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Dating Industry > History > Date.com History
Company: Date.com
Startup in Online Dating: February
14, 1997
Private/Public: Private
Parent Company: None
History of Date.com
Date.com is
a privately owned company based in New York with offices
in Miami Beach, Florida. The site
was launched on Valentines Day in 1997 and became
a subscription-based service with its re-launch in
2000.
Date.com calls
itself "a relationship community with the ability
to post a free profile, pictures, headline, and facts."
Date.com previously
had offices in New York and Toronto, but in mid-2004
the Toronto offices were replaced with
the current offices in Miami Beach, Florida. The price
for a subscription has been consistent since
1997, when a premium monthly membership cost $24.95.
Date.com has
put a heavy emphasis on its “relationship
expert” Brenda Ross, Relationship Advisor for Date.com,
throughout its history as a dating service. Brenda’s
previous history in the dating industry included joining
About.com in 1996 as their dating guide expert.
In
January 2006, Brenda Ross left Date.com,
after nearly five years of service to the company.
Date.com
named Anna David as its new relationship advisor.
Unfortunately, David's stint as Date.com's relationship
advisor was short lived. As of 2007, Date.com does
not have a new relationship advisor and we know
of no plans for them to find one.
Date.com History Highlights
In June, 2000, Date.com underwent a site redesign,
and did so again in early 2001, introducing their
new purple color theme. The purple color theme remained
consistent until it was recently replaced with a
blue color theme.
In early 2001 Date.com offered
an in-house Astrologer that would “guide you
via the stars to your soul mate.”
In January of 2002, Date.com ran
a campaign specifically targeted toward members of
the military away in other
countries serving military duties. Operation Love-Link,
as named by Date.com, was a project designed to help
single members of the United States armed forces correspond
via e-mail with singles in the States and elsewhere.
From January through the end of February, members of
the military were able to join Date.com for free with
a special military code.
In July of 2002, Date.com membership
surpassed 2 million active members, a four-fold increase
since the start
of that year. Date.com defined
active members as “those
who have used Date.com in
the past 90 days, include those who post profiles on
the site, conduct searches
of Date.com's profile
database, indicate general interest in someone who
posted a Date.com profile and/or
become a paid member in order to send more detailed
e-mail correspondence to another member.”
In September of 2002 Date.com was boasting 200,000
new members per month, 50,000 new members a week.
In September of 2003 Date.com went
through a major site design and changed its slogan
from “A New
Way to Date” to “A Community with Millions
of Beautiful Singles”. Date.com does
not currently sport a slogan.
In early 2006, Date.com acquired online dating service
Matchmaker.
Fun Fact About Date.com
Date.com has
also consistently run a series of pop-culture and relationship
focused polls on their site, announcing
results in press releases throughout the years. Some
of the poll topics have included the most desired
Valentine’s Day date, what users would do if
their partner was unfaithful, whether women would
prefer Batman over Superman (Superman won), and top
ten tips for dating on a shoestring budget.
Related Links:
» Bio of Meir Strahlberg
» Date.com Acquires Matchmaker
> Try Perfectmatch.com - The Best Approach to Finding the Right Person for You.
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