Signed up for Omnidate today. Haven’t been on the service for a while and I wanted to see what’s changed since I went on a “date” there with co-founder Ravit Abelman last year.
Compete says Omnidate has about 2,000 monthly visitors. any number under 10k I usual triple, so around 10k visitors. I’m not sure what Omnidate is trying to be at this point. Is it a destination or a service that dating sites can embed or both? As with all startups, there is the official company line and then there is your gut reaction to a service. What does you gut say about virtual dating? Leave a comment.
Facebook applications like SpeedDate and Zoosk can drive people back to their websites from within their applications. I’m not sure Omnidate can do this. If I’m on JDate, could I go on a virtual date with someone from ChristianCafe?
Omnidate has clearly morphed into a dating site and is now competing directly with its partners. Why else would they recreate a complete dating site along site their virtual dating environment? My gut tells me that they are going to link dating profile data with Omnidate profile fields. i’ve never actually seen Omnidate integrated with another site, so I can’t comment on what it looks like. If I fill out a profile on a dating site, that data should show up in my Omnidate profile. Otherwise you end up with a situation like the original Match mobile, which was two separate databases and never really worked.
Interesting that Speeddate and Woome are getting hundreds of thousands of monthly visitors and “dates”. The 18-30 crowd isn’t afraid of webcams and the free voyeurism can’t be beat. Is Omnidate going to benefit from the recession? Is it limited to people who have trouble with first dates? What other factors suggest that the overall market for virtual dating is in fact smaller than expected?
I see complete profiles, reputation tools, hotlists, search and most other common dating site features. Do I go to OkCupid, Match or Omnidate?
Upcoming features include the ability to tack your dating site headshot on your avatar. I can’t wait to see what that looks like.
I wish Omnidate was a Skype plugin, that would be cool. Once you chat via avatars, you can go right to voice and video.
Dating sites can integrate Omnidate, starting at $500/month. That right there excludes 90% of the dating market, so they’re going for mid-tier sites. Larger sites are wary of virtual dating, much like how they react to background checks and anonymous calling. Only Omnidate knows how dating sites are reacting to their pitch. The Omnidate partner page certainly hits all the right notes, now it’s up to the marketplace.
I’m a fan of SecondLife and have followed the virtual reality market since 1992. I grok the concept of virtual dating and think that the technology basically needs to catch up with the intent, which is to bring people together in new and novel ways.
Some people immediately meet for coffee, some want to chat with avatars online first. Thats both the blessing and curse of choice in the online dating industry, there is something for everyone. Omnidate is certainly getting the press they deserve, but is that and a good value proposition for partners enough to drive success? The question in my mind is whether or not the timing for virtual dating is right or if it’s going to take a while for consumers to warm up to the concept.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Dave,
Your main assertion about OmniDate is completely inaccurate.
OmniDate is NOT running a destination site, as we would never compete with our clients! Our business model is to provide virtual dating technology to dating sites, which allows them to offer a 3D virtual dating experience to their members. The integration is completely seamless and users dont leave the dating site.
Our site was created as an “online research lab†to refine our technology and to collect data on usage patterns (unfortunately, no dating site wanted to be the guinea pig). For example, we found that virtual dating has a strong appeal among women users, virtual dates last half-hour, etc. (we presented these finding at the iDate Miami conference last month and it would have been nice to see you at our presentation).
It’s true that OmniDate is experiencing an inflow of traffic (and media attention). However, we are channeling this traffic to our clients – at no fee, of course. Btw, please note that we don’t buy traffic or advertise our site – our visitors find us because there is a growing interest in virtual dating.
It’s also true that we are experimenting with some really cool ideas in our “online research lab†(such the “How Charming Am I?†feature). We will make the best ideas available to our clients when perfected.
Virtual dating is an exciting and a highly effective concept, but, unfortunately, there is still a certain amount of misconception associated with it. As always, we are happy to speak with you if you’d like to do some fact checking beforehand, 416-623-7445.
Igor Kotlyar, Ph.D.
Founder
OmniDate
Dave,
I think you have your main facts a bit wrong. OmniDate is just a test site for their app. I know this because I have recommended OmniDate to a number of my clients in the dating industry and will continue to do so. We have been ecstatic with the app. And we have been more than happy with the support we have gotten from Ravit and Igor. In fact, they have openly promoted our client’s dating websites to the people that come to their site.
Since the OmniDate website is free to consumers and OmniDate makes money on the app by providing it to dating websites, it wouldn’t make any fiscal sense for them to try to take consumers away from their customers websites. Anything else is counterintuitive.
I think at this point, it would be prudent for you to interview OmniDate and publish that interview.
As for me, as an independent consultant ensuring that my clients create the best websites, I happily recommend OmniDate and will continue to do so, knowing that it increases the viability and success of the client site.
Igor, this has nothing to do with fact checking. I went to your site, I created an account and filled out a profile, communicated with people and set up a date. To me thats being open for business, regardless of if you promote the site or not. Don’t try to argue this with me you will lose. Your home page says “Free try it now sign in”. Easy enough to fix, right? Glad to help clarify the situation, as I’m not the first person to make the observation.
I disagree about any having any misconception around your value proposition. It’s quite clear for members. Whats not clear is if the dating industry is going to warm up to virtual dating. This is par for the course in terms of partnerships in the space, just talk to Jangl, Backgrounchecks and anyone trying to get their product “on deck” at a dating site.
Notice I didn’t say if, I said when. Services like your’s are at the mercy of the business development people and your success lies in convincing them that virtual dating is going to bring in more revenue, through usage fees, ad impressions/clicks or otherwise.
Having 48 hours to meet with the entire dating industry F2F doesn’t leave a lot of time to see presentations. Wish I had more time to see everyone.
Glenn, good to meet you. Do you consult for dating sites?
Everyone in the industry is thoroughly familiar with Omnidate. Mark Brooks has done his job. Now we get to see the difference between a successful PR effort and just how good a product really is at delivering a solution that the industry wants at this time.
There is a thing called due diligence. All biz dev people do it. Either companies come out looking good or you go back to the drawing board until you get it right.