An interesting new player has arrived to the online dating game, and we could see this site being the “Millionaire Matchmaker” of the online dating world. According to the Huffington Post, Blackbook365 is a new dating site launched on November 15th, that the author calls “Match.com meets The Sartorialist meets Gilt Groupe meets a group of Yentas. It’s bespoke online dating with a side of highbrow editorial. Simple, innovative and filling a need in society,” which must mean it’s not for someone like me because I don’t understand 90% of that sentence.

The site, which take an upscale approach to online dating, has launched first in New York City and offers an interesting way to get yourself seen on the site.

 It costs about $340 to be featured for one day on the website (price will vary with location). When compared with the monthly subscription fees for other online dating sites, the price is actually quite reasonable. Considering the Blackbook365 team spends about an hour with each featured individual and a professional photo shoot is part of the deal, it’s quite the steal… especially if matches are made.

Of course, women can create a profile for free, and are able to send “calling cards” to the featured men they see on the page. Blackbook365 also plans to host coktail parties and other events soon, perhaps solidifying their position as the ultimate in elite online dating. Only time will tell!

What do you think? Does the Blackbook365 model appeal to you? Would you pay to have a professional level featured page on a dating site? Let us know in the comments!

Photo and story via HuffingtonPost

via shutterstock

I don’t know about you, but I am one of those people who gets a little, erm, irritated when my dinner or night-out companions are constantly on their phones. It makes me feel like I’m watching someone with so little attention span or patience that they can’t wait to get home to take care of internet business. However, the amount of people that feel such a connection to their smart phones is growing, as a recent poll showed that 80% of singles prefer using mobile dating apps over websites.

The 50,000 person poll by SnapInteractive (the minds behind AreYouInterested.com) showed that 4 out of 5 singles prefer mobile apps over strictly-computer based sites like eHarmony or Match.com. Pioneered by the gay hook-up app Grindr, many other companies are making the jump from online platforms to mobile apps.

Via DigitalTrends:

According to a recent article in the New York Times, mobile dating is becoming the preferred method to meeting potential dates among young people because the speed at which meetings occur is much faster than a traditional online dating site. Location is also used when finding a potential match and users of mobile dating applications are often scanning through multiple profiles to locate someone that’s both attractive and nearby

Luckily, most mobile dating apps are taking into consideration both the privacy and safety of this users, by blocking phone numbers and allowing members to message anonymously until both parties agree to meet. Although we were a bit apprehensive during the birth of mobile dating apps, we only hope that it brings more singles into the world of online dating… in a safe, healthy, and private way.

What do you think? Would you prefer to use a mobile dating app over a traditional dating site? Or do you feel that the older way is safer and more reliable?

Hermione Way at TheNextWeb says that “[DuoDater] caters towards double dates, and only makes its website’s services accessible to pairs or groups rather than just the individual.” Interesting tactic in theory, but does it work in practice? She brought a, um… “friend” along to try out the idea with the creators of DuoDater themselves, and shared the experience on video.

What do you think? Does DuoDater have potential after merely setting up a first date? Would you use a dating service that is only accessible to pairs or groups? Let us know in the comments!

Enter Meexo to answer this question with a resounding yes – the mobile dating app debuted at TechCrunch’s Disrupt SF convention earlier this year and definitely appears to be a big winner in the tough race to be successful in the online dating world. Via TechCrunch:

So what’s it like interacting with this mobile-centric dating app? Meexo is like Pandora for dating, as you interact with the application, it learns about you, and becomes more relevant as you go. If you use Foursquare and Facebook, Meexo pulls in that data to learn more about who you are and what you like.

It also protects your privacy by allowing potential dates to contact your phone via a private number, so you don’t have to go around handing our your precious cell number to strangers. It also allows you to block your profile from anyone you’re connected to on social networking platforms, to ensure your profile doesn’t accidentally pop up to your single uncle or that creepy kid from your Psych 101 class. Even better:

Meexo is distinguishing itself from the pack by game-ifying dating. When a user joins Meexo, they receive virtual currency, which users pay out when they message other people, forcing daters to be more discerning in their selections. Obviously, in this way, Meexo is attempting to avoid the spamming that has become so endemic to dating sites.

In a world full of big misses, Meexo seems like it could be a hit… but will daters approve of the mobile-only application? We’ll just have to wait and see!

Check out Meexo for yourself right here.

We often think of older generations as being uptight and prudish about dating, but it seems as though the creation of online dating may have changed that idea for the better! According to the DailyMail, more and more older singles are showing up on dating sites, and might actually be the new target demographic for online dating!

Industry experts believe the reason over-55s are thriving so much in online dating is the fact that marriage and children is no longer as much of a focus as it is for those in their twenties, thirties and forties. As a result, they are more relaxed about choosing a partner, basing decisions on mutual interests rather than whether they might make a good parent.

Another reason that online dating is enjoying a popularity surge among older people is that the divorce rate among people over 50 is high. The last U.S. Census found that 37 per cent of people in that age group were unmarried.

So, older daters are not only less inclined to overly-analyze potential dating partners, but there may be a wider dating pool for them than for 30-somethings!

Now, if we could only teach them all not to use Internet Explorer…

What do you think? Do you know any older folks using online dating sites?

Getting back into the dating game after divorcing can be just as difficult as the divorce itself. You feel uncomfortable, nervous, and vulnerable, not to mention rusty at meeting people! However, a new website aims to lessen the pain of post-divorce dating by allowing much of the initial interaction to remain online. Via NewsJunkyJournal:

“When I design a concept for a client, a portion of my inspiration comes from the type of person they are, their personality and style. With NewlyDivorcedDating.com, the message and design of the site has a very personable, genuine and caring nature. In my experience, this tells you a lot about the intentions of who is running the website. The owners of NewlyDivorcedDating.com have an incredible passion to assist divorcees in finding meaningful relationships – to find love. ” Ronnie Roper, Senior Designer at I-Tul.

Seems like a good idea to us – we know that online dating as a never-married can be tough, let ALONE online dating with a fresh wound of divorce on your heart. And by keeping the dating online and casual, we expect many divorced singles to flock to the website, especially if they have children.

We haven’t seen a dating site with this much potential in a long while, and look forward to its success.

It’s usually apparent when you find yourself at a new online dating site what their “niche” is – their “schtick” if you will. When you find yourself at Match, you know they are looking to get people married, at OnlineBootyCall, for people to hook up, and at AshleyMadison, for people to cheat on their husbands. However, when I found myself checking out the new dating site OnlineDatingPub.com, I had no clue what the theme was.

It is about the most generic looking front page I’ve seen in my time in this business, and is woefully incomplete – its “blog” has one post, its FAQ directs you to e-mail them, and their video, events, and music pages are silent. Seems like a strange way to launch, doesn’t it? Not to mention that 3/4 of their “members” on the front page don’t even have photos.

The press release surrounding their launch is pretty vanilla as well -

It has many latest features like playing online games and uploading of videos and music by members besides online text and video chatting. The sign up process is very simple and user friendly. Website is fully compatible with mobile devices. It offers speed online dating to its gold members. Members can also post their classified ads for free.

That could have been written about basically ANY WEBSITE ON EARTH.

This review is probably coming off rude, condescending, and judgmental, considering the site only just launched this week. Maybe I just need to give the site time to gain its footing. However, I stand by my opinion that a theme must be found in order for this site to succeed. For crying out loud, the word “pub” is in your name and your website IS PINK?! HAVE THEY EVER EVEN SEEN A PUB?

img via harpersbazaar

According to NewsJunkyJournal, a new dating site has been launched that aims to connect “affluent” singles with their perfect “trophy date.” Cue the “what has this world come to” groan.

Via the source:

The site caters to those looking for any type of relationship; friendships, casual dates, sugar daddy / sugar mama / sugar baby arrangements, love, or marriage. “Whether someone is looking for marriage, just looking for people to date casually, or something in between, we can offer them the convenience of online dating with the high class service of a personal matchmaker,” says Phillip LaPorte, Co-founder of MytrophyDate.com.

Back to my “time to leave Planet Earth” moans, I guess I really should just shut my trap. Who cares what kind of relationships people are looking for as long as they aren’t doing harm to themselves or others? If a rich old guy wants a hot young lass on his arm and can find her on this site, then they’ve done their job, right? Who cares if it’s not the perfect “met in college, dated for years, married and had children (and then later had a horrible divorce)” that we’re used to?

My only worry is that people may claim they are looking for just a sugar-daddy/baby relationship, or someone MIGHT say they’re ready for a long term commitment, but may not be totally honest in those statements. A “trophy” may SAY she’s looking for marriage when in reality she’s just looking to score some free dinners, and an “affluent” older lady may be fibbing when she says she’s okay with just “casually dating.” Each of these situations could lead to broken hearts, angry breakups, or worse.

What do you think? Is MyTrophyDate just catering to a market? Or are they creating a vicious monster?

College students registering for an online dating profile on WhatsYourPrice.com using their college issued dot-EDU email address will automatically enjoy the benefits of a free premium membership upgrade (a $30 a month value) and profile certification.

Well, I suppose it’s a good idea… college students are all in the market for love but tend not to have the extra cash laying around to throw at a dating site that might not work for them. However, we’re hesitant to believe that college students wouldn’t try for a dating site that has more than a meager 250,000 members, like the tried-and-true OKCupid, OnlineBootyCall, or PlentyOfFish (yes, it pains me to say that). Furthermore,

A certified college coed profile will be marked with a unique stamp, allowing other members to know the profile belongs to a real college student. A free premium upgrade will allow college students to receive more first date offers from potential suitors, and provide them access to features such as “name your price” dating, premium profile placements and advanced search. Premium profiles on WhatsYourPrice.com receive an average of over 3 times more first date offers than free profiles.

We look forward to hearing how this development works out.

What do you think – would you join a website because they offered you a free membership? Or – would you be more likely to go on a date with someone if they were in college? Let us know in the comments!

OkCupid has always been at the forefront of online dating trends (hence OkTrends, their jealousy-inducing blog), so it’s no surprise that they’ve added location-based services to their mobile app before many other sites. According to Mashable, the hip dating site has added three different services to their Android and iPhone apps

1) Broadcasts. This allows you to let your best matches know that you’re free now and suggest activities. You can even include photos. Other users can browse your Broadcasts — and vice-versa — and reply to those they find interesting.

2). Locals. This shows you matches nearby (this is handy, considering OKCupid only lets you search for matches within a 25- to 500-mile radius). One can then indicate that they would like to meet those locals, and chosen folks will get a notification.

3). Notifications. OKCupid will let you know when a good match is nearby.

There is always the question of how these types of apps will be used, for good or evil. The example used in the screenshot above, for example, could go either way. Someone might come by, say hi, and trade you a flyer for their number, but on the other hand, someone could come by, awkwardly hover around you while you’re trying to do your job, and then try and follow you home afterwards.

We hope that location-based dating apps will be successful, because one of the most difficult parts of online dating is transitioning to an offline relationship after meeting over the internet. Knowing that a potential date is just minutes away and looking to meet up might be a way to get past the first date jitters. We just hope that people are safe and smart when using them.

Have you used OkCupid’s new location app features? What did you think? Or do you think location services are a little shady?