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"Friends don't let friends date solo."

That's the premise behind DuoDater.com, a new San Francisco-based dating site that launched in August of this year. DuoDater aims to take the awkward out of online dating by promoting a more social environment in which users partner with friends to form what is aptly known as "a Duo." After pairing up, they create a Duo profile, find potential matches in other Duos, and start going on DuoDates. It's as "easy as me, you, and a lucky two!" the site proclaims.

The DuoDater team hopes that using the buddy system will counteract the stigma that is often attached to online dating, and will also help ensure the safety of DuoDater members. Double dates, the site believes, will help mitigate the awkwardness that many online daters feel when it comes time to move their interaction from online communications to a real-world meetup. Double dates also offer the advantages of reducing the danger of meeting a stranger offline, and of giving daters the opportunity to rely on friends - and not an impersonal algorithm - to help them find a suitable match. And although online dating was created to facilitate socializing, sitting at a computer and hiding behind an anonymous screen name can in fact feel very isolating - DuoDater encourages singles to connect their love lives with their social lives once again.

Michael Parikh and Andrew Flachner, the co-founders of DuoDater, believe that there are fundamental problems with current approaches to online dating, despite how popular the service has become. In response, they designed DuoDater for men and women in their 20s and 30s who are looking to socialize and meet new people - with the support system of a friend and co-pilot. By allowing users to have this support system by their side during a date, Parikh and Flachner hope that they will be encouraged to be more natural and less awkward as they socialize, make new friends, and find potential partners.

Committed to making online dating less intimidating, Parikh and Flachner developed a profile that that is simple and quick to fill out. The "Duo Profile" only requires users to write a few sentences about themselves as individuals, so that the focus is placed firmly on the joint description that the duo creates together. The founders also believe that their model promotes accountability in a world that is famous for its lies. By signing up with a close friend and knowing they could easily be caught, Parikh and Flachner have explained, users will be less likely to use old or altered photos of themselves and less likely to exaggerate or lie in their descriptions.

It's too soon to tell whether DuoDater will revolutionize online dating, but it's certainly an interesting approach to finding love online.

IAC released their quarter 3 results earlier this month. Overall they reported good news especially in the dating sector where they saw revenue increase by 25 percent when compared to the same quarter last year.

For the complete public financial IAC Q3 2011 report read this page. For more information on the dating sites owned by IAC, read our Match.com review and our Chemistry.com review.

Related Story: Match.com First Quarter 2011 Financials

Spark Networks reported their 3rd quarter financial results this month. On a year over year basis revenue grew 28 percent to $12.7 million this quarter. A net loss was recorded however at $238 thousand and was contributed to an increase in marketing expenses. Subscribers overall increased 30 percent to 206,099 when compared to the same quarter last year and increased 8 percent when compared to the prior quarter.

When looking at the different dating segments Spark Networks has, the Jewish Networks revenue was flat when compared to the last quarter at $6.7 million. Subscribers decreased by 1 percent to 88,976 when compared both to last quarter and the same quarter last year.

The Other Affinity Networks saw a huge increase of subscribers this quarter of 84 percent to 113,972. With the increase of subscribers it also increased revenue by 108 percent to $5.7 million when compared to quarter 3 of 2010.

General Market Networks continue to slide. Revenue was $264 thousand which is a decrease of 52 percent when compared to 2010. Subscribers fell about the same percentage (54) with only 2,702 recorded.

For the full 2011 Q3 release visit the Spark Networks News Room.

Related Story: Spark Networks Second Quarter 2011 Financials

Last week we found out that Zoosk had acquired WooMe for an undisclosed sum. When you visit WooMe now, you will be redirected to Zoosk for a better online dating experience. According to statements previously from WooMe they had about 10 million members. These members will now be integrated into Zoosk, though the first time WooMe members will have to go through a small migration process to update their login information.

According to TechCrunch, WooMe was launched in 2000 and has received $17.4 million in venture funding to date.

For more information on this story you can read this post on TechCrunch and for further details about the dating service you can read our review of Zoosk.com.

Online dating through a mobile app has become very common with singles in their 20's and early 30's. eHarmony's new social dating service launched last summer called Jazzed has kept on top of their mobile dating app by continually updating it with new features. Their latest update (to 1.5 on iOS) allows Jazzed members to share photos with each other in the new photo feed.

With these photos people can search them on a number of criteria including type of photo (people or things), who posted it and based on location. If you find a photo you identify with you can "like it" along with adding a comment to the picture. An update to the app this month should also add the ability for members to tag their photos with keywords which will make it easier to find other members with similar interests.

The photo feed feature is also expected to be available on Android devices as well as on the Jazzed website soon as well.

To find out more about this app you can read the press release. For information on the owners of Jazzed, please check out our eHarmony review.

Shaadi.com is one of the older dating services having launched in 1996. Shaadi is an Indian Matrimonial service and last month they celebrated their 15 year anniversary. They estimate that their service has helped match over 2 million people, whom have then married.

Over the 15 years Shaadi.com has expanded beyond the internet. They now offer extended services through mobile apps, TV and through live person on person meetings at over 100 Shaadi Centres found in 87 Indian cities.

For more on this story you can read the press release and for more information on the dating service please read our review of Shaadi.