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Sarah Lacy at BusinessWeek says it’s over between her and online dating sites. She thinks she’s going to find her mate on Myspace and Facebook. Good luck with that, Sarah. Then she goes on to state that online dating as we know it is dead. I don’t know whether I should laugh at her ignorance or join in.
Dating services have not done a good job leveraging social networking sites, except to spam everyone with lower-common-denominator advertising. The Facebook apps are boring for the most part. Prove me wrong and I’ll eat my words.
Sarah says the stigma is gone, I say hogwash. Even though my 65-year old aunt just met her mate online, there are still approximately 87 million singles in the US who wouldn’t touch an online dating site with a 10 foot pole.
My blood pressure lowered when she mentioned a few telling factoids about the online dating market.
According to comScore (SCOR), the number of people visiting online dating sites dropped 6% in September from a year earlier at a time when growth has soared among social networking and user-generated sites.
Unique visitors to Yahoo Personals and eHarmony fell 21%, Match.com had a 16% drop, and True.com’s visitors plummeted 46%. ComScore does show some names like Plentyoffish.com growing, but these are new sites with far smaller user bases.
Match, which is staying with IAC and not getting spun off, has not done well for members this year, although it’s making strong inroads into Asia and showing more money on the books.
If you are single, Match’s increased revenue means nothing. If anything it pisses people off to see them raising prices and making more money when they are not taking care of growing their brand and getting more quality singles on the site. How many people at Match have been there more than 18 months in Sr. Executive positions? Not many, it’s a Texas-sized revolving door when it comes to keeping talented people around.
Revenue growth was driven by an 11% increase in revenue per subscriber, primarily in North America. International subscribers grew 10% although worldwide subscribers declined 1%. Profits grew faster than revenue due to lower operating costs and a lower cost of acquisition as a percentage of revenue.
Operating Income Before Amortization was up 53%. Paid subscribers went DOWN 1%. Need I say more? “People don’t use our service as much, but we’re making more money!” Hooray for the suits and beancounters. For the rest of us in the US the news is not so rosy.
Did you know that Skype co-counder Nicklas Zennstrom is backing video speed dating site Woome?
WooMe, introducing the world, one person at a time. Different from Speeddate.com, a broader appeal. Minute-long video meetings. Blogforward has a good review of WooMe.
The Flake-o-meter feature is a novel way to work reputation into the mix. Planning to charge $1 to email users. Interested in each other to gain the ability to contact each other directly.
CEO Stephen Sokols says that WooMe is already in discussions with one of the top three dating sites in the US to offer its video sessions as an add-on; later, it may offer a white-label version to other companies that have a use for it (for example, a recruiting firm that wants to interview batches of candidates).
I love the signup process. The Flash interface is subtle and the simple questionnaire a welcome respite from the 20 minute signups for some sites.
Go buy a webcam and check it out. Speed/video dating is 1,000% more fun an effective than browsing static profiles, and you don’t have to waste an hour in a bar moving between 20 tables. I keep thinking of the speed dating scene in 40 Year Old Virgin, they nailed that perfectly.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m back in the online dating pool for the first time in a while, and I still don’t like it. The thing about online dating is this: it’s all about the picture. And many people look better in person than in photos. Plus, sites like match suggest to you unconsciously that you can custom order people.
But I couldn’t believe 3 months on match is 60 bucks. There’s zero chance I’ll go beyond the 3 months. T
I’ll bet you’d drop 60 bucks on a (not so expensive) dinner - or for a nice shirt or a good bottle of wine, without even thinking about it.
Yet, spending 67 cents a day is too much money to spend on a quality singles site?
Sheesh. Let’s put things into perspective!
And, yes, we also charge 60 bucks for 3 months - an excellent bargain.
If you’re having trouble keeping customers, your price is high. Period.
It’s a flawed process and experience, and must be value priced.
You need to hear this from customers. People Do Not Find the online dating experience to be fun. Nobody I know….even those I know who met their spouses online, and I know 3…..think it is so.
You need to innovate. Or cut prices. I’m done after 3 months. And, to sum it up, I’m a pretty decent looking guy with a good job and a very well written profile. So this is not a garden variety complaint about not getting dates.
Actually, yours is a garden-variety complaint. EVERYONE says they are decent and have a good job, thats part of the problem and why background checks and assessment tools are useful.
The industry, while traditionally slow to innovate, is under increasing pressure from a plethora of startups who offer better services than the traditional top dating sites, and social networking is taking a big bite out of the market, but when it comes to serious daters, you get what you pay for IMHO.
Casual dating is a whole other conversation. Just look at Plentyoffish or OKCupid.
What are my costs, Frank? Are you hacking into my books again?;-)
We are constantly innovating and listening to our customers, to continually provide a valuable service that they want to pay for.
We don’t have a problem keeping customers and our prices are reasonable. To be fair, I think you are referring to Match and other generic services.
I had a blast when I was single and using personal services. That’s what got me into the business, in the first place. And, I had a happy ending (besides the business success): I met my wife, albeit indirectly, online. She was introduced to me by someone I had met online the previous summer on a site before I started my own.
That was way back in 1999 and the rest is history! We recently celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary.
You can read all about us here: http://www.christiancafe.com/guests/testimonials/november_2003.jsp (top one).
do you remeber me?