General News

The rumor was first posted 5 days ago on Online Personals Watch that Userplane is closing its doors. Userplane provides websites with features like chat rooms, instant messaging and bulletin boards. Dating sites are a main source of their revenue. David Evans of the Online Dating Insider also mentioned hearing some buzz as well but hasn't confirmed anything. It seems like we are all waiting for our emails to be answered. The Userplane website is still up but no information has been posted which confirms or denies the fact that they are going out of business. Since it has almost been a week and the fact that we haven't heard anything from Userplane, I take this as a sure sign that they are in fact closing the doors.

If you are a dating site looking for a chat provider or are, or was, a customer of Userplane, take a look at Toska. They offer easy to implement solutions which are 100 percent hosted by them. They are currently offering a 15-day trial and a extra 10 percent lifetime discount for all current Userplane customers if you sign up before May 15th.

The Miami Herald has some interesting information in their article about people going online to look for married dating and affairs. The largest affair dating site of it's kind is Ashley Madison. As with most dating sites it is free to join but requires you to buy tokens or credits to message other members. AshleyMadison.com reported in March revenue in the 10's of millions of dollars and 3.86 million members worldwide. 12 months ago we reported that Ashley Madison had just over 2 million members (see Story). Business has been very good for them as they increased their membership by 50% in less than a year. The six largest markets for Ashley Madison in order are:

• New York
• Los Angeles
• Toronto
• Dallas
• Houston
• South Florida - With over 177,000 members.

The gender split on average is 70 percent male and 30 percent females but in Florida it is more even with 60 percent of South Florida members being male. This ratio split is on par with other dating sites whose main theme is the intimate encounter.

Founder Noel Biderman when he launched the dating service in 2001 decided to name it after the two most popular girl baby names that year, which happened to be Ashley and Madison. He originally decided to create an affair dating site after he did some research and found that almost 35 percent of people using online dating sites already had a partner. He thought this would be a win-win situation by providing a place for cheaters to go and preventing singles on other dating sites getting duped by people just looking for affairs.

We have talked before about the dating site called Scientific Match which uses DNA and the body's natural fragrance to match compatible singles (see Story). The Discovery Channel has an article which examines the dating site and the science behind it called Major Histocompatibility Complex or MHC for short. The idea is that opposite immune systems attract, thereby making it easier for any offspring of the relationship to fight off disease. To back up the science in their match system, ScientificMatch.com has more than:

40 peer-reviewed and published studies documenting the positive effect of different MHC's in couples.

The problems in which Scientific Match is having, is trying to gather enough members to be able to create proper matches. Plus these matches are not cheap and cost nearly $1000. Plus, Scientific Match still needs to screen potential matches for the normal profile attributes like location, age range and other preferences. That is why they are now considering licensing the technology to other dating sites.

For the full story, check out The Discovery Channel website.

I'm not sure if this is a new low for reality TV or not? Larry Ramos Gomez is looking for love. You may know him more by his famous nickname, Wolfboy, which he received due to the thick covering of dark hair on his face. His condition is called Hypertrichosis and his brother also suffers from it. Larry, who is a 31 year old Mexican, is having a show developed around his search for a partner. Zoo Productions which is known for "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader" is currently pitching the idea to networks. The format of the show is still being figured out but it most likely will be similar to The Learning Channels "Little People, Big World" documentary style.

Larry Gomez actually has been married before and has one child. Close friends say he is good with the ladies. I think the show, if it gets picked up, will probably be initially about his dating escapades but realistically will be more about the trials of his day to day life.

For the full article read Variety.

Real Housewives of New Jersey star Danielle Staub has been using the dating site WealthyMen.com to find a sugar daddy according to the New York Post. The name she uses on the site is Guccilove (I checked and she is still there). Her hunt for a man is featured in the first episode of Bravo's latest spin off of the Real Housewives franchise. Apparently it didn't go to well at the end of the episode as a planned meeting with her new potential boyfriend at a New Jersey restaurant ends in a no show.

For the full post visit The New York Post and for more information on this dating site for finding sugar daddies, read our Wealthy Men review.

After seeing the Lindsay Lohan spoof TV ad (see Story), I decided to post some of the other higher quality eHarmony mock commercials I have found online. The only one I am missing is the parody commercial from Saturday Night Live called Me-Harmony.

Here is one called eHarmonize:

Note: Unfortunately the source to the video and/or image which once was displayed here has since been removed by the authors for an unknown reason.

Here is one from The Daws Brothers called Lowered Expectations:

Note: Unfortunately the source to the video and/or image which once was displayed here has since been removed by the authors for an unknown reason.

Here is 3 separate skits from the television show MadTV:

Note: Unfortunately the source to the video and/or image which once was displayed here has since been removed by the authors for an unknown reason.

For a more serious look at this online dating service, read our eHarmony review.