Engage.com on CupidCast Radio

Engage.com on CupidCast Radio
It's Thursday, which means we're taping another episode of Cupidcast. Tonight the CEO Series continues with Suneet Wadhwa, founder and CEO of Engage. Darwin and I sit down with Suneet to talk about online dating, Engage's approach and what advantages daters have mixing it up on Engage. I'm excited to announce that Trish McDermott, VP of Love, […]

It's Thursday, which means we're taping another episode of Cupidcast.

Tonight the CEO Series continues with Suneet Wadhwa, founder and CEO of Engage. Darwin and I sit down with Suneet to talk about online dating, Engage's approach and what advantages daters have mixing it up on Engage.

I'm excited to announce that Trish McDermott, VP of Love, Engage.com, is going to join the conversation. Trish started working for Match.com in 1994, where she was the VP of Romance at Match for a decade.

You can learn more about the show by reading the Cupidcast.tv launch announcement.

Show starts at 7pm EST, details about listening in and how to participate at CupidCast.tv.

Maybe I'll turn on my webcam tonight and give people a glimpse at Online Dating Post World Headquarters.

Source: feeds.feedburner.com

Spark Networks 1Q 2008 Financial Results
SPARK NETWORKS REPORTS FIRST QUARTER 2008 FINANCIAL RESULTS So much for Mark Brooks saying niche sites are growing more than mainstream dating sites, Yes I am green with envy of his TechCrunch connection. I have a lot to say about the post, which will have to wait. Onward to Spark, let's dig into the details in […]

SPARK NETWORKS REPORTS FIRST QUARTER 2008 FINANCIAL RESULTS

So much for Mark Brooks saying niche sites are growing more than mainstream dating sites, Yes I am green with envy of his TechCrunch connection. I have a lot to say about the post, which will have to wait.

Onward to Spark, let's dig into the details in the comments, I have to get ready for the radio show.

Spark lost 36,000 customers and these numbers are negative overall. I'm surprised they couldn't do a better job converting the unsubs over to other Spark properties.

Everyone knows that Spark is on the block and a lot of people have seen the dealbook. Spark continues the equivalent of spring training to lose the pounds they gained over the winter. Stock buybacks, cutting costs, moving CPA spend to more profitable marquee properties, etc.

"JDate.com grew for the third straight quarter following last year’s price increase and we continued JDate’s international expansion with the launch of JDate.co.uk for the United Kingdom. In addition, we accelerated our ad sales initiative, increasing advertising revenue 30% over the prior quarter."

Not stellar growth, making up for less members with increased prices, sounds like Match.com. That is not a sustainable model and I am surprised the competition (including lots of ex-JDate employees!) have not been able to siphon off at least 20% of JDate's subscribers.

Spark revenue down 11% to $15 million.

Operating expenses down 27%.

Net income for the first quarter of 2008 was $1.6 million, or $0.06 per share, compared to a net loss of $1.4 million, or $(0.04) per share, for the first quarter of 2007.

Average paying subscribers (3) for the Company, as a whole, in the first quarter of 2008 were 195,325, a decrease of 16% compared to 231,313 for the first quarter of 2007, and a decrease of 3% compared to 200,850 for the fourth quarter of 2007.

I bet this maps out to less marketing spend on American Singles.

Average paying subscribers for Jewish Networks were 93,411 during the first quarter of 2008, a decrease of 4% compared to 97,124 for the first quarter of 2007, and a decrease of 1% compared to 94,595 in the prior quarter.

Average paying subscribers for General Market Networks were 37,740 during the first quarter of 2008, a decrease of 49% compared to 73,485 for the first quarter of 2007, and a decrease of 10% compared to 41,763 in the prior quarter.

More to come after we all have some time to digest the data.

Source: feeds.feedburner.com

MySpace Charging For Featured Applications
According to Socialtimes, Myspace is charging developers $50-$100k to show up as a featured application on the MySpace Apps page for one week. At the moment, Slide has purchased all four featured application slots. MySpace has a new application platform with a SINGLE application with more than one million installs. The next is 600k and then […]

According to Socialtimes, Myspace is charging developers $50-$100k to show up as a featured application on the MySpace Apps page for one week. At the moment, Slide has purchased all four featured application slots.

MySpace has a new application platform with a SINGLE application with more than one million installs. The next is 600k and then it's down to majority having far less than 100k installs. I'd love to hear the justification from Myspace on this. They are taking the short money and screwing over the entire developer community. Nice move.

The only companies that can afford that kind of fee are big-ticket promotions for movies, games and of course established application developers like Slide. This must be frustrating for smaller developers getting left out in the cold.

If bigger apps make $100-$400k per quarter, are they going to spend $50k/week in the hopes that their traffic will go up enough to justify being a featured application? All of a sudden the free/viral nature of applications is thrown out of whack because Myspace got greedy too soon.

Why even bother creating apps for Myspace when all the action is on other social nets?

Source: feeds.feedburner.com

Facebook Thinks I’m Gay
Great, now Facebook thinks I'm gay. Sure, I have metro-sexual tendencies (skin and hair products, expensive jeans), but how could they screw that up? Hopefully it's a short-term bug. Is there any way that this mis-identification can be seen or propagate into my news feed or other applications?That would be a problem, to put it […]

Great, now Facebook thinks I'm gay. Sure, I have metro-sexual tendencies (skin and hair products, expensive jeans), but how could they screw that up? Hopefully it's a short-term bug. Is there any way that this mis-identification can be seen or propagate into my news feed or other applications?That would be a problem, to put it lightly.

I hit Facebook about 10 times a day and all I ever see are dating ads. Perhaps I should change my status to in a relationship and see what ads I get. First I'll have to hide the update from everyone or risk upsetting a few people and dealing with lots of questions.

Advertising inventory on Facebook is pathetic. Can't they get a few major brands on board? Maybe I'm not seeing the same ads as you are. The More Ads link show mostly dating ads, some local and of course the ubiquitous "Win an iPod" ads. Interesting, when I reload More Ads, I see a bunch that aren't related to dating which I never see otherwise.

On the applications, side, the story is the same. Everyone is rushing to be the biggest and baddest ad platform on Facebook. To succeed you need to show me something new, like compelling and relevant content that engages me. Facebook advertisers and ad networks, you're not even coming close to providing a quality experience. Please keep trying.

Unfortunately the more interesting ad action is embedded in applications, which is a shame, because I spend a lot more time outside of apps than inside them.

Sad thing is these companies will continue to shovel un-targeted crap at us and still manage to get sold for millions. Nobody said success on the Internet had to be even remotely related to quality.

Source: feeds.feedburner.com

Engage.com on CupidCast Radio
It's Thursday, which means we're taping another episode of Cupidcast. Tonight the CEO Series continues with Suneet Wadhwa, founder and CEO of Engage. Darwin and I sit down with Suneet to talk about online dating, Engage's approach and what advantages daters have mixing it up on Engage. I'm excited to announce that Trish McDermott, VP of Love, […]

It's Thursday, which means we're taping another episode of Cupidcast.

Tonight the CEO Series continues with Suneet Wadhwa, founder and CEO of Engage. Darwin and I sit down with Suneet to talk about online dating, Engage's approach and what advantages daters have mixing it up on Engage.

I'm excited to announce that Trish McDermott, VP of Love, Engage.com, is going to join the conversation. Trish started working for Match.com in 1994, where she was the VP of Romance at Match for a decade.

You can learn more about the show by reading the Cupidcast.tv launch announcement.

Show starts at 7pm EST, details about listening in and how to participate at CupidCast.tv.

Maybe I'll turn on my webcam tonight and give people a glimpse at Online Dating Post World Headquarters.

Source: feeds.feedburner.com

Spark Networks 1Q 2008 Financial Results
SPARK NETWORKS REPORTS FIRST QUARTER 2008 FINANCIAL RESULTS So much for Mark Brooks saying niche sites are growing more than mainstream dating sites, Yes I am green with envy of his TechCrunch connection. I have a lot to say about the post, which will have to wait. Onward to Spark, let's dig into the details in […]

SPARK NETWORKS REPORTS FIRST QUARTER 2008 FINANCIAL RESULTS

So much for Mark Brooks saying niche sites are growing more than mainstream dating sites, Yes I am green with envy of his TechCrunch connection. I have a lot to say about the post, which will have to wait.

Onward to Spark, let's dig into the details in the comments, I have to get ready for the radio show.

Spark lost 36,000 customers and these numbers are negative overall. I'm surprised they couldn't do a better job converting the unsubs over to other Spark properties.

Everyone knows that Spark is on the block and a lot of people have seen the dealbook. Spark continues the equivalent of spring training to lose the pounds they gained over the winter. Stock buybacks, cutting costs, moving CPA spend to more profitable marquee properties, etc.

"JDate.com grew for the third straight quarter following last year’s price increase and we continued JDate’s international expansion with the launch of JDate.co.uk for the United Kingdom. In addition, we accelerated our ad sales initiative, increasing advertising revenue 30% over the prior quarter."

Not stellar growth, making up for less members with increased prices, sounds like Match.com. That is not a sustainable model and I am surprised the competition (including lots of ex-JDate employees!) have not been able to siphon off at least 20% of JDate's subscribers.

Spark revenue down 11% to $15 million.

Operating expenses down 27%.

Net income for the first quarter of 2008 was $1.6 million, or $0.06 per share, compared to a net loss of $1.4 million, or $(0.04) per share, for the first quarter of 2007.

Average paying subscribers (3) for the Company, as a whole, in the first quarter of 2008 were 195,325, a decrease of 16% compared to 231,313 for the first quarter of 2007, and a decrease of 3% compared to 200,850 for the fourth quarter of 2007.

I bet this maps out to less marketing spend on American Singles.

Average paying subscribers for Jewish Networks were 93,411 during the first quarter of 2008, a decrease of 4% compared to 97,124 for the first quarter of 2007, and a decrease of 1% compared to 94,595 in the prior quarter.

Average paying subscribers for General Market Networks were 37,740 during the first quarter of 2008, a decrease of 49% compared to 73,485 for the first quarter of 2007, and a decrease of 10% compared to 41,763 in the prior quarter.

More to come after we all have some time to digest the data.

Source: feeds.feedburner.com

MySpace Charging For Featured Applications
According to Socialtimes, Myspace is charging developers $50-$100k to show up as a featured application on the MySpace Apps page for one week. At the moment, Slide has purchased all four featured application slots. MySpace has a new application platform with a SINGLE application with more than one million installs. The next is 600k and then […]

According to Socialtimes, Myspace is charging developers $50-$100k to show up as a featured application on the MySpace Apps page for one week. At the moment, Slide has purchased all four featured application slots.

MySpace has a new application platform with a SINGLE application with more than one million installs. The next is 600k and then it's down to majority having far less than 100k installs. I'd love to hear the justification from Myspace on this. They are taking the short money and screwing over the entire developer community. Nice move.

The only companies that can afford that kind of fee are big-ticket promotions for movies, games and of course established application developers like Slide. This must be frustrating for smaller developers getting left out in the cold.

If bigger apps make $100-$400k per quarter, are they going to spend $50k/week in the hopes that their traffic will go up enough to justify being a featured application? All of a sudden the free/viral nature of applications is thrown out of whack because Myspace got greedy too soon.

Why even bother creating apps for Myspace when all the action is on other social nets?

Source: feeds.feedburner.com

Facebook Thinks I’m Gay
Great, now Facebook thinks I'm gay. Sure, I have metro-sexual tendencies (skin and hair products, expensive jeans), but how could they screw that up? Hopefully it's a short-term bug. Is there any way that this mis-identification can be seen or propagate into my news feed or other applications?That would be a problem, to put it […]

Great, now Facebook thinks I'm gay. Sure, I have metro-sexual tendencies (skin and hair products, expensive jeans), but how could they screw that up? Hopefully it's a short-term bug. Is there any way that this mis-identification can be seen or propagate into my news feed or other applications?That would be a problem, to put it lightly.

I hit Facebook about 10 times a day and all I ever see are dating ads. Perhaps I should change my status to in a relationship and see what ads I get. First I'll have to hide the update from everyone or risk upsetting a few people and dealing with lots of questions.

Advertising inventory on Facebook is pathetic. Can't they get a few major brands on board? Maybe I'm not seeing the same ads as you are. The More Ads link show mostly dating ads, some local and of course the ubiquitous "Win an iPod" ads. Interesting, when I reload More Ads, I see a bunch that aren't related to dating which I never see otherwise.

On the applications, side, the story is the same. Everyone is rushing to be the biggest and baddest ad platform on Facebook. To succeed you need to show me something new, like compelling and relevant content that engages me. Facebook advertisers and ad networks, you're not even coming close to providing a quality experience. Please keep trying.

Unfortunately the more interesting ad action is embedded in applications, which is a shame, because I spend a lot more time outside of apps than inside them.

Sad thing is these companies will continue to shovel un-targeted crap at us and still manage to get sold for millions. Nobody said success on the Internet had to be even remotely related to quality.

Source: feeds.feedburner.com