Online Dating Insider » Dating Software

SkaDate Dating Software Platform Update

David Evans — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 18:16:39 +0000

This is from advertiser Skalfa eCommerce, creators of SkaDate dating software.

New version of SkaDate 7.5 is available. User features now include a Virtual Gift Shop, User Points system, music upload and rate, Private and Public profile status, enhanced search results navigation, and uploaded photo rotation and more. Important Administrator features added within the release are a photo verification tool, mass-mailing to internal site mailboxes, and the ability to limit search results for certain membership types. General software improvements include Internet Explorer 8 support, an integrated 123 Web Messenger, a new template, and improved existing templates. Detailed description of the new version.

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The Widening Gap between Dating Sites As The Market Matures

David Evans — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:55:52 +0000

Niche dating sites can be incredibly effective if you’re Jewish, Black, Gay, Athletic or belong to any number of groups where it makes sense to self-identify as part of a particular group of people. Matchmaker was the first site to have many different demographic areas broken out inside a single dating site, but Date.com merged everything into one database when they acquired the site.

These days I’m increasingly interested in how large dating sites are taking advantage of the staggering amount of information the collect about their users. Large dating sites are spending tens of millions of dollars logging, storing, analyzing and refining compatibility algorithms on multi-terabyte data sets based on what users is doing on their sites. Data such as the number of emails being sent and responded to daily and hundreds of other metrics and measurements are being captured, at least I hope they are.

Smaller sub-500,000 member niche dating sites are simply not able to compete when it comes to designing compatibility algorithms and dynamic content display. They have to think smarter about which data to collect and how to feed back what they learn about how people use their site in an ongoing incremental update process. Dating sites are not set-it-and-forget-it enterprises, although this is how much of the industry views itself.

Building a quick site turning on the marketing dollars and watching the money pour in works for a few sites, but is not the golden rule by any means when it comes to competing in today’s crowded marketplace.

The widening gap between niche sites and mainstream dating sites reminds me of when Google was starting to get traction. There was Alta Vista, HotBot, Dogpile and 25 other search engines. In the past 5-7 years the majority of them having fallen by the wayside as Google has risen to prominence. This has not been the case in the online dating industry, yet.

Downloading a dating platform and rolling the dice with a few thousand dollars is almost certainly a recipe for disaster in today’s market. This is not to denigrate dating platform providers. On the contrary, I think there is a lot of room for groundbreaking sites to rise up and take market share from slack dating site operators. but what I’m hearing from people day in and day out is a lack of innovative though in regards to what singles are looking for in a dating site these days and the platform providers are simply providing just that, a platform. That’s where I come in as a consultant.

Dating sites are simply starting up all over the place these days as they try and cash in on the recession-based surge the media has done such a good job mis-reporting.

Lately I’ve noticed that most dating software vendors are reticent about discussing their businesses and that more and more people are building sites themselves, either through software platforms or White Label Dating. I still get 10-20 emails a week from startups, but now they are looking for free feedback on their concept, not the multi-month engagements of the past where I work with them to refine their business models and deal with the 87 issues any dating site startup needs to address in order to be successful.

If the industry is at the point where anyone can launch a dating site or become a pseudo-affiliate of White Label Dating, where is the interesting stuff happening? These days the action and interesting stuff tends to be happening at the top ten dating sites. Thats where the real innovation and growth is occurring, along with one heck of a steep learning curve. And that’s where my focus is moving towards as well.

Lately I’ve been reading more stories like these:

Is Big Data at a tipping point?

Online dating: Your profile’s long, scary shelf life

How Google and Facebook are using R:

Itamar Rosenn at Facebook conveyed how Facebookâ€™s Data Team used R in 2007 to answer two questions about new users: (i) which data points predict whether a user will stay? and (ii) if they stay, which data points predict how active theyâ€™ll be after three months?

For the first question, Itamarâ€™s team used recursive partitioning (via the rpart package) to infer that just two data points are significantly predictive of whether a user remains on Facebook: (i) having more than one session as a new user, and (ii) entering basic profile information.

For the second question, they fit the data to a logistic model using a least angle regression approach (via the lars package), and found that activity at three months was predicted by variables related to three classes of behavior: (i) how often a user was reached out to by others, (ii) frequency of third party application use, and (iii) what Itamar termed â€œreceptivenessâ€ â€” related to how forthcoming a user was on the site.

Facebookâ€™s â€œIn-House Sociologistâ€ Shares Stats on Usersâ€™ Social Behavior

These stories may seem to have little to do with online dating, but as a whole they can be seen as incredibly inspiring when viewed from the perspective of someone running an established dating site or looking to start one.

One one end of the spectrum we have bare-bones sites like SinglesNet at the top of the charts, both for traffic and consumer complaints. On the other end we have analysis-driven dating sites like Chemistry and eHarmony (both with their share of complaints as well) leading the charge into massively scalable dating sites able to match members heuristically.

In between we have the niche sites making a tidy profit for a handful of companies focused on satisfying customer demand and hopefully having a good time while they do it.

Then we have the startups, which range from naive to incredibly thoughtful when it comes to business models, marketing plans and expectations. See above.

Each sector of the online dating industry has is own set of issues and objectives but all share these common goals: Attracting members, converting them and then retaining them for as long as possible. This in effect is the essence of online dating and of the work I perform, day in and day out, for five years and counting. These goals will not change anytime soon, but the strategy, execution and resources required the achieve them are evolving drastically. That’s what I attempt to discuss here in the hopes that the online dating industry values my effort and insight enough to warrant hiring me.

As compatibility matching and the systems required to support millions of members continue to increase in complexity, the number of dating site able to compete is going to shrink. This will lead to consolidation, with a few Googles MSN Seach and Ask.com’s in play and then a tier of niche sites catering to 500,000-people communities based on age, sexuality and interest. The rest of the market will solider along, strong enough to live on shoestring budgets and clever marketing campaigns. I think this is exactly where the market needs to go, but the timeline in which this will happen is anyone’s guess.

Anyone who disagrees should go read up on Facebook’s growth, the small number of social networks and the consumer revolt against myriad profiles and demand for simplicity. Online dating is different from social networking in many ways, but the writing is on the wall. What do you think?

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Seeking Datingsitebuilder Feedback

David Evans — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 17:15:42 +0000

Has anyone used Dating Site Builder? I need to know if they are worth considering. Site says the have created $850,000 in revenue per month. Not bad for a $30/month product. Feedback has ranged from a-ok to stay the heck away.

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Dolphin 7 Dating Site Software Public Preview

David Evans — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:10:11 +0000

Boonex has released a public preview of Dolphin 7. Called Hookie, it’s actually based on Dolphin 6.1 but with serious re-working under the hood. Read the comprehensive Dolphin 7 Release Notes for more information. The number and scope of the new features are too many to list here, impressive, at least on paper. If you take Hookie for a test drive, let us know what you think.

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Recommended Dating Site Software

David Evans — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:50:51 +0000

I’m tired of hearing people complain about online dating software. What are we going to do about this? For years I’ve made half-hearted attempts at looking into various online dating software packages. From what I’ve learned, most of them I wouldn’t recommend to my enemies.

Let us look at the state of online dating software:

Lack of strong administration capabilities
Templates difficult to customize
Lack of support
No integration options for third party support
Upgrading software is a nightmare
Software isn’t secure
International developers, language barriers
Expensive

Overall my experience with online dating software has been uniformly poor, which is unfortunate. I have been recommending SkaDate and Boonex because they are the *only* dating software vendors who have every reached out to me and kept in contact over the years. Both companies are shifting focus to social networks, a telling sign that the dating startup market is changing.

I helped build a site on Dolphin a while back, and I’m familiar with the system and its capabilities. But what about the other 20 companies out there? Which ones deserve thoughtful consideration? Which should be avoided?

I have talked to several vendors over the years,many who dropped off the map. I’m surprised they are not all over this blog. If you’re not actively engaging me and talking about improvements in the software and delivering consistent customer support, it’s hard for me to keep you on my radar. There is just too much ambiguity in the dating software market and a total lack of transparency into which companies are consistently delivering the goods.

Contrast this with social networking software providers. They email, call an keep me up to date on their recent achievements, and most important, clearly show that they are eager to do business an learn from their mistakes.

Part of the problem is the lack of developer support. Lots of people buy a script due to a smooth sales job, then end up paying a developer to learn how to customize the software. Dolphin at least has a fairly strong developer community. This is a huge benefit during the sales and support process.

My work with startups always has a module dedicated to platform selection. In a discussion, I take the time to understand a client’s goals and aspirations. With that knowledge, I am able walk them through the various solutions, starting with free vs. paid, standalone vs. hosted, and all of the pro’s and cons of each. However, when it comes to recommending software besides a few companies, I’m often at a loss. There is simply not enough quality software out there to evaluate.

I always like to have three types of vendors in any area. Cheap and quick, medium-priced and powerful, expensive and the sky’s the limit. This is practically impossible to do in the online dating market.

I was able to meet team Boonex at iDate and spend time talking about their business, the software, and what’s coming next. It’s reassuring to know that that a company flew from Australia to Miami to meet the online dating industry in person. That’s why I’m letting them sponsor this blog. They are committed to new software upgrades and aware that in the past the system was not as robust as it should have been.

Of course people complain about software. People love to complain about anything. Many customers have never run a website before, let along managed developers. These issues, compounded with flaky software and bad customer service, lead to negative comments.

SkaDate’s reputation has been questioned as of late, supposedly this is all from competitors, but I don’t have enough time in the day to chase down all the accusations. I hope they are able to react accordingly and take a presumed negative situation and turn it into a positive.

In this case, the best way to silence competitors is to deliver a superior product. End of story.

I will do what I can to get dating site software developers to work harder, deliver better customer support and work with dating companies to help them grow. It starts with you. It’s *really* important for people to share their experiences with online dating software companies. How else are we going to learn which software is worthwhile?

Image is from DatingSoftwareReviewer (update your site!)

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Go ‘Bama, Getting Ready for IDate

David Evans — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:12:06 +0000

Big day for America and the world! Use the contact form if you want to set up a time to talk at iDate. I’m arriving Wednesday around 1:30 and leaving Saturday night.

An E-Card you Don’t Want to Receive

Dating Site Software Reviews

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ModMysite Holiday Sale

David Evans — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:40:28 +0000

ModMySite has several deals on Boonex Dolphin dating software development, customization and special packages.

- Discounted Support and Modification Pricing (save $75!)
- Free Month of Premium “Super Tweaked” Web Hosting (save $25!)
- Dolphin CLEAN 6.1.4 FREE!
- Google Maps for Dolphin 6.1.4 FREE!

The Modmysite forums are a good place to connect with other Dolphin developers and people interested in using the software.
Boonex is releasing a new version of their dating platform very soon, I would check out their site before making any decisions about your dating site platform. Same goes for SkaDate.
I am interested to hear about people’s experiences using any and all dating site software. While I am adept at walking clients through the due diligence process, the details and minutiae associated with software installation, setup and customization is different from platform to platform and version to version and insight into which platforms perform best is appreciated.

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SkaDate 7 Dating and Social Networking Platform Released

David Evans — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:58:33 +0000

SkaDate has released an update to it’s dating platform. After six months of development, SkaDate 7 is available for download. You can find more information about Skadate 7 version at: http://www.skalfa.com/press/skadate-7-major-release.html. The link is to a fairly exhaustive blog post about how the system has been improved, including new features, template management, security and especially performance. You can test drive SkaDate 7 demo at: www.skadate.com/demo.

If you’re in the market for dating software, SkaDate and it’s distant cousin Boonex Dolphin are worth some due diligence. Disclaimer: Both are advertisers on the blog. There are several other reputable dating platforms available, each with their pros and cons.

No dating or social networking software is perfect, and it’s great to see the main platforms receiving upgrades after getting banged around with lackluster reputations for several years. I hope vendors listen to customers and continue to refine and improve their systems. The latest offerings feel light-years ahead of where packaged dating software was a few short years ago. One ongoing problem that I don’t see going away any time soon is finding programmers fluent in these platforms who are reputable, reliable and economical. I search for them, believe me, and my efforts have often been less than fruitful.

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Online Dating Insider Sponsor Interview: Boonex

David Evans — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:28:16 +0000

Dating Ad Network has interviewed Andrew Boon, Director of Boonex, about the upcoming Dolphin 7 and underlying Poseidon infrastructure. Disclaimer: Both companies are sponsors of this blog.

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Bonefish White Label Dating Platform

David Evans — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:32:12 +0000

Online Dating Insider sponsor Bonefish has sent over some details about their service that I requested as I continue to learn about the differences between white label dating providers. There is a lot of information, which I’ll break into several posts.

Q: How do you differ from your two main competitors, World Dating Partners and White Label Dating? Aside from Bone Fish offering site set-up in under 24 hours and having a large database of members, what else differentiates it from the other white label dating providers out there?

A: Most of the white label models on the market today are actually very similar to our own – not only in what they have to offer, but also in how they work. However, the Bone Fish program does have aspects that make it stand out from the rest:

1) No Sales/VAT Tax â€“ For UK and European affiliates, all commissions and bonuses are exempt of VAT/Sales Tax â€“ no other white label dating provider can offer this benefit to its affiliates.

2) An Active and varied database â€“ Bone Fish has an extremely large database of REAL and ACTIVE members. In fact, our membership base is under the 4 million mark and boasts individuals from all corners of the world. As such, we donâ€™t just offer our affiliates UK and European-based sites, but also American, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and other English speaking country-sites from around the world.

3) Affiliate Centric â€“ At Bone Fish we are very much affiliate-orientated. We pride ourselves on our constant attention to detail and donâ€™t just provide affiliates with automated emails, but instead give them 1-to-1 comprehensive communication. We pick up the phone and talk to them on a regular basis and are actually available to assist them as and when they need it. We donâ€™t just exist via a screen and online admin centre, but always do our best to offer advice â€œin personâ€ on how to move forward and how to best to tackle obstacles. As a result, Bone Fish currently boasts an outstanding 90% referral rate â€“ a percentage that none of our competitors even come close to.

4) Defined Niches – The Bone Fish program is different to that of its competitors in that it offers multiple and very specific niches that are actually real and very much defined. Without naming providers, this is not always the case with some of our competitors. Many often claim that they have more niche networks than they actually have, and as such are not honest with their affiliates from the outset. Here at Bone Fish we are very upfront and honest at all times, and can truly say that we have 28 clearly defined networks with very real people on them.

5) Customization tools â€“ With Bone Fish affiliates can benefit from a comprehensive range of customization tools. Each and every site can be fully branded to suit an affiliateâ€™s needs, and upon performing a site integration (where an affiliate integrates a dating site into their existing site), without a doubt we ALWAYS adhere 100% to brand and identity requirements.

Of course, there may be some other marginal differences between the Bone Fish program and those run by other white label providers, but those above are perhaps the most notable. However, I would like to point out that both Ross (from White Label Dating) and Robert (from World Dating Partners) also operate particularly excellent companies and programs, and I believe that ultimately each of us has our own uniqueness that helps us to meet the demands of our affiliates.

On your website you state that your â€œclients are part of your teamâ€. Explain.

Many programs out there are simply interested in signing up new affiliates and watching the wads roll in. But this is not the case with us. We firmly believe in affiliate retention and do our best to not only keep our affiliates happy, but to also ensure that they have all the necessary tools to make the best out of their businesses.

However to be able to do this, we need feedback â€“ albeit positive or negative. As such, on a regular basis we break down the psychological barriers that exist between the affiliates and the white label provider, and listen to their opinions and suggestions on how we can rectify and tweak elements of the service to help them benefit.

An example of this is our new membersâ€™ area. Over the past year Bone Fish has been developing a new membersâ€™ area that will undoubtedly improve the overall service. However, to ensure that we have covered all eventualities, we have asked our affiliates to come forward and test the new area so that they can feel satisfied that what theyâ€™re offering their members is unparalleled. And this we do regularly â€“ because we want our affiliates to have some input and to feel like they are part of our team. Because they ARE part of our team and their opinion DOES count!

Does Bone Fish offer extra bonuses or similar?

Yes. Aside from offering a minimum of 50% TAX FREE recurring commission from the very first month, Bone Fish organizes regular promotions and bonus schemes to help affiliates take home that bit more. An example of this is the 100% commission scheme. Affiliates that take part in this scheme are given an individual (and very attainable) target based on their previous sales history â€“ and if they smash their target, they get 100% commission over and above their target. This figure only changes when an affiliate has reached it, at which point he/she is assigned a new one that is of a slightly greater value than the last. As such, we ensure that all monthly targets are very achievable and very enticing.

In this manner, Bone Fish benefits too. Because by analyzing the progress of its partners, it can continually strive to find ways in which to keep its affiliates interested in driving traffic to their sites.

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