There is no more effective way to get a sense of someones tastes, preferences and personality than a five minute video chat. Only companies really doing anything with video are SpeedDate, which is getting north of 1.5 million visitors a month and the young kids are using Woome. I haven’t used SpeedDate in a while, it’s $30/month and crashed on me in the middle of a date and froze my browser. It happens, especially on my Mac with Flash, but $30 is still too expensive, especially if I want to try it out for an hour or so.

Today I checked out Chateoulette (Often NSFW). It’s a dumbed-down version of WooMe, just go to the website, turn on cam, and a random stranger is immediately looking right at you, doing just about anything, and I mean anything.

OPW has a post about Match launching an Andriod mobile application. There is another post about Skyecandy, which is videodating via Skype. This has been done 10 times over in the past and hasn’t gone anywhere. Maybe Skycandy has something new in store for us.

I wonder if/when mobile apps will support streaming video? As I’ve always said, an online speed-date with audio and video is the best way to figure out if you want to go on a first date with someone. Mobile apps should be able to implement video chats easily. At home, cams need to be built into a higher percentage of laptops for this to make a significant impact on the dating market. And then there is the issue with people’s behavior. Video tends to bring out the nasty in people.

OmniDate does an end run around this problem by using Flash-based avatars. It’s been around a few years now and I’m waiting to hear some positive results from companies using the service. There has been some research, but where’s the business-case ROI? Are people sticking around on dating sites longer, is there advertising baked into the experience (where the real money is for a startup), are better, more long-lasting relationships resulting from companies using the service?

My SpeedDate time just dinged, gotta go.

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Today marks the launch of the Online Dating Insider Youtube video channel. Previously I stored a handful of videos on my personal account. Now readers can suggest videos which I will curate on the channel through a number of categories like dating site marketing, third-party vendors, media clips and more. Hopefully the flow of incoming links will keep the channel fresh, interesting and relevant. I’ll be adding a few from time to time but it’s up to you to recommend online dating related videos.

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You can now leave a video comment on any post.
You’ll need to set up an account at Seesmic and have a webcam and a microphone.
If the feature is abused it will be removed, have at it.

Related posts:

1. Introducing Online Dating Insider
2. Introducing Online Dating Insider
3. Introducing Online Dating Insider

ON Dating is a new Internet dating advice program produced by NBC Universal Digital Studios for ON Networks. The show functions as a virtual dating coach, dedicated to helping viewers navigate the sometimes treacherous terrain of online romance.

Each “ON Dating” episode serves as a 3-8 minute primer on how to
date in the 21st century, offering viewers advice on topics ranging from how to write the perfect profile to proper online etiquette to
selecting the site that’s best for you.

This is a fantastic idea. I talked with some television executives several years ago about the exact same thing, running on cable and the web.

This week’s episode features an exclusive interview with Dr. Ian Kerner, a relationship expert with Match.com.

ON Dating is one of several new programs being introduced by ON Networks, Inc. (ON). Other shows available at www.onnetworks.com are: Austin Connoisseur, Budget Health Nut, Cocktails on the Fly, Dinner with the Band, Golf Tips, Stump the Chef and Zen Living.

Dating sites may want to offer these videos to members. Most of the segments are Dating 101, but there is always a need for this basic information for the millions of singles that try online dating each year.

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