Milestones

There's big news coming out of the Coffee Meets Bagel camp: the free online dating site that provides one match every day at noon is expanding nationwide and releasing an iOS app.

Coffee Meets Bagel launched in New York City in 2012, when three sisters decided there must be a better way to date in the Big Apple. They created CMB based on three guiding principles:

1. Unless you want to tell others, your dating life should remain private.
2. Your friends are the best conduits for your dates.
3. Meeting quality people doesn't have to be so awkward or complicated.

Users sign up through Facebook and receive one match - a.k.a. a 'Bagel' - every day at noon that is somehow connected to them. Members then have a time limit in which to respond with a simple LIKE or PASS. If all goes well, Coffee and Bagel are put in touch via a private company texting line and magical breakfast-y sparks will fly.

Co-founder Dawoon Kang says that with the new iOS app, Coffee Meets Bagel is hoping to find the happy medium between traditional online dating services and the current trend of more casual dating apps. "We want to deliver you a very good-quality match, one that you would expect from subscription services, but with the fun of mobile apps," she told TechCrunch.

Coffee Meets Bagel is full of gamified elements that are bound to work well in a mobile context. Members earn 'coffee beans' in the app when they perform certain actions like inviting friends or filling out information. They can then use the beans to purchase special features, like the ability to return to a missed match or a score and ranking. Coffee beans can also be purchased separately.

After its successful launch in New York City, CMB expanded to Boston and San Francisco, followed by Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. The service is now being released to everyone, but the sisters warn that it could hit a few stumbling blocks along the way. In smaller cities with fewer users, the app may not be able to provide a daily match until word spreads and more local users have signed up.

"As we grow, our member base is going to become a lot more diverse," Kang says. "[We'll] have to refine the algorithm very quickly ... to be able to deliver a personal, relevant match." Coffee Meets Bagel has already made more than 1.5 million matches, so it sounds like that diversity isn't far off.

Oh, Ashley Madison...what a confusing phenomenon you are.

On one hand, I am a firm believer that monogamy is not for everyone and a strong supporter of open relationships of all shapes and sizes.

On the other hand, my support of (ethical, honest) nonmonogamy has made me even less tolerant of those who don't choose to be ethical and honest about their extracurriculars.

On a third hand, my entrepreneurial spirit can't bring itself to completely condemn someone who saw a hole in the market, filled it, and is no doubt raking in the big bucks because of it. People are going to cheat whether or not I like it - someone might as well be making money off their infidelity.

Ashley Madison has been celebrating successes left and right so, begrudgingly, I think I might have to let the third hand win out. Maybe part of me is just bitter I didn't have the idea first.

In July, the infamous cheating website reached a major milestone: its 20 millionth member. And here's the real kicker: that makes its membership larger than the entire population of New York State. The 20 millionth member comes after a year of unprecedented growth for the site which, says AshleyMadison.com CEO Noel Biderman, "proves that infidelity is a universal business."

Just how universal? Ashley Madison is one of the fastest growing dating site, with one new member joining every six seconds. The dating service has also experienced an increase of over 15% in mobile usage a year and expanded to include Ashley Madison Blackbook, an app that allows affair seekers to maintain anonymity beyond emails with a private phone line for discreet texting and phone calls.

More recently, Ashley Madison is expanding its global reach (already 27 countries) to include Japan, the site's first launch in Asia. As of July 1, 2013, four days after it debuted in the new country, Ashley Madison Japan had already logged 230,000 visits and 70,000 members.

"This might be bigger here than in America," Biderman told The Wall Street Journal. "We totally underestimated the desire here." The biggest challenge the site faces now is marketing - word of mouth isn't exactly a viable option when users are looking to keep their cheating under wraps. "We're going to position ourselves as a marriage-saving site," Biderman added, "a social network for married people. I think they'll understand that concept."

A 'marriage-saving site?' If you say so, Biderman, if you say so. After all, who am I to argue with the man who proudly announced that his company has "become the 'Kleenex of cheating?'"

Congratulations to ChristianMingle.com, which recently reached a major milestone: the site has now passed the 10 million member mark.

To commemorate the achievement, ChristianMingle launched a nationwide search for the most inspiring love story. All entrants must have met through ChristianMingle.com, and one lucky couple will receive a "second honeymoon" to an all-inclusive Club Med Resort on Columbus Isle in the Bahamas Archipelago of San Salvador.

Greg Liberman, CEO of Spark Networks, owner and operator of ChristianMingle, is justifiably proud of the company's success. "Cresting the 10 million member milestone, with most of those members joining in the past couple of years, is just another indicator of the impact ChristianMingle has on the Christian community," he says. "Our mission at Spark Networks is to create iconic, niche-focused brands that build and strengthen the communities they serve, and ChristianMingle's growth is a reflection of laser-focus on the needs and values of the Christian community."

There's sure to be many more milestones in ChristianMingle's future. According to the State of Dating in America report, 94% of Christian singles think online dating is a great way to meet people. ChristianMingle has certainly felt the boost from the Christian community's increasing acceptance of online dating:

• ChristianMingle members are now associated with 246,797 churches across the country.
• In 2012, California-based ChristianMingle visitors surpassed those of any other state.
• More than 2,500 different types of devices are used to access ChristianMingle each month.
• Every day, more than 200,000 messages are sent by ChristianMingle members.
• ChristianMingle users "smile" at each other nearly 100,000 times each day.
• More than 10,000 new subscribers join ChristianMingle on a daily basis.

ChristianMingle considers itself the premier online community for Christian singles looking to meet a match within their faith. The site's success can be chalked up to its targeted, laser-focused dating experience, based on the premise that Christianity is central to a person's identity and therefore should be an influential force in the choice of a partner.

To build on their mission to support and expand the Christian community, ChristianMingle plans to continue their expansion. "Our commitment to building and strengthening the Christian community is evident not only through ChristianMingle," says Liberman, "but also through our growing Gospel Media Group, a network of online destinations, which includes not only ChristianMingle.com, but also Believe.com, Faith.com, DailyBibleVerse.com, and ChristianCards.net."

For the contest, ChristianMingle announced on it's Facebook page the winning couple on July 15th. For more on this dating site you can read our review of ChristianMingle.

China's largest dating site, Jiayuan.com, announced last week that they had reached 90 million members around 7pm on July 7, 2013. It took them only 6 months to signup 10 million more members (in January of 2013 they had 80 million members).

Jiayuan.com is also the only Chinese dating site company that is trading on the NASDAQ. Their IPO happened on May, 2011 and the company has since doubled in worth.

For more information on this milestone of Jiayuan you can check out the press release.

One of the United Kingdom’s fastest growing dating services is Cupid plc. Two of their more popular dating sites includes Cupid.com and Flirt.

In February of this year they surpassed 100 million unique visitors. Last year during the same period they had only 15 million. The United States accounts for about a quarter of their traffic with the rest coming from Europe. Cupid reports average monthly global sales of around $9 million USD.

Cupid.com also just recently launched a HD iPad app. They already have native apps for both the iPhone and Android devices.

For more on the story you can read the press release and to find out about the dating site you can check out our Cupid.com 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.