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 Editorial:
Spark Networks Misses Golden Opportunity with Relationships.com
by Joe Tracy, Publisher of Online Dating Magazine
(March 2006) I want to thank Dr.
James Houran for
his excellent guest
editorial last month that did an
awesome job of better "defining" online dating.
It's one of the best articles/editorials on online
dating that I've ever read.
In one of
my recent "Inside
the Online Dating Industry"
columns, I discussed the Five
Different Types of Online Dating Services that
exist today. One of those is "relationship
services". These are services for people who are
either marriage-minded or very serious about finding
a relationship. There are currently three services
that fit into this category - eHarmony, Chemistry.com , and the new Matchmaker.
Matchmaker wasn't always a relationship service. Prior
to last month, it was a regular online dating service
like Match.com, Yahoo!
Personals, LavaLife, and Date.com.
So what happened to change that? Date.com acquired
Matchmaker and decided to turn it into a relationship
service to get its feet wet in that marketplace. It
was a smart idea and the same idea Match.com had when
it opened up Chemistry.com.
This backstory brings us to the topic of this month's
editorial about Spark Networks and its Relationships.com service.
Spark Networks (a
company which runs several online dating services,
but no relationship services) has owned the domain
name Relationships.com
for awhile. Prior to this month, Relationships.com was
a generic online dating service powered by one of Spark
Networks' other services, American
Singles (see our review
of American Singles here).
This month, Spark Networks moved
one of its religious online dating services - ChristianMingle
- to Relationships.com where
the name would also change to Relationships.com (see
news story here). The generic online dating service
that was powered by American
Singles simply ceased
to exits.
In this single move, Spark Networks made two vital
errors:
1) It completely rebranded its ChristianMingle service,
which already had good branding as a Christian dating
service. You can read my Inside the Online Dating
Industry column
about branding here.
2) Spark Networks completely missed
the opportunity to enter the relationship services
market with a URL
that is perfect for a relationship service - Relationships.com!
That leaves Spark Networks out of one of this competitive
and growing
marketplace.
It may surprise readers to know that many online dating
services are owned by one company (i.e., Spark Networks
runs 26 services, InterActiveCorp runs three services,
etc.). And some of these companies are publicly traded,
making
it important
for them to continue growth and strong competition
within the industry. Relationship services are now
the big growth area as companies seek ways to overcome
the continued threat and dominance of
eHarmony in
this category. In this case, Spark Networks completely
missed a golden opportunity.
And speaking of golden opportunities, my challenge
to the online dating industry (from my January
editorial) still stands. We want to see action taken
to improve
customer service and will prominently feature services
that begin to do more to satisfy customers.
Wishing
you a rewarding Spring,
Joe Tracy
jtracy@onlinedatingmagazine.com
> Try Perfectmatch.com - The Best Approach to Finding the Right Person for You.
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