Welcome visitors from the New York Times. Readers of this blog know I have a good deal of contempt for True.com, one of the most talked about online dating sites in recent years. True, which attracted 3.8 million visitors last month and boasts 16 million members, spent $52.2 million over the first 11 months of last year on Web ads, more than double the amount its rivals spent online.
The NY Times has written an article about True, “Hot but Virtuous Is an Unlikely Match for an Online Dating Service.” I was quoted towards the end of the article. Herb Vest, True’s founder, admits, among other things, that the dating site sends out fake winks to members, attempting to justify the feature as an icebreaker for those too shy to initiate conversation.
Dan Consiglio, a 49-year-old engineer from Vancouver, Wash., said he received dozens of winks from women after signing up for True, and responded to many of them. He got only one response, from a woman who kindly informed him that she had not, in fact, winked at him.
I’m glad Vest owned up to some of the company’s most questionable practices, but remain frustrated that True can be so irresponsible and cruel to members and still make so much money.
