|
|
Category Archives
This page will redirect you to the new home of Online Dating Insider in 10 seconds.
«
Marketing |
Mobile
|
News
»
November 27, 2006
Posted by Dave Evans
Crush or Flush, a mobile version of Hot or Not, is launching soon, with an added twist. Users can tag hotties or flush them. Flushing is really just the ability to ignore people. I'd rather see a 1-10 style rating system, but then again I'm not 25 and can think of a lot of things I'd rather look at on my phone than postage-sized photos.
The current me-too HotorNot clones are coming out in force. There are so many cool things to be done on mobile phones, but at the moment, this is not one of them. James Hong, HotorNot, founder, feels its too early for mobile matching services. I agree. They had a service developed, and decided against releasing it.
HotorNot now has a Slide.com-powered screen saver that displays hotties on your desktop. As if YouTube wasn't bad enough, talk about a productivity waster!
Slide is owned by Max Levchin, co-founder of PayPal.
Last year Peter Larsen, CEO of Enpocket, said MatchMobile was growing 15% monthy.
I met up with several Enpocket people at a recent PaidContent mixer in Boston. When I mentioned Match, they looked at me with blank stares. A good unscientific indicator of the health-o-meter for sites is the copyright. The MatchMobile copyright hasn't been changed since 2003.
More at GigaOM.
Update: people need a special link in order to sign up for the beta www.CrushorFlush.com/go.
Technorati Tags: crushorflush, enpocket, hotornot
Comments (1)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Mobile
October 31, 2006
Posted by Dave Evans
Online Dating Insider sponsor Thomas Technologies announces LoveandFriends has integrated Thomas' web-dating suite 1.0. Thomas hopes to show that Thomas' tools can be tailored to any demographic be it Jewish, Catholic or any other niche. LoveandFriends is a UK based site with a reach of over 100, 000 members targeted towards "thinking people".
Reader Karen alerts us to Mobile Alibi, a service which helps singles get out of uncomfortable situations by calling you on the phone. Several similar services exist already, not clear what makes this any different than it's predecessors.
MyBlackBook: An unusual web service whose mission is to provide people with a place to store their sexual history, partners, and experiences in a safe, secure and confidential place." Via Clipperz.
Tabango is the new online dating/friends service that matches people on communication type and then lets the rest evolve through conversation. No more monosyllibic replies or long winded speeches, unless that's your thing.
Remember Flirting in traffic? They've got the spam bug now.
Please i will like to know u, am alicia harry, send me an email directly to my inbox. I have some important matters to dicuss with u, and i will aso tell u more about me and send u my photos.. My Email : alicia_harry20k@yahoo.com.
Poor woman, she doesn't speak very good Engrlish. Poor schooling or spam?
Comments (2)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Dating Site | Mobile | personality testing
September 28, 2006
Posted by Dave Evans
Walt Disney-owned ESPN is shutting down (reg req'd) it's mobile phone service after pumping $150 million into the yearlong effort to deliver sports information to on the go sports aficionados. I had high hopes for the service, too bad it kicked the buck so quickly.
Speaking of mobile applications, last I heard, Match Mobile had 100,000 members, that number is a few years old. Perhaps someone at Match would be kind enough to share their current membership stats. Webdate and a few other sites are offering mobile features, but Webdate has completely fallen off the face of the earth according to Hitwise and Comscore. Have you seen the differences between the two firm's reporting numbers recently? Hitwise definitely has the better stats, Comscore relies on a pretty small sample size here and in EU. Webdate just doesn't have the money to advertise on Myspace, which is why schizophrenic True (safe dating with supermodels?) is running away with the traffic market at the moment.
True's run up the charts will be most likely short-lived. They simply can't keep up the momentum, especially as Myspace CPM starts to take off. True will most likely run out of ad spend money before they figure out how to monetize all those eyeballs, regardless of their new advertising system. Maybe they go so far as to drop the subscription price, from there on who knows what's going to happen. Can advertising revenue keep the company afloat and pay for free background checks for users? It will be interesting to see where this all pans out in six months.
Back to mobile. I've always been lukewarm about mobile dating in the US. This isn't Europe, and it certainly isn't Korea or Japan, where everyone does everything via cell phone.
Part of the reason is that I have a Verizon Razor and I'm bitter. Coverage is great, but the phone blows for a number of reasons. I wouldn't want to look at profiles on it if access was free, the phone is the problem and the carrier hates it's customers so much it's almost laughable.
I remember a study a few iDates ago where a dating site said that when they surveyed their members, mobile dating was something like 13th on the list of features and concerns they wanted addressed. Has this changed? Is anyone making more than a trickle of revenue off mobile dating? I didn't think so.
Mobile dating on the third screen is pretty much stalled here in the US. What's going to kick-start adoption? For one thing, move past rudimentary profile browsing and start coming up with cool things for flirters to do together. Location-based games, personality quizzes and sending phonecam pix back and forth are obvious options. Games where you have to earn the right to contact someone are going to be huge. Anonymous calling would be helpful, and so would access to reputation systems so you can check up on someone before meeting them at a nightspot.
I'll pay for mobile dating applications, but only after I'm done with mobile social networking apps. Funny that Helio is basically tied their fortunes to Myspace, only to have the rug pulled out from under them with Myspace announcing a mobile app coming in the next quarter. Cool phones though.
Technorati Tags: helio, mobile+dating, myspace, true.com, webdate
Comments (0)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Mobile
September 5, 2006
Posted by Dave Evans
I talked to Matt Muro, founder of LifeKnot last week after I came across this Yahoo News press release (listing Yahoo as news source to get some link love, they don't seem to like me much there as opposed to Google, which treats this blog very well):
Lifeknot.com, a novel site that has features in common with social networking and online dating web sites, has launched a mobile version of its web site. lifeknot’s mobile site enables members to use their cell phones as a digital ice-breaking device -- as well as to search and view member profiles and pictures from their cell phones.
Enter the usernames of two lifeknot members into a cell phone to see a list of shared activity interests, bands, books, movies and tv shows. Scrolling down through a list of shared interests gives you an immediate indication of your compatibility and some great talking points that will help break the ice. What makes this comparison so interesting is lifeknot’s extensive member-suggested activity listings. From the usual (hiking, biking, camping, and cooking) to the unique (beekeeping, home brewing, longboarding, and belly dancing) members are certain to share some of the 1,100 and growing activities listed.
lifeknot maintains the personal intimacy found at online dating sites and incorporates aspects of social networking by connecting people through shared activity interests and not limiting their service to singles only. The result is an online community where the focus is simply making new friends that share interests and passions in any activity imaginable. "You can truly sift through and find people who enjoy the same things without any pressure to date," states Mary Robinson of San Diego, California.
Matt says they have a good user base, mainly in and around Boston and California.
I'm all for activity-based social networking, the mobile stuff I can live with or without. These days adding mobile access to sites is getting much easier, not the heavy lifting required as little as two years ago. In two more years mobile is just going to be another channel, or the Third Screen, as some people call it. Location-based services will take off, and you can badger your friends every 5 minutes, telling them where you are and what you're doing.
Technorati Tags: activity+dating
Comments (0)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Dating Site | Mobile | social networking
Posted by Dave Evans
EasyDate has introduced the ability to update personal profiles with photos taken by and sent from mobile phones.
Sean Wood, Marketing Manager at Easydate ltd:
We realised by the number of photos we received in the post that not all our members had access to a scanner or a digital camera, so we looked at options that would give them the easiest possible method of completing their profile and increasing their chances of finding a date online. It occured to us that most mobile phones had integrated cameras so this was definitely the way to go. Our initial trials have proven very successful so we are now implementing this technology across our network of sites.
This is similar to the deal Helio has with Myspace. Helio phones, from KT Telcom, have built-in features to send higer-than-average resolution pictures to your Myspace profile and also allow begging from other Helio users for acquiring games, ringtones and other phone bling.
Technorati Tags: profile+writing, mnvo, mobile+dating, profile+management
Comments (0)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Dating Site | Mobile | social networking
August 14, 2006
Posted by Dave Evans
 I was so excited to hear that Firebox is selling a Virtual Girlfriend/Boyfriend for the low price of $38. I'm not as bad as Steve Carell in 40 Year Old Virgin but I do still have my original white Tamagotchi in the original box. And the original Apple Newton, and a 20 year old hard drive, you get the picture. You never know what's going to bring in the big bucks 25 years from now on eBay.
Women:
The more satisfied your virtual date becomes, the more points you collect and the longer the relationship lasts. Using the three control buttons you can select between gifts (anything from lingerie to deodorant), compliments (oblique or spectacularly blunt), places to go (the jewellers to the bingo) or, if you're feeling lucky, wild passion.
Men:
If you don't like your date you can attempt to get dumped by insulting them and giving rubbish presents. Just like real life. Alternatively you can press reset and try your luck with someone else. Nothing like real life. The possibilities are endless and really rather risqué.
The idea is to keep your randomly selected cyber partner happy by taking them out, complimenting them, buying them gifts and doing naughty things with them.
I see a lot of singles getting these as gag gifts. When can we expect the accompanying desktop application?
Technorati Tags: virtual+boyfriend, virtual+girlfriend
Comments (1)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Mobile
July 26, 2006
Posted by Dave Evans
Much of my work in the online dating industry involves working with startups looking for a way to leapfrog their way into a market-leading position in a particular niche. Other times it's developing new growth strategies for established sites that are looking to crack the top 10, or struggling to stay there.
I've spoken with many startups consisting of a single person with an idea and the drive and ambition to see their vision realized. The one thing almost every one of these people lack is funding. It's near impossible to raise VC for a startup dating site these days, the risk factor is off the charts. This leaves most people to hatch their idea and work on the site when they come home from work and on weekends. A select few are able raise angel financing from friends and family to work full time on their labor of love.
A typical call from a dating site startup goes something like this:
I paid a developer a lot of money for a site and the developer has become unresponsive to my ongoing needs. I'm not sure how much to spend on marketing, or where to spend it. I don't have a strategic plan for moving forward, and I feel overwhelmed thinking of everything I have to accomplish in order to launch, let alone achieve profitability.
They can't launch with a 1/2-finished site, or worse, launch with a broken site that doesn't meet the minimum requirements of today's online daters. They have a To Do list as long as their arm and not enough time in the day to get things done. Stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Or, as is often the case, the caller has a live site not getting the traction they expected after three, six or even nine months. The person has usually burned through what they consider a significant amount of capital and earned a lot of grey hairs for their efforts. This is especially frustrating, they have earned their startup battle scars and need a fresh strategy for getting out of the red.
Most people can't afford a typical five-figure consulting engagement, and all dating site startups need similar help. To this end I am putting together a new consulting product to address the needs of startup dating sites.
Typical startups have a different problem set than established players. The new consulting arrangement will cover issues common to all dating site startups. Generally things will start out broad in scope, further refinement of the focus of the engagement occurs naturally as familiarity and understanding grows between us.
The new practice will be structured to reflect the where the company is in it's life-cycle; startup, crossing the chasm, mainstream adoption to exit strategies. I suspect most interest will be in the startup mode, although I have been speaking with several sites who are mid-tier and need a push to progress to the next level.
To manage time and costs, I'm testing the new Ether pay-per-call service. It's easy to schedule a call where we can address a predefined list of questions. You provide the initial list and I will suggest additional topics prior to the call. From this list, during the call we will begin to develop a plan of action tailored for your specific circumstances. You get the benefit my years of experience in a condensed a la carte format where you can purchase as much time and expertise as you need.
The first phone call is an hour long minimum and will be used to establish a baseline status of your company, site, resources available, expectations and goals. Additional hours can be easily added. More often than not, the initial discussion and questions bring about more of the same as we zero in on your specific needs.
If you are seeking insights into how to accomplish any of the following goals for your dating site or social networking service, this new offering may be right for you.
- Drive more traffic to your site
- Increase conversion rates
- Free or paid subscription
- Service differentiators
- Marketing strategy
- New features (VOIP, chat, mobile, games, anonymous calling)
- Comprehensive site evaluations
- Other specific issues you define
All calls are confidential and you will receive an brief summary outlining key points of discussion.
Call Me to schedule time on the phone, affordable advice immediately. Get the information you need, when you need it. No long term consulting arrangements, contracts or hassle.
Technorati Tags: consulting, startup
Comments (1)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Dating Site | Features | Finance | Marketing | Mobile | Research | innovation | niche
May 9, 2006
Posted by Dave Evans
 Calculate the "love levels" of the person on the other line with cell cell phone service from Nemesysco Entertainment. Chat someone up and when the conversation is over, the final report will be sent to your cell phone using SMS or audio message. Story at Trendhunter, service from LoveDetector.
Technorati Tags: mobile dating
Comments (0)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Mobile | innovation
March 31, 2006
Posted by Dave Evans
Personality matching had it's day in the sun. Eharmony and Chemistry are winning that battle, game over. It was difficult to the industry to get excited about personality matching because nobody understands it except for a few experts, consumers don't necessarily like filling out forms and the tests are difficult to integrate with existing dating sites.
Now it seems it's time to move on to mobile dating. Again.
It's interesting to watch various people in the dating industry attempt to build up interest in mobile dating. Mark Brooks has launched a whole blog dedicated to mobile dating and iDate had a mobile dating conference last year. Network carriers are lukewarm about the potential for a revenue stream that justifies putting much effort into dealing with dating sites. They are all about SMS and games and movies, that's where the real revenue is.
Enpocket has been delivering mobile dating solutions for several years. Their product for Match has had flat growth, remaining near 100k subs last time I checked. Webdate does mobile, but who's on Webdate and where are they making money off of it?
I scratch my head when I see people talking about looking at profiles on a tiny phone screen. These services are targeted towards 20-somethings, exactly the kind of service they will not pay for since most are getting raked over the coals with their current data plans. Where is the revenue? What other dating sites charge for mobile phone access?
Mobile dating will succeed when people figure out that it's not only about browsing, it's about listening to audio profiles. Entice people to leave audio profiles and I think you've got something worthwhile. I can listen to them while driving, commuting, waiting for dentist or hanging out in a cafe.
The problem is that not many sites offer audio profiles or blogs and consumers have expressed low interest, as seen by Match's failed audio introductions. Match failed because they have not been successful at market their own services to existing members. The wholesale moving of people over to Chemistry may prove me wrong, and good for them if they do.
Do you really think it will pull the dating industry out of it's current slack tide?
Technorati Tags: enpocket, mobile+dating
Comments (3)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Mobile
March 16, 2006
Posted by Dave Evans
Realtors are showing my building right now so I had to evacuate for a few hours to avoid the disruption. I'm at Starbucks, $10 for a day of wifi. Right about now I'd like to be working and listening to profiles on my Nano, which I forgot to bring so I am dealing with what they call adult contemporary.
I've got my Powerbook here, but what if I had left it at home and brought along my iPod? How would I remember or rate people I've listened to while I'm jogging, walking or sipping a latte? I see at PodDater that you can rate people on the site, but what about when you're untethered?
Answer: use the song rating feature on iPods. I don't have a video iPod but I bet the feature exists for videos too. This feature is usually accessible via the scroll wheel, much like the volume control.
Rate a bunch of people and when you return, sync up with Itunes, which should upload the ratings to PodDater.
I like walks in the rain, 2 Stars, I have 9 cats, 1 Star, I love my Powerbook, 4 Stars, my friends call me quirkydelicious, 5 Stars.
I have no idea of PodDater is thinking about this, if they use it, just put $25 on my Starbucks card as a token of appreciation.
Technorati Tags: starbucks, poddater
Comments (2)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Mobile | innovation
December 21, 2005
Posted by Dave Evans
Jon on the PodDater blog sez:
You will be able to conduct a search and subscribe to those search preferences. The results will be delivered to your iTunes application or an RSS reader.
Video profiles downloaded overnight, ready for watching during your commute or downtime throughout the day, or just watch them in iTunes at your desk. I'm warming up to this idea more and more since I've been watching video blogs like Rocketboom. Recently I purchased a 24" Dell LCD monitor and I would much rather skim videos on that than a tiny screen but that's just me.
How long until video profiles come back into popularity? I would like someone from Match to explain why they were taken down in the first place. I've always thought it was because having customer service reps reviews thousands of videos for trademark infringement and pr0n was too resource intensive.
Yahoo still has their videos up, in fact I just took mine down it was terrible and I don't even remember putting it up there. People have been watching that for a year, ugh.
[tags: poddater]
Comments (0)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Mobile
December 20, 2005
Posted by Dave Evans
Jon on the PodDater blog sez:
You will be able to conduct a search and subscribe to those search preferences. The results will be delivered to your iTunes application or an RSS reader.
Video profiles downloaded overnight, ready for watching during your commute or downtime throughout the day, or just watch them in iTunes at your desk. I'm warming up to this idea more and more since I've been watching video blogs like Rocketboom. Recently I purchased a 24" Dell LCD monitor and I would much rather skim videos on that than a tiny screen but that's just me.
How long until video profiles come back into popularity? I would like someone from Match to explain why they were taken down in the first place. I've always thought it was because having customer service reps reviews thousands of videos for trademark infringement and pr0n was too resource intensive.
Yahoo still has their videos up, in fact I just took mine down it was terrible and I don't even remember putting it up there. People have been watching that for a year, ugh.
[tags: poddater]
Comments (0)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Mobile
September 27, 2005
Posted by Dave Evans
Today I spent some time revising the Tools & Services section. Several companies, most notably Gnumber, seem to have shifted focus from the dating space to other verticals. Their DateNumber service doesn't seem to be on the web anymore, unless Google is missing something. Interestingly enough, Gnumber has relaunched as UnWired Buyer in the hopes that bidding on eBay from your mobile phone will take off.
[tags: gnumber]
Comments (0)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Mobile
September 26, 2005
Posted by Dave Evans
This looks interesting, but it only runs on Series 60 Symbian phones.
True Blue Loveis a mobile phone social networking experience, designed to explore the politics behind intimate phone-based relations. Designed as a program for mobile phones; each participant enters into the program the characteristics of their ideal sexual mate, chosen from a series of preset selections. While the program is running, every time another phone comes within range, a love metric is calculated which is a representation of how close the incoming person matches the participant's ideal mate. If the match is close, the phone will emit a raucous mating call that will be unique to that participant. The concept behind the triggered mating calls is to attempt to undermine the silent technology of messaging and email with vocal communication that expresses the user's desires through a public broadcast, a broadcast that harks back to more primitive exchanges. The ridiculous sounds should function as social ice-breakers, and the unwilling couple may want to discuss what it is that they have in common that triggered the noise.
[tags: Symbian, TrueBlueLove]
Comments (0)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Mobile
August 12, 2005
Posted by Dave Evans
From AP wire story via the esteemed BoingBoing. Gender-segregated Saudi youths are using bluetooth technology in mobile phones to communicate and connect with the opposite sex. It is replacing a favorite method of flirting: throwing phone numbers at women through car windows or in shopping malls.
[tags: bluetooth]
Comments (0)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Mobile
July 27, 2005
Posted by Dave Evans
Last week BBC1 linked singles with scientists for one-to-one consultations via 3G (think third-generation, fast video) mobile phone services.
From the sounds of a leading 3G analyst in the UK, using video calls to give practical advice to the public on how to succeed in the dating game is going to be the leading 3G application in the UK.
The 3G Dating Agency Limited, is supposedly the worlds first and largest provider of mobile video dating opportunities. Wrong on both counts, but hey this is a press release, where reality rarely coincides with the myopic visions of marketing departments.
Using mobile phones as alternative access to dating sites will be big business in the US someday, right now it's a $2.5 million dollar market, which is about what I think I spend on dating site subscriptions each year. Tiny market.
Replicating generic dating sites on mobile phones is a colossal waste of time for all parties involved. New features and services will be required to leverage the GPS and location-based features of the new crop of mobile phones. That's the only way they are going to achieve critical mass. Without it, nobody is going to use the services.
Why do you think Google bought Dodgeball? Google could become a big player in the dating space if they add dating profiles and features to the existing Dodgeball service.
Interstitial time is good for messing around on your cell phone and checking out profiles is one option, but who's going to pay for that? So far, not many people. Why pay to look at a tiny screen when you can wait a few hours and look at it back home or at the office on a large monitor?
Serious daters will pay for mobile access to profiles. Serious daters are usually in the 30-50 year old crowd.
How much interstitial time does a 45 year old woman have? Is she going to use her phone to check out pictures of men on the internet during the few minutes the kids are at soccer practice or she is waiting for her plane? I don't think so. Men will pay to look at pr0n on their phones, but not women's profiles.
If Myspace goes mobile, and you can download blogs and band MP3's, that will take off like a rocket. The merging of phones and MP3 players will drive this market. dating sites don't get anything out of the convergence.
If Trilibis or Enpocket get that deal they will be in a great position to lead the mobile content market.
[tags: mobile dating]
Comments (2)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Mobile
July 26, 2005
Posted by Dave Evans
Attendance was around 150 people. Everyone in the mobile business spoke about how weak the market was. It seemed that they were either trying to keep people out of the business or perhaps they were telling the truth and it really is small. Several people have mentioned that the mobile dating is currently a $2.5M business per year.
[tags: idate, mobile]
Comments (0)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Mobile | conferences
July 8, 2005
Posted by Dave Evans
Last night I found a website called Don't Click It where visitors do not have to click anything to navigate and operate the site. Once you get used to not clicking things, it becomes fairly natural and makes you wonder why we've been clicking all these years.
I use Spotlight on my Mac many times a day. Very rarely do I ever go into the Finder or Windows Explorer to locate a file or program. Start typing the first few characters of the file and pop, there it is right in front of you. Computing and communication is slowing moving away from the hunt-click way of computing and towards gestures and predictive actions.
This morning, I came across something called The Social Fabric. It's a thesis centered on using avatars, predictive menus and pen-based computing to manage your social network. Ok, I just made up predictive menus, but it makes sense that menus should morph to address the context of whatever you're doing at the moment.
Selections are accomplished with circling, or grouping motions around a cluster of avatars representing your friends. Action are chosen through simple, functional menu selections. Inviting a group of friends to a concert, for example, is done in about 10 seconds.
A lot of online dating is managing your emerging and existing relationships, which is why I thought it was appropriate to mention here. If you haven't emailed back someone who wants to go on a date, their avatar slumps over and looks dejected. Healthy relationships are displayed with an avatar standing straight up, looking directly at you. You have to see it, go check out the site and the videos.
Some may argue that it's expensive (computationally, mental retraining) eye candy. This new paradigm of communicating may not seem like a vast improvement over the traditional dating site search-select-communicate model, but it's a step in a new direction worth exploring, at least to come up with ideas for your next site redesign.
Technorati Tags: user interface
Comments (0)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Mobile | Technology
May 26, 2005
Posted by Dave Evans
Mark Brooks notes that a safety expert is urging consumer to use a new phone service, MyPrivateLine.com, that provides a safe, private way to receive phone calls while protecting the identity of your real phone number. The press release says that the newest online directories include cell phone numbers, not just landlines. Can anyone verify this with an example?
FUD stands for Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt, which is how these companies make their bank.
Mark neglected to mention that while calls are $.15 cents per minute, calls to check voice mail are also billed at 10¢ (US$) per minute. I can imagine MyPrivateLine customer service reps using a free VOIP system to leave messages in unsuspecting customer's voicemail boxes, forcing them to spend a buck a pop to answer spam voicemail. That's a nice little side business, like the people who are hired to click on Eharmony Google ad links all day for cash.
More competition for G*Number. They came out of the gate a few months ago but all has been quiet since then. I liked that messages came into you email box as MP3 files, no charge to retrieve messages. Plus, and this is my own idea, you could create an RSS enclosure and subscribe to you calls in iTunes just like I subscribe to my "dating feed" from Consumating in Bloglines. I'm scraping all my Yahoo and Match emails and search results into RSS as well. Why wait for them when we can do it today. Someone go make this a standalone service please, I don't have the time.
Lest you forget, or learn for the first time, Skype is free and can be anonymized for free, rendering these services less useful. With Gmails aliasing feature it would be very difficult to trace anyone, including terrorists. The government/FCC will step in soon enough and regulate this type of communication. Some sort of online dating Patriot Act sponsored by True perhaps?
Comments (3)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Mobile
May 12, 2005
Posted by Dave Evans
Congratulations to the dodgeball team. Now they have the resources and support of Google to help them bring it to the next level. Corante ran a profile of dodgeball.com in our Future of Wireless series where you can read about this fascinating service.
Corante coverage of Dodgeball dating back to 2003. More details of the deal at dodgeball.com.
Comments (3)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Mobile
March 21, 2005
Posted by Dave Evans
Enpocket has aunched a complete service that opens up new revenue streams for brands and enables their customers to chat, flirt and make new friends using SMS / text messaging.
The premium SMS solution is the latest extension of Eden (the Enpocket Dating Engine) and provides all that is needed for a rapid roll out:
- SMS short codes
- Brand names and logos
- Mobile operator connectivity & billing
- Customer support
- Advertising production across media channels
- Moderation tool for content control
Mike Baker, President and COO, Enpocket:
Enpocket has built a track record of providing the most advanced and widely deployed mobile dating services on operator portals across the globe. With the release of the premium SMS version of Eden, we’re enabling our media partners to leverage their own media assets and audience to drive immediate revenues from mobile content services.
Enpocket has already successfully set up mobile dating services and brands for customers such as Match.com (US), Time Out Dating (UK), MyCupid (Australia, Philippines and Thailand), Trak Ur Mate (India), and Busca Citas (Spain).
Press release.
Comments (0)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Mobile
March 16, 2005
Posted by Dave Evans
Enpocket, the global mobile media company, has announced the release of Enpocket Java Engine 2.0, a tool that facilitates the rapid development of customised Java applications that reside permanently on the mobile phone.
The Java Engine integrates with the Enpocket Marketing Engine, the world's most widely used mobile marketing software, to allow targeted Java content and relevant marketing to be transmitted to individual handsets. The Enpocket Java Engine 2.0 is ready for MIDP 2.0 and 1.0, providing stronger security features and allowing for updates to an application's core menu structure over the air.
The Java Engine adds to Enpocket's suite of products that enable brands to build deeper relationships with the consumer using the mobile channel. Other products include Eden (the Enpocket Dating Engine), a white label chat and dating application deployed across more than 13 countries under different brand names, and Enpocket mBlog Engine, a mobile blogging application, deployed across operators in Europe and Asia, that allows users to post pictures, video and text to both mobile and online blogs.
Press Release.
Comments (0)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Mobile
February 24, 2005
Posted by Dave Evans
New Media Knowledge had an evening roundtable, an overview of which is here. Interesting stats on MatchMobile American mobile phone usage.
Peter Larsen – CEO, Enpocket:
In his talk on ‘Mobile Communities – The new Blogosphere’ Larsen outlined how mblogging adds mobility and the ability to contribute pictures – posting them to a WAP site or a website. Social interaction was the first reason for the mobile phone; personal expression was the second reason, but it’s now closing in on the first he said, especially with the proliferation of ringtones. Hence what powers the mobile phone is a nexus of personal expression and social interaction and mblogging has now taken off, particularly with the addition of picture content.
Enpocket runs one the larger mobile dating applications in the world, a major client being Match.com. The first thing they did was add location – you can say if you want to search for a person anywhere or in a particular place. Most traffic happens across borders. People in the States tend top use the local option, but people in South East Asia prefer to look for people in other countries in the region. Significantly, there is 60% more interaction regarding people who add their photos. Adding the mblogging function to dating it makes it much more likely you will change and expand your profile information.
Mblogging by itself is not very interesting but as a social application it’s much more interesting. Are mbloggers the same demographic as the web? His mantra had been that dating on the mobile should match / compliment any activity on the web, but it has emerged that Match.com users are older and more suburban, whereas Match Mobile users are urban, younger, of a lower socio-economic base, and (in the US) more from the immigrant population, with Match Mobile growing at a rate of 15% per month.
It’s clear why personal expression is such rich territory – spending $4 on a ring tone is nothing compared to a haircut, a designer jacket, trainers, a mobile phone or a car. The most favoured mobile content applications, according to recent Enpocket research in the UK:
Sharing pictures with friends and family7 – 46%
Making / receiving video calls – 36%
Downloading songs 0- 23%
Video clip of sports highlights – 20%
Text flirting / dating – 16%
Watching movie trailers – 12%
Help in managing a diet – 11%
Celeb news / gossip – 9%
Comments (1)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Mobile
February 22, 2005
Posted by Dave Evans
I recently received an invitation from a friend to join the SMS.ac mobile phone text messaging service. My friend said he never knowingly invited me, and digging around I see that blogger Joi Ito is being potentially sued for calling the SMS "address book synchronization" feature spam after they contacted all the people in his hotmail address-book.
If you are going to introduce a viral component to your marketing initiatives, take the time to test it out and get feedback from on lots of people (novice and expert internet users alike) before rolling it out to customers. I receive roughly 15 emails per week from 4 or 5 dating sites, and that's just too much email. Giving people a compelling reason to visit a service is one thing, badgering with free trials and fake looking models week after week is another. It makes you look desperate and unprofessional. At some point, you lost me as a potential paying customer. Why not ask me why I keep deleting your emails instead of continuing to send them? Email is cheap and easy, but a successful marketing campaign usually isn't.
Comments (2)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Marketing | Mobile
February 10, 2005
Posted by Dave Evans
From Textually.org (thanks Mike!):
Proxidating is a totally new way for single people to meet up instantly. All you need to do is install Proxidating on your mobile phone, create your profile, enable Bluetooth and wait for your dream date to appear… Whenever you come within about 15m of a person with a matching profile your phone will alert you ! Only people with matching profiles will be linked via their phones. Proxidating automatically sends the text and image that you have defined to your potential date. In the same way, you will receive text and image from the matched partners phone… then its up to you !
It's going to take a while for people to get comfortable with being pinged by nearby singles. I can't wait to try these types of services. Imagine your profile flying through the air, searching for other compatible singles, 24 hours a day. The Bluetooth hackers are going to have a field day with this.
Comments (2)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Mobile
February 8, 2005
Posted by Dave Evans
In time for Valentine's Day, Sprint has launched two mobile data services for its PCS Vision customer base. SMS.ac allows users to flirt for 25 cents per text message and Match.com Mobile gives users the chance to browse potential mates for free, but actually contacting someone costs $4.99 a month.
Soon, Sprint will offer mobile access to LavaLife Mobile. Match Mobile is enticing new users by giving away a $2,500 cruise and five crystal-covered phones.
It's still very early in the mobile dating game, it will be interesting to see the adoption rate of these types of services. The pricing plans make my head spin. Here are all the prices peppered throughoutthe press release:
$0.25 per text message sent and received
$0.25 per message received
$.25 per text message received
$4.99 a month for unlimited usage
$0.79 per minute plus airtime
$0.50 per message
$4.99 per month
$.002 per kilobyte (quick, what's a kilobyte)
I enjoy playing around with my mobile phone, checking out mobile instant messengers, web browsing on the tiny screen, all the while fretting over how much it's all costing me. I'm a firm believer that location-based services and mobile communities based on sex, boredom and information retrieval will lead the revenue generation categories, especially in urban areas. At this point, the adoption rate for these types of services remains small and the novelty factor is high.
Comments (0)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Mobile
January 25, 2005
Posted by Dave Evans
I met with WebDate last week before iDate and had a great conversation with CEO Abe Smilowitz. They have cool offices in South Beach, restaurant downstairs and a recording studio. Talk about synergy.
The big news is that WebDate will be switching from a free to a paying model soon. From our conversation and this Miami Herald article, 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.
I don't believe for a second that they will get anywhere near a 50% take rate for the service unless they seriously sweeten the deal for subscribers. They do have things brewing behind the scenes that I can't talk about to address this issue.
WebDate announced last week that 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. The functionality was developed by Trilibis. nce its launch in December, some 40,000 users have subscribed to the mobile service at $2.99 per month. I've seen it in action and it's pretty slick. Much better user experience than MatchMobile.
Comments (0)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Dating Site | Mobile
December 9, 2004
Posted by Dave Evans
Signaling its rapid expansion into the American mobile service marketplace, g8wave (pronounced “gatewave”) has teamed up with m-Qube to launch txt2flrt, a premium billed text messaging service in conjunction with its U.S. media affiliates, including about eighty of the hundred largest daily newspapers in the country.
g8wave is a subsidiary of the People2People Group, the world's largest provider of voice and online “personals” ad services to media companies. txt2flrt was developed and launched by g8wve's London division in 2001 where there are currently over 160,000 unique users exchanging over 75 million messages annually.
Monte Burris, g8wave Director of Business Development:
We are extremely pleased to announce the launch of txt2flrt—the first of many of our proprietary mobile applications- as this represents an important, and dynamic entry point into the American mobile market for us. Our reach is extended across print, radio, web and now the massive mobile arena---all in a powerful, converged media environment. m-Qube offers a best-in-class solution—a single entry point through which to implement these programs across virtually all handset types, applications and U.S. and Canadian carrier networks. The company's deep integration with carrier transport and billing systems provides us with a robust infrastructure to bring our services to market.
Link
Comments (0)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Mobile
December 7, 2004
Posted by Dave Evans
Enpocket, a global mobile media company, and Verizon Wireless, the nation's leading wireless carrier, today announced the availability of four new applications on the Verizon Wireless Mobile Web 2.0(SM)service - Time Out City Guides, StarTrak Astrology, Feng Shui and Oz Clarke's Wine Guide.
Announcement is not dating related, but Ted Verani @ Enpocket spoke at SITRACon II about online dating apps along with Alex Panelli of Trilibis and Greg Wilfahrt at SMS.ac. Keep an eye on these guys, there some cool location-based and community focused services coming soon.
Comments (0)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Mobile
Posted by Dave Evans
Moderator: John Styers, Dir. Data services- Sprint PCS
Panel members:
Alex Panelli, CEO - Trilibis
Ted Ceranu, VP - Enpocket
Greg Wilfahrt, EVP - SMS.ac
SMS.ac is community based. Trilibis and Enpocket are dating apps.
Enpocket created Match Mobile
2001 - 30k text messages per month.
June 2004 - 3 billion per month.
Alex Panelli - "Barrier to entry is high." He's right, dealing with multitudes of phones, carriers and technologies makes getting into the game a daunting proposition. Alex gets lots of unsolicited VC inquires. We have a deal with BeliefNet mobile. "Stay connected to communities of choice. We're ready for E911." Alex knows the technology, needs feedback from partners and users.
Ted said that Match Mobile is separate from Match.com. Different databases, which was a technology limitation. I hear 100k profiles.
LBS- Location-based services are where it's going to be at. I've tried Dodgeball, but there's only a handfull of Boston-area users so I can't say much about it.
Enpocket has services in India, "Track your Mate."
Handset and network advances leading to anonymous voice chat.
Everyone mentioned JamNet, who IPO'd 3 months ago. Already they're at a $500 million market cap with $15 million in revenues.
Greg - Suite of mobility products. Consumers, much less of a headache than his last gig at MP3.com.
SMS clubs - 1M members join a month. Romania has 18,000 people in the "Fans of Vanilla Ice" club.
Dating services should use mobility as a product differentiator.
John- 20% of Sprint PCS revenue is from mobile services.
Now is the time to get your mobile dating initiatives started, it's a year from brainstorm to deployment. Lot's of interesting applications are around the corner.
Pricing packages need fine tuning.
DRM (digital rights management) issues.
Don't build on expectations of increased speed.
Imode launched in Germany, a failure, only 3M subscribers.
When I asked how value-added services would be able to access the dating site members using their services and how a soup-to-nuts application could be developed, all I heard was "we can do that for you." SMS.ac has free community setup, which would be an easy way to get your feet wet.
Key a-ha moments.
Greg - Make sure you're not chasing the content. Wrap mobile initiative around community-driven content.
john - Killer app is communicating, not silos of content.
Ted - There are more mobile phones than PC's.
Alex - Fragmentation happening, new phones, carriers, etc, take advantage of market shifts.
Most interesting apps:
ted- TV on phone.Ted was as vodaphone. Demoes video stream on his phone.
Alex- Nextel turn By turn Directions. buletooth apps.
Closed API is problem,
Social Light company?
Alternative to on-board GPS.
Billing - 1% of world has credit cards. Everyone has acccess to micro-billing via pre-paid cards or carrier billing systems.
Comments (0)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Dating Events | Mobile
December 5, 2004
Posted by Dave Evans
A reader alerted me to the fact that video dating on mobile phones is already in play in the UK.
From Springwise:
Mobile device-centered dating services, have been around in Japan for more than 3 years – all of the major Japanese mobile service providers have branded dating sites, and they actually outrank online dating sites in popularity. Recently Europe and North America have begun to jump into the mobile dating scene, and consumer response is promising.
The 3G Dating Agency, launched as a trial this year, offers members the chance to send in clips they have recorded on their mobiles and browse other members clips. It then arranges video dates for those who express interest in each other. The 3G Dating Agency is a Samsung UK-affiliated service
Edward Brewster, of 3, says in the Telegraph:
"3G video technology will revolutionise the dating game. Not only do you get to see whether a potential date takes your fancy, you also get to check out their personality. "The response to our trial has been phenomenal. It has been so good that we are planning to launch a commercial dating service on 3 in the near future."
Comments (0)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Mobile
June 29, 2004
Posted by Dave Evans
PR Newswire reports that Cingular announced partnerships with major content providers including Match.com. Deja vu, it seems, the original press release was dated February 10 and can be found here.
"MatchMobile's cross-carrier service provides Cingular customers the ability to connect with other Cingular members as well as members of other carriers providing the service. With MatchMobile's wireless matching and communication capabilities, Cingular customers can view profiles and photos of MatchMobile members directly on their mobile phone display screen and connect with potential dates in their area, conveniently and anonymously. In a recent survey, most singles (56 percent) believe that using their mobile phone to search for dates and flirt via text messaging will make dating more convenient."
Comments (0)
| Category: Mobile
Posted by Dave Evans
July WIRED has an interview with Trip Hawkins, founder of Electronic Arts, one-time Apple flack and founder of 3DO. Trip talks about mobile phone gaming, then let's us know he is thinking about developing a location-based dating service running on mobile phones. He thinks location based-dating will be huge. We agree.
Comments (0)
| Category: Mobile
|
|
