In a move that has surprised very few people in the online dating world, Yahoo Personals has admitted defeat and given up on running its own dating service online. After being one of the earliest online dating providers, Yahoo led the marketplace for a long time but over the last few years has had a huge amount of trouble competing with its larger competitors such as eHarmony.com and Match.com.

And so it’s goodbye to Yahoo Personals and hello to Match.com. The larger and more popular Match.com will absorb Yahoo Personals members and transfer their accounts to their service. Yahoo isn’t getting out of the online dating business entirely, though; they will still earn commissions from signing up new Match.com members via Yahoo channels.

What does this mean for singles? For the most part it should only affect those who are Yahoo Personals members, but not necessarily in a negative way. They will transition to Match.com and be able to take advantage of that site’s features and benefits. Some experts who watch the online dating marketplace think the loss of Yahoo Personals is a sign that only the very big will survive long term, but most others think it is not that dire of a situation. The reality is that there is still going to be plenty of opportunity on the web for other online dating sites to launch and prosper, especially those that focus on niche categories with highly specialized services.

So goodbye, Yahoo Personals, it was nice knowing you!

News & Views Match.com, Yahoo

If you use Yahoo Personals, you’re in for a great surprise. Effective immediately, Yahoo Personals is now powered by Match.com. The name has even been changed to Match.com on Yahoo. You can migrate your Yahoo Personals account over immediately, or wait a while, but why wait? Match.com is one of the leading online dating services, and Yahoo customers are getting more bang for their buck by going to Match.com.

By bringing Yahoo Personals into Match.com, both sets of customers immediately have access to thousands more matches. And, now, Yahoo customers will have the benefit of Match.com’s unparalleled matching system, so the matches you do receive should be even better suited to you.
Yahoo has truly been an online leader since they began providing web services in 1994. This company that began as a hobby for two buddies has grown into one of the most recognized names on the web. In fact, more people call Yahoo home (for their home page) than any other page on the web. Yahoo’s goal has always been to satisfy their customers with the best services and to make their site “one stop shopping” for all their online needs, including searching the web, reading the news, playing games, shopping, finding a job and access to emails.

With this partnership, Yahoo is providing their customers with access to the very best the web has to offer in dating, right from the Yahoo site. Yahoo Personals customers are getting the best of both worlds; access to the leading online dating site, but through tried and true Yahoo.
Match.com has been on the web since 1995, and has helped thousands of couples meet and fall in love. They offer dating sites in 25 countries and eight languages across five continents.

For Yahoo customers, the switch will be seamless. After the two month transition period, the link to Yahoo personals will be replaced by a link to Match.com, who will be the only dating site linked to Yahoo. Your account can be transitioned to Match.com with no hassle, and you’ll immediately begin enjoying all of Match.com’s great benefits, including the much larger database of matches. You’re sure to find far more matches, since Match.com is the number one US dating site.

Match.com offers mobile access, daily personalized matches and fantastic search tools. They offer unique search abilities, like “reverse match”, which shows you people who are looking for someone like you, and special sections for people who are divorced or looking for someone of a particular religion. Their service is easy to navigate, so Yahoo customers won’t feel like they have to “relearn” how to use the dating site. And, Match.com offers a guarantee like no other dating site. If you don’t find love in six months, your next six months on the site are free.

This new partnership between Yahoo and Match.com will be good for existing Match.com clients, too. Yahoo Personals has 2.4 million subscribers, so existing Match.com customers are going to be getting a lot more matches, too.

All in all, this is certain to be a win-win situation for Yahoo customers and Match.com customers. More members mean more matches. More features and better searching means that the matches you receive are really well suited to exactly what you seek in a partner. And, access to all of this right through your existing Yahoo page means that finding your true love just got better- and easier.

News & Views Match.com, Yahoo

Speed dating: It’s not just for singles anymore.

Taking a page from its social dating network, Zoosk is launching a new approach to speed dating that is designed especially to help entrepreneurs and startup companies make contact with and match up with venture capitalists willing to invest their money. This new concept debuted in San Francisco in early May at the Web 2.0 Expo, and the idea behind it is both unique and potentially a gold mine.

The approach is simple. Startup companies register with Zoosk for the event, during which they will have the chance to “speed date” with several venture capitalists just as singles do during speed dating events. Each startup is guaranteed to receive at least three minutes of uninterrupted, undivided attention from the venture capitalists in the hope of capturing their interest enough to convince them to pursue potential funding agreements in more detail.

Is it going to work? We’ll have to wait and see what kind of results come out of it, but early indications are this unique approach to matching startups and venture capitalists was extremely popular. If nothing else it’s a clever way to latch on to the online dating model of operation and put it to use in an entirely different way. And who knows, maybe the event will produce a profitable “match made in heaven”!

News & Views Dating Business, Facebook, Zoosk