General News

Good job Mate1 and a great idea for other companies.

Mate1 plans to match their employee donations to Haiti, dollar for dollar. All employees have to do is make a donation to any reputable charity like the Red Cross and then send a copy of their receipt to the accounting department.

If every company did this, or offered to at least match a percentage of their employee donations it would go a long way to help the suffering.

For further details on this dating site, read our review of Mate1.

eHarmony has a few updates planned for the profile page which members should be able to see any day now.

The first change is photo thumbnails will be twice the size on profiles. This allows you to view matches in more detail without entering the actual photo album. The slideshow in the photo album also received an update giving users a more cinematic experience.

Members now can also easily see how their profile looks to others on eHarmony. Just visit the "About Me" tab and click on "View your profile as others see it".

The profile layout also has been approved. Overall width size has been increased by about a third. Profile questions have been moved around with the "What are you most passionate about?" and “What is the most important thing you are looking for in a person?” answers appearing at the top, right next to the profile's main thumbnail image. Color changes are also apparent with a dark gradient blue of eHarmony's homepage replacing the light blue color in the older profile.

The last thing to see a change is the communication stages. The communication process has been simplified slightly (not sure quite how yet) and the actual communication flow has been clarified more with improved messaging between each stage. FastTrack also has been renamed to "eHarmony Mail" to help describe the process better.

For more on the story read the eHarmony Blog and to find out further information about this dating site, check out our [staticpage: eHarmony.com review].

According to IBISWorld the online dating industry in Australia experienced a 5 percent growth in 2009. This year they predict that growth may reach 10 percent with earnings of almost $100 million AUD from advertising and subscriptions.

So how many people use dating sites in Australia? RSVP, the leading Australian dating site, surveyed more than 3000 people. They found that 50 percent had used online dating before with 10 percent of those surveyed (300 people) finding a partner on the internet. The number of active online dating accounts in Australia is also expected to increase from 1.5 million to almost 2 million by 2020.

For more on the story, read The Times of India. To find out more about Australia's leading dating site, read our RSVP review.

Over a year ago in December of 08, FriendFinder Networks filed their IPO with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for $460 million (see Story). On January 8th, 2010, FriendFinder set the terms of their initial public offering to just under half of the first estimate to $220 million. They plan to sell 20 million shares at a cost of $10 to $12 each. The Lead Underwriters of the offering are RenCap and Ledgemont Capital Markets LLC.

For those of you who are interested in more information, you can view the full half hour IPO video and slide show presentation here. The presentation is done by Daniel C. Staton, who is the Chairman of the Board of FriendFinder Networks Inc.

BlackPeopleMeet.com is one of the most popular dating sites for African-Americans and they have recently launched a free online magazine for their members. The magazine contains insight, advice and perspectives for Black Singles who need help with love, relationships and dating. Frequent updates are promised for the online magazine and when you visit the site you can expect to find the following content:

• Feature articles focused on dating, love and relationships, and intimacy.
• Expert advice from recognized dating authorities and leading bloggers, such as Twanna Hines, author of the blog “FunkyBrownChick.com.” Readers will be invited to submit questions, with answers provided in the magazine by guest experts.
• Interviews with high profile experts, authors and personalities, ranging from dating coaches to career advisors. In the first issue, featured interviews include ones with Yolanda Shoshana, who leads seduction workshops in New York, as well as Sandra Sea, a career coach who shares tips on making new year resolutions focused on one’s profession.
• Interactive polls, inviting readers to share their opinion on a wide ranging and always changing roster of questions of interest to African-American singles.
• Success stories of real couples who have met through BlackPeopleMeet.com, offering inspiration and heartwarming anecdotes about their triumph in finding a meaningful relationship through the dating site.

For more on the story, read Earth Times. To find out about the dating site, read our review of BlackPeopleMeet.com.

Here are the eHarmony coupon codes for two of their more popular promotions. Both of these coupon codes expire on December 31, 2010.

eHarmony Coupon #1

eHarmony Coupon #2

These coupon codes listed above are valid on eHarmony in the United States (eHarmony.com).

For UK singles, go here for our United Kingdom (eHarmony.co.uk) vouchers.

For Canadian singles, go here for our eHarmony Canada (eHarmony.ca) coupons.

Read our review of eHarmony for more information about this online matchmaking service.