Online Dating

The United States virtual goods market was worth $500 million in 2008 according InsideFacebook.com. This year it is expected to double to $1 billion and in 2010 virtual goods sales are expected to reach $1.6 billion. The huge growth in the market is due to the popularity of social networking and with more video games adding virtual goods to their online components.

With growth like this expected in the next few years, virtual gifts will be on par with the online dating industry which in 2008 was the third highest revenue grossing industry.

These are predictions from knowledgeable experts but they may not live up to expectations. In a recent Date.com press release about virtual gifts (see Story) their leading analysts estimated the revenue for the industry at $1.5 billion in 2008. This is a $1 billion difference between experts, I wonder which one is closer to the truth?

For more on this story, read Online Media Daily.

Single 29 year old Jessica Simpson says she is open to finding a long term relationship on the internet since others have found love there. While she has never tried online dating before, Jessica states "I mean, anybody who can find love online, so be it," says Simpson. As for getting her own feet wet in the online dating pool, she says, "Maybe. Who knows?"

I don't think she will ever need too visit a dating site with her good looks and the ease she hooks up with famous men like Nick Lachey, John Mayer and Tony Romo.

Celebs who are rumored to have used online dating sites include Halle Berry and Joan Rivers. Charlie Sheen also meet his current wife, Brooke Mueller (see Story) on the dating site MillionaireMatch.com.

Jessica Simpson is currently working on a movie in Morocco called "The Price of Beauty".

For the full story read People.com. To find out more about the sugar daddy dating site which Charlie Sheen used, read our review of MillionaireMatch.com.

I stumbled across an interesting story today through a link shared on Twitter. To say that it was inaccurate is an understatement! I'd like to bring up one point that the writer makes and let you know exactly why he is 100% wrong.

Here's what he writes about winks:

Do: Wink as often as possible. Most sites offer a free communication tool called a wink (or a flirt) where members can show interest in each other with a pre-written email designed. Since winks are the primary method by which other members will notice your profile you must get in the habit of sending a lot of winks. Send 10 winks per weekday for 1 month you will have sent 200 winks. If only a mere one percent of all members at whom you have winked showed interest, you'd meet two brand- new love interests every month.

Don't: Email before winking. A direct email before attraction is solidified is as welcome as a phone call at dinner time. Doing so exemplifies a non-interest in attraction and may irreversibly turn-off a potential mate. Conversely, don't pre-judge an attractive profile due to some personal neurosis. If you see someone you're attracted to but they live in Magna- wink anyway. You never know what treasure's you'll find if you keep digging.

Wow. Just wow. I'm not sure how he could be more wrong about winks. Here's how I would re-write the Do's and Don't's of winks:

Do: Send a short and sweet email to people you are interested in. It shows that you invested time in reading their profile and crafting an email that addresses them directly as a person, not just as an attractive target. Send 10 emails per week to the people who interest you the most. If you must click the wink button, do so immediately AFTER sending a first contact email. Winks and emails can come as a package, but a wink shouldn't come separately.

Don't: Wink at anything with appropriate genitalia and a pretty/handsome face. Ten winks a day? 200+ winks a month? This clearly indicates you are not being selective or reading your potential match's profiles thoroughly. Sending a wink with no email sends the message, "I think you're cute, but I don't want to take the time to write you unless I know it's worth my time." Essentially, you're telling the person, "You're not worth it right now." I think that's far worse than sending them an email and risking coming on too strong. (Besides, with the right first contact email, you'll only come on as friendly and low-pressure.)

What do you think about winks? Have you been a victim of a drive-by winker?

FriendFinder Networks said on Tuesday that they plan to complete the IPO process by 2010 and intends to list its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “FFN.”.

FriendFinder Networks Inc. intends to use the net proceeds of the public offering to redeem a portion of its outstanding senior secured indebtedness and to pay waiver fees to certain debtholders.

The company owes $442.1 million in debt in connection with its acquisition of Various and about $81 million in debt at the parent level. Here are some interesting facts from the FriendFinder Networks filing which was made public on Tuesday (most points deal with data from the six months which ended on June 30, 2009):

Privacy is a concern of many people venturing into the world of online dating. This is especially true for people with high profile careers. Is there a way to find love without sending the wrong message to the rest of the world? (And isn't it sad that our society mandates asking that question?)

Before becoming a writer, I taught high school. I was always worried about students, both current and former, finding my match.com profile and outing me to the world. It never happened. (I was also terrified of running into students at the local adult store, but luckily, that never happened either.)

There was a big hullabaloo in Charlotte, North Carolina last school year when several teachers were disciplined (and one fired) for material they published to their Facebook profiles. While Facebook offers certain privacy settings, by default, they are not on. It's up to you to control who sees your profile, and these teachers let it all hang out. The morality clause of the teaching contract was brought up and everyone scorned these individuals for their actions. Ironically, the things they were doing online weren't any more horrible than things people in other professions post to Facebook every day.

Match.com spent around £6m on advertising in the United Kingdom according to Nielsen. Hanft Raboy and Partners previously held the Ad account for Match.com in the UK but this year the new marketing director, Karl Gregory decided on using Mother instead.

The only details we have on the new marketing campaign so far is, it starts in the new year, and it will attempt to engage people at an emotional level.

For the full story visit Marketing Magazine and to find out more about this UK dating site, read our Match.com UK review.