Dating Services

Remember the last time you spied someone across a crowded room or bar and wanted to give them your number? Out of business cards and determined to not write in on a napkin (or worse, their hand), maybe you skipped the opportunity all together in favor of "maybe I'll see them again." Well, instead of falling in love, there's a new company that lets you flip first!

A new company called FlipMe gives singles a way to share their number without sharing all of the information they'd share on a business card. When you see someone you like, you simply flip them - that is, you give them a card with your unique FlipperID. If the receiving party is interested, they'll log in, enter your ID and receive more information about you.

How is this different from a business card? Well, it puts YOU in control of the information you share. It also doesn't leave your contact information lying around on a bar on the floor somewhere or leave you subject to creepy emails from someone who (literally) found your information. While the concept is still very new, founder hope it will take off and offer folks looking to connect yet another tool in their dating toolbox to build successful introductions.

Interestingly enough, the concept stems from how the founder met her husband. They kept making eye contact across a bar and he gave the waitress a note to hand to her. They've been married now for five years and have started a family. Founder Rachel DeAlto and her husband hope the concept will take off and tap into the online component presently reserved for online dating.

You can learn more about FlipMe at FlipMeDating.com.

The Grindr iPhone App which allows gay men to locate one another has had phenomenal success. Grindr was launched in March of 2009 and is widely used at clubs and parties to allow like minded men to hook-up with each other. The app uses the GPS located in the phone to determine how close people are to each other. More than 700,000 men from 162 countries are using this App with the United States and the United Kingdom being the most popular countries. Everyday Grindr is downloaded over 2,000 times. A Blackberry Grindr version was also just launched in June, which is sure to increase Grindr's popularity.

A straight version of Grindr is in the works now with plans to release it by the end of this year. Soon heterosexuals will be able to figure out who in this room would appeal to them. Joel Simkhai, the creator of Grindr, says they get a lot more request from straight women than men men for this type of Grindr based app.

For more on the story read The Observer.

eHarmony has teamed up with 80's band REO Speedwagon and launched a contest that allows couples who found each other on eHarmony to showcase their love by submitting a video of them singing one of REO Speedwagon's songs. Submitted videos will be voted on by the general public to determine the best one. There will be a prize package for 10 of REO Speedwagon's concert dates on their "Love on the Run" tour which the winners will receive a pair of tickets for the show and dinner backstage served by members of REO Speedwagon.

When contestants submit their video (on the eHarmony Youtube channel) you need to tag the video for the concert date you wish to attend. Videos can be sung or lip-synched and eHarmony encourages you to be as creative as possible (as long as it is rated PG).

For more on the contest including the full terms and what concert dates the contest is for, read the Official eHarmony Blog and for more details on this dating site you can read our eHarmony.com review.

There is a Free Communication Weekend (FCW) coming up this holiday weekend. From Friday July 2nd, 2010 and right till the end of Monday, July 5th, 2010 eHarmony here in North America (United States and Canada) will be allowing all members to communicate for free. For Canada, July 1st is the country's birthday (Canada Day) and in the United States, July 4th is Independence Day. With 2 holiday weekends this FCW will sure be busy. Remember free members get to experience most features of a paid membership and all without needing a Credit Card. Features not included in this promotion are profile pictures and Fasttracking the guided communication process.

The last free event was held on Memorial Day Weekend about 5 weeks ago (see Story). This Free Communication Weekend will be eHarmony's 26th.

For more information on this popular dating site, read our eHarmony.com review.

It looks like members of PlentyofFish.com will have another way soon to access the dating site. In a few weeks (July, 2010) an iPhone Application will be released which will allow members to access the dating site directly on their iPhone, iTouch and iPad. No information has been released yet on what features will be available on the dating application but I assume profile editing, searching and sending messages will be possible. I am curious to see if location based dating will be included with this new application.

Since an iPhone POF Dating App will be here soon I wonder how far off an application for Android will be? Android mobile phones are now outselling the iPhone here in the States.

To find out about POF, you can read our review of PlentyofFish.com.

Spark Networks was featured on ABC News Nightline the other day talking about their online dating strategy of going after specific niches, like their popular dating service for Jewish singles called JDate. The Jewish community in North America has made this the number one dating site for this particular niche with over 750,000 active online daters. Another dating site of Spark Networks which they claim is growing fast is ChristianMingle.com. The video from Nightline actually shadows a couple who met recently on Christian Mingle going on their first date.

Spark Networks has over 32 niche dating sites which span the range of dating, for people of different religious faiths, to single military men and women overseas. Spark Networks also sponsors popular single events at Caribbean getaways and on Cruises. You also can't forget about their speed dating site, Hurry Date, which has become popular in and around New York City.

In the video, it was nice to see a bit behind the scenes at Spark Networks call center service. They receive on average 1,700 calls a day. Nightline also mentioned Spark Networks being a $45 million a year business which while very impressive isn't as impressive as back in 2006 where I believe they were making over $80 million.

Ultimately Spark Networks is taking the approach that smaller dating pools which are narrower and much more specific in focus are better for matching. Singles who join these dating services have a sense of community and much better chance at finding love.

To find out more on the popular dating sites from Spark Networks, read the following reviews:

• JDate.com review
• Christian Mingle review
• Spark.com review