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World Dating Partners today announced that they have selected BuddyCheck to provide Age & ID Verification Services to its’ members.
The BuddyCheck Age & ID Verification solutions consists of providing a matching technology driven through match codes that will confirm or deny the potential member when signing up for the service behinds the scenes. Verification is provided in a real-time transactional environment often taking an average response time ranges from 2.5 to 2.8 seconds.
Notice how WDP is not offering background checks, just like eHarmony and RelyID. Dating sites are ok with offering age and identity verification but I’ve yet to see any sites offering full background checks integrated into the signup process.
That’s because the results of real-time background checks have not inspired enough confidence in dating sites and social networks to offset the negative connotations of being perceived as a dangerous-enough site that it requires background checks.
This won’t be an issue in a few years but for now it remains a stumbling block for background check providers.
All verification and background check companies get their data from the same places, with few exceptions. Building a system which is easy to integrate with many dating sites, intuitive for users and cost-effective is a difficult proposition for large players in the market, let alone startups.
I would skip the background check and offer simpler and consumer-friendly verification services. If you don’t offer services that are portable across the majority of major dating and social sites, don’t even bother.
What’s interesting to BuddyCheck is that they came out of nowhere in the past year or so. BuddyCheck is part of Telliss telcom. Telliss tried to enter the social dating market last year with MyCampusDates, which appears was shut down before it every got started.
I am curious how many other verification services WDP test-marketed before choosing BuddyCheck. the due diligence process for integrating these services is grueling to say the least.
Note to the BuddyCheck webmaster, stop posting news as PDF, annoying and I almost didn’t bother reading the release.
Category:Safety Tags: SafetyBlog reactions
4 responses so far ↓
1
Gordon Basichis (Check me out!)
// May 27, 2008 at 5:41 pm
This new system appears to be one of the more forward looking means to vetting members on online dating websites. It should be deemed important to screen potential members of any dating site. This act helps to overcome one of the more serious dilemmas dating websites face. On one hand they are are promising the perfect mate. One the other, you had better check him out, just in case. By clearing the member before hand, there is an assurance there is no danger in engaging with any person on the dating website.
2
David Evans (Check me out!)
// May 27, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Or check her out, right Gordon? I’ts not just men, in fact if you do your research on phishing, women originate the majority of scams in the online dating world.
Your phrasing, “assurance there is no danger in engaging with any person on the dating website”, is troubling.
It’s straight out of the sales manual and made me cringe. Assurance is not the right word and “no danger” is absolutely false. Granted I know more than the majority of consumers but nothing raises my hackles more than selling a false sense of security.
Your response welcome, appreciate your comments.
3
Gordon Basichis (Check me out!)
// May 27, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Well, David, there is no sales manual. In fact, I am not remotely connected with the dating site.
But the word is in fact assurance, as opposed to insurance, which in the latter case would denote a guarantee. In the case of the former word, “assurance,” the applicants are being assured there is no danger. It is the promotional incentive for running the searches, after all.
In fairness, I did err. I should have written less danger, or little danger, rather than no danger. I should know better. There is always a danger.
On an empirical level and with respect to the background searches we have performed in the aftermath, meaning after something went wrong, men were the predators and not women. But you have obviously studied it more than I.
But that being said, common process of the English language is to use the the masculine pronoun to denote both sexes. That would be especially the case if the writer is male. Last time I looked, that was the case. So I will stick with using “he.”
4
Mark Ezra (Check me out!)
// May 28, 2008 at 8:01 pm
It’s good to see dating sites integrating verification products into their sites. You will continue to see identity verification as one of the major services being added by online dating sites.
Buddycheck basically verifies people’s drivers licenses and passports. This has some limitations because of how easy to is to obtain a fake drivers license or to simply “borrow” someone else’s ID to get through the verification process.
This is why our company, Honesty Online, has the user go through a real time verification, including a step to make sure the user is presenting their real identity, and within minutes we can complete an accurate identity verification.
In terms of background checks, we see many sites beginning to integrate background checks into their sites. On onlinedatingpost, you recently announced our partnership with myPartner.com which is offering background checks. Different sites have different focuses, that’s why we offer products that include only identity verification and ones that also include background checks.
And Dave, we did build the system “which is easy to integrate with many dating sites, intuitive for users and cost-effective,” so send all your clients our way :-)
Mark Ezra
CEO
Honesty Online
http://www.honestyonline.com
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