What’s new for you –
The latest news for our valued partners

Enhancements to Dating Factory Website
Extensive improvements have been carried out on DatingFactory.com, from individual page content changes right through to the complete optimization of the site for mobile devices. The new responsive version incorporates a new design, which we believe will ensure a better experience for our valued partners.

Adult+
We have rolled out a new product in responsive design on the Adult niche and are currently conducting the first usability and conversion tests on the product with real traffic.
This new product caters to users across all platforms due to its responsive design. We have also included some new features such as a notification feed, where we constantly inform the user of relevant activity that is happening within the product as well as a new and improved messaging center, combining both online chat and offline messaging. This new adult product uses content as well as activity to convert users.

Helping you to avoid, or recover from, Google penalties
It seems that recent changes by Google as part of its regular algorithm updates has led to sites, including some that are using our platform, being given manual penalties because of ‘thin content’.
This can happen to anyone. If Google decides your site isn’t offering what visitors should see, then it will impose such penalties. Back in May of this year, Ebay lost 80% of its pages from the organic search results in google.
As google regularly change the way search results are presented and are often updating their algorithm, it is important that you do what you can to make sure your sites are not affected, or at least to minimise impact on your own sites. You can now turn this to your advantage and set your site apart from the rest. So get working on your content and see your site grow!

Notes from iDate Cologne
The Dating Factory business team attended the Internet Dating Conference last week. iDate was attended by Internet dating executives, marketing and product managers mainly from Europe.
Here are key notes on the conference from Mark Brooks, an analyst for the Internet dating industry.

– Facebook cut all Internet dating advertisers a year ago because the rate of people clicking the x on ads was 2.7x the average. They also complained about the ads being inappropriate.

– Facebook white-listed 25 Internet dating companies and reviews all their ads manually, and they’re expanding the program again, out to 50+ companies. Only pure PG, extremely non-offensive ads will make the cut. (If you are a non-adult partner that is having a problem being approved by FB, let us know and we shall speak with our rep to see if we can remedy this situation for you).

– People in the Netherlands spend the most on dates. Typically 66 Euros per date.

– Niche dating leads are twice as expensive in the Netherlands but convert twice as well compared to generic dating.

– Internet dating comparison sites are #1 source of traffic in the Netherlands.

– People on the UK spend the most online and on their mobile phones.

– In a talk from ScamSurvivors.com they suggested that the Internet dating industry would never fully eradicate scammers, but are best to manually review profiles and look for phrases that are most often used in profile scripts. (Dating Factory reviews profiles manually and deletes scammer profiles)

– We learned about various regional payment providers and trends. Regional billing options can vary greatly, so its worthwhile reviewing regularly and offering the key options in each country. (Dating Factory reviews options and trends quarterly. This is one of the reasons we’re very strong in Europe where the markets can vary a lot.)

– Meetic/Match spoke and said “Tinder is the biggest game changer in our industry for the last 10 years.”

– Match Group now have 3.5m paid subscribers globally. With the highest growth rate in international members, an 8% growth year over year.

– Overall, the Internet dating industry is growing in terms of membership growth, but largest growth is in mobile dating.

Personnel Changes
We’ve had some personnel changes, with the arrival of Daniel Smith as our new Head of Partners & Affiliates and the appointment of Maria Gutierrez as our new account manager for Spain and LATAM countries. Daniel has several years of experience in the digital technology sector, joining us from a publicly traded online dating organization, whereas Maria has been with Dating Factory for some time now.

iDate Awards Reminder
Finally, a quick reminder to vote for your site (and ours!) in the relevant categories for the upcoming iDate Awards, by visiting http://www.idateawards.com/nominations-las-vegas-2015.php.

What’s new for members –
The latest news for your customers

Recent Optimisation Tests
We are constantly striving to improve the outcomes of our activity, as any technology company should. Following a number of recent tests on price points and special offers, we have seen some very positive results, most notably an increased average LTV (lifetime value). We will continue to test and improve key metrics and hope to continue seeing positive results over the coming weeks.
 
September 2014