| Taboo |
01-28-2005 08:15 AM |
Yes, they have lots of mainstream sites. I'm surprised that they (RK Netmedia) haven't tried hard enough to keep the relationship between NastyDollars and Webdate in stealth mode. Recently, I've been noticing on many surfer dating boards & blogs that people are spreading word that it's run/owned by a porn company and are scared off. And now the word is slowly trickling up to their mainstream partners and that may come back to haunt RK. Personally I like their business models and applaud the success of their webdate mobile initiative.
http://www.miami.com%2Fmld%2Fmiamiherald%2F10684723.htm
Quote:
Thu, Jan. 20, 2005
ONLINE SERVICES
Love blossoms on the Internet
Miami Beach-based Webdate has the fastest growing black book in the online matchmaking industry
BY JIM WYSS
[email protected]
Never underestimate the allure of a cheap date.
Since Miami Beach-based Webdate started offering a free online dating service two years ago, some 2.8 million love-seekers have signed up. The company's traffic surged 800 percent in 2004, compared to 17 percent for the industry as a whole.
And with 8,000 to 10,000 new users signing up daily, Webdate has the fastest-growing black book in the industry.
First adopted by the technologically adventurous and socially averse, Internet dating in recent years has blossomed into a mainstream multimillion-dollar industry.
There are almost 850 online dating services worldwide and, according to Juno Research, U.S. sites alone raked in $473 million in 2004 -- and are expected to make $516 million this year. Many of those players are in town this week for the iDate 2005 conference, billed as the world's largest meeting of Internet dating executives. It ends today at the Wyndham Miami Beach Resort.
Giving away service has put Webdate on the charts with the likes of Match.com and Yahoo Personals but hasn't been particularly profitable. Webdate founder Abraham Smilowitz now plans to charge for services and hopes a variety of broadband and mobile tricks will keep customers faithful.
On Wednesday, for example, the firm announced it will expand its mobile dating service by March cover 80 percent of all data-ready cellphones. ''Webdate MobileT'' allows clients to use their handsets to search for potential dates, download profiles and initiate text messages and anonymous phone calls.
''You don't have to be in front of your computer to be online dating anymore,'' Smilowitz said. ``My vision is that our integrated mobile option will give us a big push.''
Since its launch in December, some 40,000 users have subscribed to the mobile service at $2.99 per month.
At his new South Beach office, Smilowitz spins his monitor around to show off another high-tech feature: live video chat.
On the screen is the small image of a user in Indonesia, busy typing away at her computer.
''We've all heard the horror stories about chatting with someone [online] and they have a great picture, but then you meet them and you realize it wasn't them at all, or that the picture they were using is 20 years old,'' said Smilowitz, 30. ``With this, people get the chance to hear the other person's voice and see their face from the comfort and safety of their own home.''
Being the first Top 10 dating site to offer the service and staving off the competition with a patent application on some of its features (like the ability to create virtual chat rooms), gives Webdate a tremendous edge, Smilowitz said.
CROWDED MARKET
That edge will need to be sharp if the company wants to compete in an increasingly crowded and fragmented market.
''There are increasingly more sites aimed at seniors -- it is definitely catching on with the older set -- and just about every other demographic you could think of,'' said Mark Brooks, the publisher of Online Personals Watch.
There is ''Date My Pet'' for animal lovers; ''Senior Friend Finder,'' which is marketed toward active elders; and ''DharmaMatch,'' which, according to its website, is for people who want to ``fulfill their relationship needs while fulfilling their spiritual needs.''
While other sites have developed complex questionnaires and algorithms to try to match people, Smilowitz said Webdate's technology enables customers to get more of a ''feeling'' about each other. ''The idea that you can quantify love with a compatibility test or a mathematical equation is clearly bogus,'' he said.
The approach worked for Robert Odum, 37, of San Angelo, Texas.
He uploaded his profile -- a picture and a list of personal attributes, likes and dislikes -- on the site and soon found Diana, a 31-year-old publishing professional in Mexico City.
SUBTLETIES OF LOVE
They hit it off. A videoconference through an instant-messaging program, he said, felt like a first date.
He could pick up on subtle things -- visual clues, mannerisms, and the timbre of her voice -- that didn't come across in her picture and text profile.
''I think it was the way she spoke that got me,'' he said. ``She didn't sound like someone who was just looking for a good time.''
While analysts have been impressed with Webdate's adoption of new technology, some question whether the bells and whistles will keep the site growing once customers have to pay.
''Offering something for free and then trying to flip the switch to a pay model is always tricky,'' said Nate Elliott, an analyst at New York-based Juno Research.
Elliott also said he's skeptical that video chat and mobile technology are truly a draw.
''From our research I can tell you there is almost no interest in that direction,'' he said. ``[Webcams] are a two-way street. You have to be willing to put the camera on yourself and most consumers don't want to do that.''
Smilowitz is well aware of the risks. ''Even with an attrition rate of 90 percent -- and we think it is more likely to be 50 or 70 percent -- we still expect to be adding a minimum of 25,000 new paying users per month,'' he said.
As for Odum, he pulled his profile off of Webdate and hopes to never visit the site again. Early this year he and Diana will be getting married in Mexico.
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I try to keep track of adult companies moving into mainstream. I believe this is a correct/current short-list of RK's mainstream sites:
webdate.com (dating)
peepsnation.com (social)
cellspot.com (mobile/ringtones)
learnaboutyourself.com
If I have more info, I'll post it.
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