In recent years you have heard me bemoan the fact that the majority of dating sites are based on concepts almost a decade old.
It seems to me that much of the innovation in dating is behind the scenes in terms of managing technology, member safety and customer services. Consumers, on the other hand, see the same old sites doing the same old thing, year after year.
It was looking like 2011 was going to be another stagnant year for the online dating industry, but perhaps not.
After a two-year feature freeze, a number of acquisitions (PeopleMedia niche sites and whatever they are doing with SinglesNet) and just in time for iDate, Match has launched DateSpark. DateSpark is heavily inspired by HowAboutWe. In fact its pretty much a direct copy of what I consider to be 2010 hottest dating startup.
One difference is that your Match suggested dates have to be approved. There are likely to be others, I’ll check back into this once my date is approved and I’ve had more time to try the new features.
Match also finally made it easier to update your profile headline, something I have been asking dating sites to do for years. You’re welcome.
While I am excited that Match is working on new features, it would have been nice if they had acquired HowAboutWe or licensed the technology instead of blatantly copying it. Same goes for the VisualDNA style photo montage. Copycat herd mentality is standard operation procedure for much of the dating industry and its frustrating to see time after time. Perhaps there is a backstory to all of this that I’m not aware of. If there is I’ll find out and share what I can.
I’m fine with this if the companies they receive inspiration from are rewarded, but HowAboutWe show some respect? In all fairness, I have heard from a few people that HowAboutWe is very similar to Kyubid.com.
What other iDate surprises are in store for next week? Stay tuned.
