Online Dating

I found that missing press release I mentioned in a previous post about the new Spark.com dating site (see Story).

A quick read through doesn't really reveal any additional information. It does confirm what we assumed in the previous post that Spark is made up of the members from AmericanSingles.com and Date.ca. Spark Networks hope that the new clean and easy to navigate interface of Spark.com will give it a more global appeal. The release also mentions the new features of Spark.com (when compared to the old dating sites). These features are the free Color Code Personality Test, the Keyword Search and the "Who's Searching for You?" feature. While these features are new at Spark, they can be found on another Spark Networks brand of dating sites called Mingle Match.

To find out more about this dating site and the new features listed here, you can check out our review of Spark.com.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) court action against Scott Mark Moles and Jobspy Pty Ltd have seen fines totaling $6.5 million AUD over a mobile phone dating scam.

The scam generated more than $2 million in revenues and involved employees of Jobspy Pty Ltd creating fake profiles on legitimate dating site with the purpose of obtaining cell phone number of other members. The scammers would then conduct text message conversation with these members via a so-called "safe divert" service to keep their mobile phone number private. In reality the members who were being scammed, were being charged $5 per text message. They were told by the scammers that the "safe divert" service was part of their dating site membership fees.

For the full news item, read News.com.au.

Television and film actress Ashley Madison Myrick (no she is not a Porn Star, that was a mistake by Fox) most famous role was becoming James Woods' boyfriend for a while. Recently she has filed a lawsuit against online dating site Ashley Madison for the “humiliation’ she has endured over having the same name as the site which promotes having an affair. Apparently she wants the site to change its name and to take her picture off of a related site, AshleyMadisonbio.com.

According to a $1 million counter-suit filed by AshleyMadison.com against the actress, the website has had the name “Ashley Madison” trademarked since 2002. The actress Ashley Madison Myrick only started going by the name Ashley Madison 3 years later in 2005. AshleyMadison.com also claims that they do not own the website AshleyMadisonbio.com and have no control over it (whoever does own it, has taken it down anyways).

The infidelity dating site is suing Ashley Madison for using their trademark to “inappropriately garner goodwill” to support her acting career.

More on this story can be found at Fox News.

When we say “online personal ad sites,” we’re talking about those sites that are really no more than a listing. An advertisement of you, who you are and what you’re looking for. For that matter, really anything you do or don’t want to share. While these sites usually require a username and password to set up your profile or ad, many are free or only have minimal membership fees.

Unlike the online matchmaker types of sites like Match.com and eHarmony, online personal ad sites are static in nature. You likely won’t receive emails from the site with updates or members you might be interested in and the website’s functionality will likely be minimal. Making contact with other members will be left strictly up to you.

If you’re the type of person that doesn’t want all the bells and whistles of a full-on online matchmaking dating site, then the online personal ad realm might be the ticket. Sites like Yahoo! Personals and SinglesNet.com both offer bare-bones online personal ad options. While with Yahoo! Personals, you can opt to dig deeper into a wider range of services, the site began as purely an online personal ad portal. On sites like these, you can search at-will for other members and not be bogged down with any “meddling” in your affairs.

If you happen to be more comfortable on a site where you get highly in-depth information about other members and prefer to have matches brought to your doorstep, online personal ad sites probably won’t be your best bet. Profiles on these sites are usually less intensive than on the online matchmaker sites. Most won’t have mobile options for your smart phone, either.

If you’re trying to decide if an online personal ad site is your cup of tea, sign up for a free trial and take a tour. Create a profile in two different types of sites and see what happens. You’ll know quickly if you’re going to be overwhelmed by the site’s many options or completely underwhelmed by the lack thereof.

For more information on the dating sites mentioned in this article, read our Match.com review and our eHarmony review.

For the first article in this series, read: Types of Online Dating Services: Overview

What are you to do when you’re looking to share your time with someone and everyone is telling you to go online? With all of the sites available out there, it’s difficult to know which online dating site is the right type for your needs. We’re starting a new series here at Dating Sites Reviews to help you wade through the mud and muck of online romance and take the guesswork out of your computer work!

We’ll be covering the wide variety of online dating sites our there: pros, cons, features and differences of each. While it may not be readily apparent which site or sites will ultimately make you feel the most “at home,” we’ll do our best to help you narrow-down the process. After all – wouldn’t you spend more time looking for love in the right place than wasting your time looking in the wrong ones?

Here are a few things that all types of online dating sites have in common:

• Profiles are posted by the actual user and the site is consensual.
• All have “privacy” features. These can range from blind email exchange to usernames.
• All require a username and password to access your profile information (so keep these secret).

All types of online dating sites understand that your privacy is important. Make sure that you don’t reveal too much information too soon (like personal email addresses, home addresses and phone numbers) and use these privacy features to your advantage. Safety, for men and women alike, is paramount, and you will likely gravitate towards the online dating sites that you find to be the safest and thus, the most comfortable.

While preferences vary, we’ll do our best to walk you through the types of sites one article at a time and hope that if you have feedback for us, you’ll let us know!

Read about Online Matchmaking Sites

Read about Online Personal Ad Sites

Read about Speed Dating Sites

Zoosk let us know a few holiday trends that they experience on their Facebook Dating Application last year. The busiest week for online dating activity was the week before Christmas. The second was the first week of January. Christmas Eve was the busiest day of the year for Zoosk. Throughout the year, on average Mondays are the most popular day to visit a dating site.

In a recent online survey conducted by Zoosk, 63 percent of Zoosk members are looking for long-term relationship. 33 percent of respondents are just looking for a holiday party date and 4 percent will not date this holiday as they find it too stressful. 19 percent of men from this survey also stated that they would invite a women on a first date to their office holiday party, while with women, only 10 percent said they would do this. In total, 39 percent of singles would prefer at least 3 dates before considering taking someone to their office party.

For more on this subject, read the Zoosk press release. To find out more about Facebook dating, check out our review of Zoosk.