Dating Services

SNAP Interactive has made its online dating site Are You Interested (AYI) a priority, and it looks like it’s paying off. The company announced that AYI has become the number one grossing application in US Lifestyle category in the Apple iTunes Store as of August.

The company hit other big milestones, too. In July, its mobile apps contributed to the highest percentage of total logins ever, at 38%. New mobile subscription transactions were up 57% year-to-date compared to the same period in 2013, and total mobile logins were up 33% YTD compared to the same period in 2013.

AYI began as a Facebook-based online dating site, and has since expanded to its service to develop its mobile platform. SNAP said that it has put a huge focus on mobile in the past year, specifically improving the user experience for iPad, iPhone, and Android phones. The goal was to create a seamless cross-platform experience for everyone, no matter what device they were using.

Mobile has become a crucial part of the online dating market, and its numbers are only going up. Traditional online dating sites have been developing and marketing their mobile platforms for this reason – many daters want more ease and accessibility - and don’t want to have to sit in front of their laptops when they can use their phones to connect with potential dates. Popular apps like Tinder, Hinge and Grindr have also created a new market of younger daters who find dating via phone apps to be the most convenient way to meet people.

Snap's Chief Executive Officer Clifford Lerner commented, "Mobile is the primary platform for an increasingly large segment of online dating users, and we were determined to create an excellent experience on all mobile platforms to take a leadership position in the market.  We're excited to be the #1 Top Grossing application in the US Lifestyle category in the Apple iTunes store.  It shows that iPhone users have really embraced the AYI app and user experience we worked so hard on.  We believe mobile is an important engine of growth in the online dating industry, and we're pleased to be one of the leading providers of online dating applications."

Snap's Chief Operating Officer Alex Harrington added, "Mobile is not only strategically important, but also a very lucrative platform for the Company.  In July 2014, approximately 52% of our user acquisitions occurred on mobile platforms, which helped diversify marketing sources and increase marketing efficiency."

SNAP Interactive hasn’t mentioned any future development plans for AYI. For more on this dating service you can read our Are You Interested review.

For the single women reading, how many lewd messages have you received on OkCupid in the past month? How many guys have stalked you over Tinder? If you answer “too many” for either one, you might be ready for a new kind of dating app called Siren.

Siren is an alternative to the typical dating apps like Tinder, where many men swipe right to have more women in their cue - meaning, they play the numbers. They make the first move, often approaching women in a way that makes them feel pressured, uncomfortable, or just plain creeped out. It’s become a kind of risky game for some women, where they aren’t sure if they will meet someone and feel safe. If they don’t, the whole dating app experience becomes tainted.

Like with online dating, Tinder seems to give females the advantage over males, at least in terms of your chances for getting a date.

Many guys complain that women have it better in the dating world because women can choose who they want to date, while guys are left saying "yes" to every woman's profile they view online or on an app like Tinder, just to improve their chances of meeting someone. (Women tend to be more picky, and say "no" to most men, probably because so many men just swipe right to everyone.) While online dating does seem skewed, apparently some tech geniuses have decided to make the odds work in the guys' favor.

Instead of manually going through all the matches Tinder sends his way, one techie decided that he could automate responses. According to website ValleyWag, former Microsoft developer Yuri de Souza details "how he reverse engineered Tinder to mass-like every girl on the network." He was sitting around one Sunday afternoon mindlessly swiping right on all of his female matches, hoping that one would swipe right back, when the idea struck him.

" [I] recalled my friend telling me how he would spend hours swiping right on Tinder just to accumulate as may matches as possible," de Souza told ValleyWag. "This had me thinking, why can't I reverse engineer Tinder and automate the swipes? After all, I'm pretty darn good at taking things apart!"

He was successful, and went to share his idea with other guys, only to find he wasn't the only one or even the first to try to game the system.

While it seems counter-intuitive to accept matches that you don't even see in the hopes of having more choice in who you want to date, this is the thinking behind guys looking to game the dating app system. (An article in New York Magazine last year naming the most successful online daters included a guy who admitted to saying "yes" to all women on Tinder to improve his chances, so this might have inspired a lot of guys to follow his lead.)

Other tech-savvy users have created shortcuts and automation to help them (and other guys) avoid the challenging task of looking through so many women's profiles. It turns out, people aren't even willing to spend the time to look at photos anymore, let alone read words in a profile.

What does this mean for dating? While it's understandable that guys are frustrated with their lack of choice (and womens' general avoidance of swiping right unless a man really intrigues her), is reverse-engineering the best way to meet a woman? Maybe apps like Tinder, fun and game-like as they are, are not the best avenue for many people. Instead of casting a large net and hoping to catch someone - anyone - why not try to focus on what you want? If you're putting it out there that you can't seem to meet a woman, then likely creating an automated way to say yes to everyone on Tinder isn't going to improve your game.

Maybe it's time to try another site or app that is more conducive to your search. Better yet, try something more old-fashioned. How about you approach a woman in person and ask her out? That will make you stand out from the Tinder crowd.

For more on this dating app please read our Tinder review.

Ashley Madison, the infamous dating website that makes its revenue from matching married people looking for affairs, has now admitted to spying on its own users.

A recent study published by the company was gathered from emails the sites’ users sent to each other under what they assumed was a condition of anonymity. According to a recent article in Time Magazine, Eric Anderson, a professor at the University of Winchester in England who conducted the study, claims that “women who seek extra-marital affairs usually still love their husbands and are cheating instead of divorcing, because they need more passion.”

“It is very clear that our model of having sex and love with just one other person for life has failed— and it has failed massively,” Anderson tells Time.

As it turns out, Ashlay Madison seems to have commissioned this study to boost its membership numbers - that is, to prove that almost every person in a monogomous relationship is looking to cheat, (and therefore should join their website). But for those who join the site on a strict condition of anonymity because they don’t want their partners to find out, this study is a direct infringement on their right to privacy.

So Ashley Madison is now in a tricky spot. Has it alienated its members, since now they know their emails are no longer strictly confidential, but subject to studies and read by a third party? Perhaps it was in the fine print when they joined the site, as most dating sites collect user information for the purposes of research. But most don’t analyze individual emails being sent back and forth between individual users.

As Time Magazine also points out, because of the nature of the dating site, and the fact that most of its members are being dishonest or lying by the mere fact that they are using the site for an extramarital affair, it calls into question the integrity of the data itself. Who knows what is true and what isn’t in each email? Who can say that anyone on the site is honest in any email they send to another site user?

According to Anderson, his data “included profile information that the women supplied when they signed up for the site (information not made available to other Ashley Madison users),” as well as information other users could see. “We also acquired all private message conversations that [users] had with men on the website for one month,” Anderson told Time.

The results of the study are still somewhat questionable. Anderson claims that in our sexualized culture, married folks could feel as if they are missing out when they are only having sex with one partner.

While this might be true for the users of Ashley Madison, it doesn't mean that it's applicable to the majority of married couples in the U.S.

It’s no secret that eHarmony and Match.com are old rivals in the online dating space. Match.com has been building its empire through its parent company IAC, which has bought several successful dating sites and apps, including Tinder. eHarmony has remained focused on its technology and matching success, and has expanded to include matchmaking services for VIP clients who are willing to pay. In December, eHarmony plans to launch a new career-matching site as well.

Now it seems despite the different directions the companies are going, they still remain fierce competitors, especially when it comes to marketing and attracting new users. eHarmony recently ran a “#1” campaign, citing its success in making more long-term matches than any other online dating website. The problem is, without concrete numbers from all sites, it’s a little tough to prove. At least, according to the National Advertising Division (NAD), an investigative unit of the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation. The unit is administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus.

This week, the National Advertising Division (NAD) recommended that eHarmony discontinue using certain “#1” advertising claims for the company’s dating website, including “#1 Most Marriages,” “#1 Most Enduring Marriages,” and “#1 Most Satisfying Marriages.” It seems that Match.com was the first to ask the regulators to look into the matter.

NAD reviewed claims made by eHarmony in broadcast, print and Internet advertising, following a challenge by Match.com, LLC. Match claims that this is advertising is misleading, as the numbers of marriages produced by both sites is extremely close. Also, eHarmony didn’t take into consideration Match’s entire network of sites co-branded under different names. This makes Match.com’s numbers much larger, and perhaps greater than eHarmony’s.

NAD concluded that, although the number of marriages that should have been attributed to Match could not be pinpointed, the actual difference between the number of individuals within the sample who met their spouse on eHarmony versus Match.com was even smaller than reported by eHarmony’s survey, or possibly favored Match.

In addition, eHarmony claimed its study was independent, although its co-authors included a former director of eHarmony Laboratories and a scientific advisor to eHarmony. When NAD informed the company of their findings, eHarmony agreed it would no longer describe the study as “independent.”

eHarmony, in its advertiser’s statement, said the company “respectfully disagrees with much of NAD’s analysis of our specific advertising claims.  However, because eHarmony values the NAD process and appreciates the NAD’s efforts, we will take NAD’s recommendations into consideration in our future advertising.”

It’s been a busy month for Spark Networks. The owner of ChristianMingle, JDate, BlackSingles. and more, has released its financial results for the second quarter of 2014, and will soon be getting a new CEO.

Revenue in Q2 2014 was $15.8 million, a decrease of 10% from the previous year’s $17.6 million. A 9% decrease in average paying subscribers – reflecting an 8% and 7% decline in average paying subscribers for the Christian and Jewish Networks segments, respectively – is the primary reason for the overall drop in revenue.

On the plus side, expenses were down. Direct marketing expenses in the second quarter of 2014 were $7.9 million, a decrease of 43% from Q2 2013. Total cost and expenses dropped 19% from the previous year, to $16.8 million this year. Net loss in the second quarter of 2014 was $1.1 million, or $0.05 per share, compared to a net loss of $3.3 million, or $0.15 per share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter of 2014 was a loss of $363,000, an improvement of 84% compared to the year-ago period.

Much of the good news comes from Christian Networks, which accounted for most of the decreased expenses thanks to improved marketing efficiency and growth in the winback and renewal subscriber bases. Christian Networks was also responsible for bumping contribution up in the second quarter of 2014 to $7.8 million, an increase of 109% from the year before. This is the first time Christian Networks has generated positive contribution in 15 quarters.

All this comes at a time of major change for Spark Networks. President & CEO Greg Liberman has left the company, leaving Michael McConnell – the company’s Chairman of the Board – to serve as Executive Chairman until Liberman’s successor is in place.

“It has been an incredible ten years, and I am honored to have spent more than half of my professional career at such a special company,” said Liberman. “Spark is a relationship business in every sense of the word. Through iconic brands like JDate and ChristianMingle, we create countless relationships for our members every day. But, behind the scenes, it’s the relationships we have in the communities we serve and the relationships within our team that drive everything.

Suffice it to say, I am extremely proud and grateful to have played a role in building and leading such an amazing team, and to have had the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with them to transform this company and business. In their hands, Spark’s future is very bright.”

For more on these two dating sites you can read our reviews of ChristianMingle.com and JDate.com.