personals came in at #2, with 4.1M uniques, followed by Match.com, with 3.4M. Plentyoffish.com, at #6, boasting 2.2M viewers, nearly double the amount a year ago. Noteworthy is the 91 minutes that an average users spends per visit. "Unlike other dating sites, Plentyoffish relies less on a marketing blitz than on word of mouth from satisfied customers", says founder Markus Frind. In Depth: The 10 Top Online Dating Sites. FULL ARTICLE @ FORBES

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Internet Dating Industry Weekly News - 5 Mins

Online Personals Watch News Summary, May 1st, 2009

Meetic tops in UK. Public health professionals turn to social networks to help combat HIV/AIDS. White Label Dating moves up. Viximo introduces modular virtual goods platform for the web and iPhone. iovation introduces risk assessment module. Diller eyes Yahoo Personals. IAC Q1 results out, subscription base up 6%, but revenue down due to exchange rates.

Diller Shows An Interest In Yahoo Personals

FINANCIAL TIMES -- Apr 30 -- Barry Diller is looking to expand his internet dating empire, hoping to capitalize on a boom in the number of people looking for love online in uncertain economic times. Mr. Diller, Chairman and CEO of IAC, which owns Match.com, was “very interested” in Yahoo’s personal ads operation, he said as he unveiled first-quarter figures showing a healthy 6% underlying rise in revenues at Match.com. Yahoo would not comment, but analysts say it may outsource Yahoo Personals. The modern way of matchmaking generates $1.8 billion in revenues in the US, MarketData estimated earlier this year.

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

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The Mature Dating Game

HARVARD MAGAZINE -- Feb '09 -- Increasingly, those 45-55 are meeting online through sites like Match, eHarmony and Y! Personals. Those 45+ comprise the fastest growing segment on PerfectMatch.com, and at PlentyofFish.com, where they tend to log on and stay on more often then younger users says CEO Markus Frind. "They are more committed to the dating process." Internet dating creates 'a bit of the kid in the candy store mentality.' But the anonymity can prompt some socially undesirable behavior such as misleading photos, married people posing as singles, and outright scams. Database matching relies on input from candidates who list their preferences. But Dawn Touchings, president of The Right Stuff, an 'introduction network' that caters to ivy leaguers, says "Many of th people who meet on our site tell me the person they are compatible with did not fit any of the categories they set." FULL ARTICLE @ HARVARD MAGAZINE

Mark Brooks: As a student I worked at the Simi Valley Ford dealership selling cars one summer. Seasoned salespeople liked to remind me that 'buyers are liars.' I refuted this but it seems strangely relevant in the dating space. Our buyers are liars, only insofar as they really don't know what they are looking for. Beyond the basic showstopper questions, don't we go a bit far by asking so many questions and offering up so many search filters?

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10 Things Online Dating Services Won't Say

SMART MONEY -- Feb 9 -- 
1. Keep your hopes high and your expectations low.

2. We've yet to meet two people who aren't a potential match.  "No one knows if (personality profiling datin services) actually work," says author Robert Epstein. If you really want individualized matchmaking then consider a personal matchmaker.

3. Everyone's lying about something. Some users lie about their age to show up in more search results but most lies in the online dating universe are pretty small, says Nicole Ellison, an assistant professor at Michigan State. 

4. We don't have as many members as it seems. Experts say that at best, subscriber services convert ~ 10 and 15% of browsers into members. That means 90% or more of the profiles at a subscriber site could belong to unreachable browsers. On free sites like Plentyoffish.com or OKCupid.com every profile belongs to an active member.

5. Fall in love too quickly and you could end up with an empty wallet. "The romance scam is the most prevalent on dating sites, and the hardest to stop", says Brian Erickson, director of operations at Mate1.com.

6. Our guarantees are only guaranteed to keep you here. Match.com and Yahoo Personals offer "guarantees" and six-month "promises". If you don't find the one during your six-month subscription, you'll get more time to keep trying. Dating sites do this because it's an easy, low-cost way to keep traffic up—and a great marketing tool, says David Evans, an industry consultant. 

7. Don't expect quick results. "You can't just throw up a profile and expect to go on a date," says Mark Brooks, an industry consultant for online dating services. The world of online dating has its own rhythms and rituals, which often take some time. Keep that first date light. "You're going to know by the second sip of your latte if there's something there," says Trish McDermott, VP Love at Engage.com.

8. Once you log in, you're pretty much on your own. Some people could simply use more help than others, says Mark Brooks, but good luck getting it from the dating service you're using. "Online dating sites' biggest flaw is they don't offer service of any kind," he says. Rather, most of them function more like a giant virtual bar or nightclub.

9. You might not need all these extras—but we do. "Besides the overall dampening of consumer spending, the Internet dating market has simply become saturated", says Brooks. That means online dating services have had to start getting creative. 

10. Good luck trying to break up with us.

FULL ARTICLE @ SMART MONEY

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Why Pay When Dating's Free Sites Beckon?

BUSINESS WEEK -- Feb 6 -- In December, free sites accounted for ~25% of all traffic to the top 10 U.S. dating sites, up from 15% a year ago, according to Hitwise. During the second half of 2008, PlentyofFish was the most-trafficked dating site in the U.S., according to Hitwise. "We are going to double our staff this year," said Markus Frind, CEO of PlentyofFish.com. "The economic downturn doesn't affect me." OkCupid.com says growth picked up in Sep, as the economic decline accelerated. Some paid sites are getting hurt more than others. Traffic to Yahoo Personals fell 15% in Dec from a year earlier, according to Hitwise. In the same period, eHarmony's traffic dropped 61% and True.com's tumbled 68%. At the same time, traffic to Match.com jumped 31% while Singlesnet.com's traffic rose 16%.

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

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PlentyofFish.com #1 Dating Site In USA

OPW -- Nov 21 -- We have just updated Hitwise US online dating rankings for October. PlentyofFish.com is now the #1 dating site in the US followed by Singlesnet, Yahoo Personals and Match.com. PlentyofFish.com is also the #1 dating site in the UK according to Hitwise.

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

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Dr Kirschner Launches Love in 90 Days Site

PR WEB -- Sep 17 -- Dating expert and psychologist, Dr. Diana Kirschner, launched the Love in 90 Days website, which includes a blog, new cutting-edge articles on rapid dating success for women, etips, a discussion forum, relationship quizzes and advance promotion of her new book Love In 90 Days. Dr. Diana is a frequent guest on The Today Show, has appeared on Oprah and Good Morning America, is a featured dating expert at Yahoo! Personals.com and is the Official Dating Guide at Selfgrowth.com. She is also an Expert Author at EZineArticles.com.

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

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Nielsen Internet Dating Rankings Update

OPW -- Sep 16 -- We have updated Nielsen Online U.S.A. internet dating rankings. Yahoo! Personals, Match.com and Singlesnet maintained their 1st, 3rd and 4th position respectively. TRUE ousts MSN Dating from it's 5th position. PlentyofFish jumped from #9 to #7. AOL Personals went down to #8 from #7. Mate1 and MSN Dating slide off the top 10.

Niche Sites Making A Match Easier

SUN TIMES -- July 3 -- Forget eHarmony, Match.com or Yahoo Personals. Singles increasingly are turning to niche online dating sites promising to match couples with similar interests, backgrounds or religions. Mark Brooks, whose blog Online Personals Watch chronicles the Internet dating industry, estimates that niche sites now occupy approximately 43% of total market share. Brooks writes that while mainstream sites are stagnating, niche sites continue to grow. People looking to meet Trekkies or truckers can turn to the Passions Network, Sugardaddie.com bills itself as the place where the "classy, attractive and affluent meet", Ave Maria Singles offers a service for hard-line Catholics interested in sacramental marriage and Positivesingles.com is for people staying positive though they've tested positive -- for sexually transmitted diseases.

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

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