Daily Mail Group Buys Owner Of LoopyLove

It is certainly true that the UK market is strong, and thus attractive to both local and foreign purchasers. However many of the media companies that buy into the industry with the objective of growing both their profile and revenue/profit, are sadly underestimating the negative impact of member dropout, and the effect (negative again) of the acquired company being swallowed up by the purchasing company/brand. I think their figure for 24 percent of the UK online population is very shy of reality, and unless there is a stronger overall strategy, their optimism re the positive impact of mergers will not materialise. Match, Lavalife and approx. 30 other companies, including WDP already hold a substantial percentage of the UK market. Without a doubt the biggest share of the UK market is dominated by smaller sites, increasingly specialised in niche markets, which is an area that is steadily growing (this is also reflected in the growing demand for dating communities rather than dating sites). 
SpringStreet itself was not a strong model, and this was reflected in the price and will have an impact on its future potential. Will they keep this as it is, or use it as an affiliate system for all other new acquisitions? Perhaps with about 2 years more of development, they may be able to come up with a revised system to match the competition. World Dating Partners with over 900 partner sites since February and 4,500 sites in total is covering all the core niche areas and is now focusing on the acquisition of other niches across Europe and Asia. WDP is in the process of merging new models in a way that continues the growth of new acquisitions, while continuing to strengthen their own brand, as well as developing small communities into larger entities. With growth in Germany, France, Italy, Holland, Switzerland, Taiwan and China at over 30% per month, coupled with our niche acquisitions, we will increase our revenues dramatically within the next 12 months to over a £1 million a month……and this is expected to continue to grow the following year. In consequence the thinking that media companies will dominate the future market is nonsense and shows an ignorance of the dating market. I believe their excellent generic business knowledge is clouded by a lack of awareness of the industry itself. They need to look into other industries where domination is maintained by a few host businesses that focus on helping their competition survive by developing ways for them to become more successful as part of the host organisation.
Look closely at the online gambling scene to see who the dominant players are……. 
In conclusion, buying out companies in our industry and letting them fade away (as they inevitably do) often reflects the abandonment of their founders’ ideals. This in turn has meant the loss of potential from some excellent dating models. There is no better example of this than the downfall of Udate, an outstanding site that is no longer maintained.