General News

USA Today revealed that the Zoosk TV commerical we talked about last week will begin airing this evening. Expect to find it on such TV channels as Animal Planet and ESPN.

We also learned that the Zoosk Dating App on the iPhone is in the top 30 of the most popular free applications for the month of May (it is actually #30). We also found out that an Android version of the dating app is due out in July.

Finally, we also learned something about where the name Zoosk came from. Founders Alex Mehr and Shayan Zadeh had wanted a word that contained 2 Os like other popular internet companies like Facebook, Google and Yahoo. They liked the sound of the made up word Zoosk, which does not have any specific meaning.

To find out more about the dating site, read our review of Zoosk.

We just got word and have confirmed that Plenty of Fish is currently down at the moment. It looks like it has been offline for at least the last hour (6:30pm EST). If you visit the dating site now you will receive one of the following server error messages:

• Bad Request (Invalid Hostname)
• Server is too busy

It looks like the server is accessible (hence the available error message) but the web service (IIS) is down.

We will update this post when we get more information.

Update #1: As of around 12:00am EST (May31) we have had reports that POF is back up. Though it still appears to be down for us.

Update #2: As of 7:00am Plenty of Fish is back up again. Not sure what happened but everything seems working normally. According to our estimates POF was down for approximately 10 to 12 hours.

For more details on this free dating site, check out our review of Plenty of Fish.

Match.com's free dating site DownToEarth.com was launched in early 2009 but by October of the same year the dating site was taken down and replaced by Stir.com. Stir was aimed more at the college age crowd as it allowed singles to more easily find each other and meet up at bars (think a social networking website for the club scene). Well, as of the middle of this month both Stir.com and DownToEarth.com redirect to SinglesNet.com, which Match.com just recently acuired.

For the moment It seems Match.com has stopped with experimenting with new dating and social networking type sites and instead has opted with acquiring other dating sites and creating partnerships (like the latest one with Yahoo! Personals).

Ever wish you could get a date with that guy or girl in your friend's Facebook Friends list? Well, now you can with Thread, the latest revolution in online dating. It takes the "stranger" factor out of the equation!

Just over a year old, Thread is revolutionizing the way people date via Facebook. The app allows you to peruse your friends' Facebook Friends and request introductions. Hence, there's not more "creepy stranger" aspect of Facebook dating as you're actually introduced by a mutual friend who knows both of you.

With over 400 million users already on Facebook, Thread offers a few potential advantages to the world of online dating that current paid membership sites don't. Profiles are already existing, so you don't have to create yet another online profile. When seeking an introduction, you're asking someone who already knows you to introduce you to someone they already know - it's endorsement-based marketing at its best and the way we do business in many other parts of our lives (so why not dating?).

The company is already seeing a fair amount of traction from current Facebook users. Apparently, many people were already in the practice of cutting and pasting Facebook profiles of friends and sending them off to other friends. Thread has enabled and put into a convenient package the ability to do what people were already doing in real life: introducing people they knew to one another.

The site is currently free as the company is determining how they'll monetize their offerings. If you'd like to explore the potential behind Thread, just visit their site and connect with your Facebook profile. And yes - it's that simple! Report back and let us know how you like it. See if there's a common thread between your friends and their friends for your romantic life.

Compatible Partners is having a free communication weekend this Memorial Day holiday weekend. It starts Friday May, 28th, 2010 and will run to Sunday May 31st, 2010. If you are looking for a same-sex relationship then this would be a good time to try out Compatible Partners since you can not only review your matches but you can communicate with them as well through the guided communication process. FastTracking the guided communication process and viewing of members photos are only available to paid members during this event

We expect this to be a busy holiday weekend for Compatible Partners as everyone will be on trying out the service. The last event was held in March also proved to be popular (see Story). This is Free Communication Weekend number four that we have tracked for Compatible Partners.

For more information on this dating service, please read our Compatible Partners review.

ChristianCafe.com is offering former Yahoo! Personals members 6 weeks of free full access to their dating service (includes communication). This is a fantastic offer since ChristianCafe.com is one of the leading dating sites for Christian singles. If you are a former Yahoo! Personals member, all you need to do is create a free trial profile at ChristianCafe.com. Once completed just, email yahoo@christiancafe.com with your ChristianCafe.com username along with a copy of the Match.com welcome notice you received as a Yahoo! Personals member.

Once you have sent the email with the proper information, you will be able to enjoy the full experience of ChristianCafe.com for 6 weeks. Plus, you still will be able to use your new Match.com membership as well which gives you 2 dating sites to use and help you find a relationship.

For more information about this dating site who has been serving singles for over 11 years, you can read our ChristianCafe.com review.