FriendFinder Networks

I have been poking around the FriendFinder Network of dating sites lately and have notice that they have modernized the user interface a bit. The improved site design doesn't look as busy now, which should attract more daters. FriendFinder has always been in the forefront of keeping their sites fresh and up to date with new features. They were one of the first dating sites to offer built in members blogs and interest groups. The one problem with a feature rich site is they tend to have complex user interfaces which can turn less tech savvy members off (just take a look at Facebook now).

I also notice that they have removed the advertising again from their dating sites home page and from the members pages as well. This improves the looks of the sites 10 fold and I applaud FriendFinder for doing this. A site without ads looks so much more professional.

While not directly related to dating, I notice this in my searches: "FriendFinder.com Games". It's a flash games site that has over 8000 free games to play. It looks like the FriendFinder Network plan to make money from the Google Ads on the site.

If you want to find out some more about a FriendFinder Network dating site, you can check out our review of FriendFinder.

Related Story: What is With Advertising on FriendFinder?

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):

Consumer reviews on the internet for products and services usually receive more negative posts than positive, since most people satisfied with a product or service tend to be using it rather than writing reviews. It is probably the same for reviews of employers. I found a website called Glass Door which allows visitors to review their current and past employers. The website currently has over 26 thousand companies listed, with most of them being publicly traded. The site is new and is in beta so most companies do not have a lot of reviews yet.

A reviewer can list their job title, the Pros and Cons of the employer and Advice to Senior Management. They also rate the company on 8 different attributes (which is then averaged to a 5 bar rating) and also select if they approve or disapprove of the company CEO.

There are not a lot of employer reviews for dating site companies but, here are a few I found reviews for:

CNN did a post about virtual currencies and economies. It is estimated that at least $1 billion USD were transferred into virtual currencies last year. The biggest use of virtual currencies are online games, followed by social networks and virtual worlds. Some websites even earn more revenue through virtual currencies than online advertising. The massive online multiplayer game, World of Warcraft (or WoW for short) uses WoW Gold. Even though it is against the rules set by Blizzard, this currency is bought and sold on the black market. This currency is so sought after, workers in China have been known to play the game just to earn the virtual WoW currency to sell to players in Europe and the US.

Social networking sites like Hi5 and MyYearBook have created their own currency as well. Hi5 has the Hi5 Coin and MyYearBook calls their currency Lunch Money. Hi5 Coins are mainly used to buy virtual gifts while with Lunch Money you can buy virtual gifts, play games and even donate it to charities. Facebook is looking into a unified currency since all the games and application on their platform that use a virtual currency has been created by the application developer. The problem with this for members is, the currency is only good with that one application. Facebook also doesn't see any revenue from these virtual currencies. This could be a way out for Facebooks revenue problems. If they create one unified Facebook currency for the entire site, not only could members spend it through any Facebook applicationg they want, Facebook would get a cut from each transaction.

The virtual world Second Life also has a currency called Linden Dollars. You can trade real currency for Linden Dollars which you can then buy whatever is for sale on Second Life (virtual real estate, entertainment, stores, etc..). Just like with real currencies, the Linden Dollar fluctuates daily against the USD. The buy and sell prices are set by the residents of Second Life on the LindeX Currency Exchange.

Some dating sites have a form of virtual currency called points. While you can't trade or buy something from other members, you can purchase virtual gifts, features and extended memberships from the dating site itself. Usually the way you earn points is by using and / or participating in the dating site. Two dating sites that I know of who use points this way is, Plenty Of Fish and, the FriendFinder Network of dating sites. With POF, every time you log into the site you earn 60 points, with a maximum of 60 points total every 24 hours These points can be used to buy virtual gifts for other members. With FriendFinder you receive points for participating in the site by adding or voting on articles, replying to questions and voting on topics. When you have earned enough points you can then purchase membership upgrades with them. This can include adding extra months to your membership and having your profile highlighted.

Check out CNN.com Technology for the full story. Read our FriendFinder review for more information on this dating service.

This story was originally from December 28, 2008 and has been in my draft folder ever since. I thought it was about time I should finish it up.

As we know FriendFinder Networks Inc. (formerly Penthouse Magazine) filed to go public in late December, 2008 and intends to list under the symbol FFN, on the New York Stock Exchange. (see Story). In order to do this they released some financial and subscriber numbers for investors. Lets review the reason for the IPO first. Penthouse bought FriendFinder Networks from Various in December 2007 for $500 million (see Story). Since then Penthouse decided to change their name to FriendFinder Networks Inc. for a number of reasons including to help market themselves as a Social Network to would be investors. The main reason for the $460 million IPO is FriendFinder:

This award was an easy decision once again this year, no other site even comes close to what is offered by this dating / hook-up site. The Editor's choice for the Top Pick - Sexy Award goes to Passion.com. This dating community continues to blow away the competition with the features offered and the number of members they have, which now totals more than 25 million. At most times of the day there will be more than 100,000 men and women online looking for intimate encounters and discreet relationships. Passion.com is part of the FriendFinder Network which was recently bought by Penthouse.

Passion.com is a very active community and there are a number of ways for members to express themselves. There are currently 371 thousand personal blogs and over 125 thousand special interest groups of which 2.5 million people have joined. Web cameras have also become a large part of this adult dating site experience. Members can have video introductions as well as chat and IM with their webcams. Of course photos are a big part of the site as well. Most typical dating sites have members who post usually from 1 to 3 photos. At Passion.com you will find a large number of members who have posted 10 or more photos. This site just teems with activity and member participation. There is not another site on the internet where you will find more sexy personals.

At Passion.com they have a thriving international community. Besides English this dating site is available in 10 other languages. Countries that have at least a million members at Passion.com include the United States, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Read our review of Passion.com for more information about this dating service or visit Passion.com directly.

This Years Runner Up for this award is: Lavalife.