Dating Services

Syphilis is not generally the first thing that comes to mind when I think of things that make me laugh, but a new faux-dating site, part of a government campaign in Alberta, is doing its best to help Canadian citizens giggle their way to good health.

Alberta Health Services, in conjunction with Alberta Health and Wellness, recently unveiled a $2-million campaign to raise awareness about the rising syphilis rate in the province. Alberta's rates of sexually transmitted infections are the highest in Canada, and syphilis in particular has spiked in recent years. The campaign includes radio and television advertisements, as well as a parody of the online dating site Plenty Of Fish - PlentyOfSyph.com.

With witty catch phrases like "Spread the love!" and "be a part of something infectious today," PlentyOfSyph.com is garnering plenty of attention. The faux-dating site features imaginary profiles like that of beardedclam_69, who says "Let's not waste time. I like doing things in person;-) msg me now and I'll show you my 4 sexy tattoos, 2 hot piercings, and 50 small bumpy rashes on my body - and if your lucky I'll let you graze your tongue over each and every 1!!!" Another fictional user, Sapphic4syph, says she's looking for someone with whom to walk "rash-covered hand in hand through the forest."

But PlentyOfSyph.com is not all about stomach-turning profiles and graphic photos - the site also offers information on where to get tested in Alberta, and includes links to general information on STIs.

While some, like Angela Mulholland of CTV news, are calling their approach a "refreshingly funny take on a serious health problem," others, like the CEO of PlentyOfFish.com, Marcus Frind, are less amused. "You'd think the government of Alberta would have better things to do than spend millions of dollars creating a parody of Plentyoffish.com and than flood the Print/ TV/Radio with it," he wrote on the Plenty Of Fish blog. "Yes syphilis is a serious issue, effecting ~200 people a year in Alberta. What I don't get is why parody a mainstream dating site? It's completely the wrong demographic in many, many ways. The average age of Plentyoffish is 39 years old not 19."

Alberta officials are sticking by their campaign. "Alberta Health Services has not been contacted by, nor received correspondence from, Plenty of Fish," Shannon Evans, spokeswoman for AHS, wrote to the Calgary Herald.

So far, the eye-catching campaign seems to be working: the site has had 14,000 visitors since going live a week ago.

For more information on the dating site spoofed by Alberta Health Services please read our review of Plenty Of Fish.

Late last month eHarmony announced a new feature for their dating service. Members can now tell when their matches were last on the site by checking out the "Active Within" enhancement that is visible (or will be soon) next to the matches name. The activity is broken down into 5 increments with "Today" being the shortest and "Over three weeks ago" being the longest.

This feature has been requested for a long time as it helps members to prioritize which of their matches they should contact first. You have a better chance of contacting someone who was just on the site as opposed to over 3 weeks ago.

For more on this story you can read the eHarmony blog and to find out more about this dating site, please read our review of eHarmony.

Shaadi.com made Fast Company's "The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies" list. The online matrimonial service came in at number 39 and is the only dating site to make the list. Other companies on the list they beat include GE, Samsung and Cisco.

The write-up indicates that the goal of the site being marriage for its members, along with their résumé like profiles, and the fact that they plan to go mobile in 2011 as well as opening retail sites for marriage counselling as the reasons it made the list.

For more on this story you can read number 39 on the list. To find out more about this matrimonial service you can read our Shaadi.com review.

The owners of Match.com, IAC announced plans on May 30, 2011 to buy all outstanding shares of Meetic for 15 euros a share. IAC currently owns 27 percent of Meetic already through a deal where the sold their European business to Meetic in early 2009 (see Story).

Meetic is valued at 347 million euros which works out to about $497 million in USD. The share offer by IAC is about 12 percent higher than the closing price last Friday. Since then trading has been suspended at Meetic's request.

Meetic's co-founder Marc Simoncini has entered into an agreement with IAC to sell about 3.7 million shares which works out to about 7% of the total outstanding shares. He also still plans to remain on Meetic's board of directors.

To find out about IAC's most popular dating site you can read our Match.com review.

For the first quarter ending March 31, 2011 Spark Networks reported revenue of $11 million. This is an 8 percent increase in revenue over last quarter (the largest growth between quarters in the last 5 years) and a 4 percent increase when compared to the same quarter in 2010. Spark Networks reported a net loss of $0.2 million in the first quarter due to $1.8 million being spent on direct advertising. In the same quarter last year a net income of $0.9 million was recorded.

Revenue for JDate this quarter was $6.9 million which was the same last quarter. JDate did have a 2 percent increase in subscribers at 91,545.

Revenue for the Other Affinity networks (ChristianMingle, BlackSingles, etc.) was $3.8 million. This is a 35 percent increase over the last quarter. Average paying subscribers was at 81,889 which is a 26 percent increase when compared to Q4, 2010.

Revenue for General Market Networks was down 20 percent to $190,000 when compared to the last quarter. Subscribers also fell similarly (19 percent) to 4,207.

For the full 2011 Q1 release visit Spark Networks News Room.

Related Story: Spark Networks Fourth Quarter 2010 Financials

eHarmony in the United States is having a free communication event this weekend from May 27 to May 30, which falls close to Memorial Day. During this eHarmony event, new and existing members will be able to use the guided communication process for free which allows you to interact with other members by asking and answering questions.

Along with guided communication, members will also be able to create a profile and receive matches at no cost and with no credit card required. Viewing of members profile pictures and Secure Call communication are not included in this promotion.

This will be eHarmony's 34th (I believe) free communication event with the last one occurring for the entire month of February (see Story).

To find out more details on this popular online dating site that matches you based on personality, please check out our eHarmony.com review.