Dating Reviews

SkaDate, an advertiser here on Online Dating Insider, has released an update to their dating platform. New languages and lots of improvements to look forward to.

Marc Porcelli at Azoogle blogged about John Battelle blogging about Google Ad Planner Data Vs. Comscore. Of particular interest, Google’s bias toward it’s network and underreporting of visitors.
Marc, you need your own blog, I’m not going to link to a Plaxo blog, contact me if you want help setting up a new one.

HonestyOnline had a video clip from iDate and I just happened to be the lead-in voiceover. I threw it on YouTube, one of these days I’ll get around to digitizing the entire show.

I’ve been hearing about this site for ages.

TheLEK.com, a dating site that matches users based on their favorite restaurants, bars, clubs, events and activities, today announced the launch of their new community for Los Angeles singles.

First thing I thought of was a high-end Going.com where you pay a dollar to meet people. The credit-based system […]

PRESS RELEASE — Aug 18 — Individuals or couples who have successfully found somebody through Together Dating/The Right One share their stories on Matchmakersuccess.com. “When you’re in love or in a happy relationship, you want to tell everybody. Matchmakersuccess.com gives our members a way to do that,” said Paul Falzone, CEO of The Right One and Together Dating. FULL ARTICLE @ 24/7 PRESS RELEASE See all posts on TogetherDating See all posts on TheRightOne

CANWEST — Aug 16 — A growing number of Canadians are willing to pay for services such as online dating, speed dating, singles groups and matchmakers. Kim Hughes, editor-in-chief of Lavalife, says there are two key reasons that people pay to date: efficiency and customized searches. It’s Just Lunch is a matchmaking service that works with upscale restaurant partners and charges $1,995 for one-year membership. Meet Market Adventures is a more casual singles service. It is a “pay-as-you-play” model with no membership fee, but individual fees are charged for each event. Meet Market organizes approximately 35 to 45 events every month. Justin Parfitt was single and looking to improve on existing speed-dating models when he founded his company, FastLife, in Australia in 2003. FastLife is now based in Toronto and has expanded into Canada, the U.S., New Zealand, the U.K. and China. The price of a standard event is $79 and includes an open bar. FULL ARTICLE @ THE WINDSOR STAR See all posts on Lavalife See all posts on It’sJustLunch See all posts on MeetMarketAdventures See all posts on FastLife

Adaptation Dating, a company run by two 22 year olds, has launched three new UK casual dating sites today, on the White Label Dating platform. NaughtyOverForty, FilthyOverFifty and DirtyOverThirty. Philip Harris has a background in graphic design and advertising and Thomas Fide has a film and media degree and is a web designer. Mark Brooks: White labeling is taking off in the UK. 4 of the top 10 dating sites (per Hitwise, June ‘08) are sites run on white label dating platforms. But there still seems to be minimal white labeling competition in the USA. None of the top 25 are white labels (per Hitwise, June ‘08) (Disclosure: WLD is a client of Courtland Brooks and OPW sponsor)

DAILYTIMES — Aug 15 — According to a 2006 study by the World Health Organisation and the Iraqi health ministry, 49.3% of Iraqi men and 47.5% of women are either single or divorced. In Iraq, like in most conservative Arab societies, couples are usually nudged into matrimony by their parents and often a matchmaker is consulted to help find the perfect spouse. The traditional “arranged marriages” have become unpopular, while the need for Internet matchmaking has only begun. “I think the Iraqis are looking for love on the Internet because there are no other places for them to meet,” said Mustafa Kazem, a 20-year-old engineering student who found his soul mate on a university chat forum. FULL ARTICLE @ DAILY TIMES

SEATTLEPI — Aug 15 — Green dating officially got its start about five years ago. GreenSingles.com, a site for people in the environmental, vegetarian and animal-rights communities, probably has been around the longest. I surfed over to Green-Passions.com, DemocraticSingles, Earth Wise Singles, EthicalSingles.com, a matchmaking, and GreenSpeedDating.com, which touts itself as a new way for singles to find “carbon neutral love”. FULL ARTICLE @ SEATTLE PI See all posts on GreenSingles

OPW INTERVIEW — Apr 16 — Get a DNA test and find your match and it could result in more orgasms and less cheating, apparently. ScientificMatch.com charges $1k and will send daters a DNA test. I interviewed the CEO to find out how it all works. – Mark Brooks What is the founding story of Scientific Match? Five yeas ago I came across a study known as the sweaty t-shirt experiment. There was a documentary on TV and I just happened to be watching late night educational television and they described the sweaty t-shirt experiment. The experiment took place over on a college campus in Europe. A bunch of male students wore t-shirts for a couple of nights in a row exclusive of any external fragrances or any soaps or deodorants that would add to their natural odor. Then they had female students sniff the t-shirts that were worn by the men. And some of the t-shirts were rated as smelling very sexy and very desirable and some of the t-shirts were rated as smelling very unattractive or like dirty old gym socks. It turned out that the determining factor between the two extremes were the commonality of the immune…