Mobile dating gets a lot of press but we’re seeing a new trend in dating, Date Of The Day emails from new startup dating sites promoting featured members. Minutes after writing about Date Candy I received an email about Inbox Cupid. The two sites’ signup process are modeled after Groupon and other group buying sites, with Inbox Cupid asking a lot of questions like “do you like beer” which made me close the browser window. Then I tried to log in again and was unable to. Inbox Cupid looks like they copied Date Candy and forgot to test the site before launching. I liked the Date Candy signup photo better, tired of the “two happy people on homepage” design.
Featured date sites are a trend, which are going to require expensive marketing budgets to get any traction. They are not going to go viral like group buying sites. I won’t mind yet another dating site email every week, but I imagine the featured daters are going to be hedge fund managers, pilots, models and other ridiculously gorgeous folks. 10 points to the first site to show a fat ugly dude on the homepage, because thats reality, not Corbis stock photo hotties.
Curated dates in your inbox, worthwhile or a gimmick?
