comScore Media Metrix Data Confirm FriendFinder's Market Leadership,
Based Upon a Custom Category of Online Dating Sites*
PALO ALTO, CA - January 23, 2004 -- FriendFinder California Inc. today announced its leadership position as the largest and most popular online dating destination for singles based upon a customized comScore Media Metrix analysis of sites owned and operated by FriendFinder. The analysis, based upon September 2003 data from comScore, revealed that the FriendFinder network* of sites drew 11.9 million unique visitors, far outpacing any other individual competitor in the marketplace, including such well-known organizations as Match.com, Yahoo! Personals and Lavalife and showing nearly eight times the visitors to newer entrant, Friendster**.
Site |
U.S. Unique Visitors (million) - September 2003 |
FriendFinder Network* |
11.89 |
Yahoo Personals |
6.00 |
Match.com |
5.30 |
AmericanSingles.com |
3.71 |
Lavalife.com |
1.93 |
Date.com |
1.60 |
Friendster.com |
1.55 |
eHarmony.com |
1.25 |
Gay.com Network |
1.08 |
Lycos Matchmaker |
0.96 |
"FriendFinder's strategy is different from any other online dating company in that we've created 15 targeted online dating sites designed to meet the specific interests of singles. We've observed that singles select their ideal partners based on key cultural, age, religious and sexual interests," said Andrew Conru, FriendFinder founder and CEO. "Online dating isn't about just being hip, slick and cool, but about making the experience really effective for our members. We're quite unique in taking this more focused approach. We've flown underneath the radar for a while. Now the comScore numbers are revealing that FriendFinder is indeed a leader in the market."
In addition to the 11.9 million visitors measured by comScore, FriendFinder's internal server log data indicate that the FriendFinder network of US and International 15 online dating sites actually attracts a combined total of more than 20 million visitors per month. The FriendFinder network spans the widest possible range of lifestyle choices and special interests - from Jewish FriendFinder for the Jewish community and Senior FriendFinder for adults over the age of 40 to sites oriented to gay and casual dating lifestyles, such as OutPersonals and Passion.com. Other FriendFinder websites are tailored to specific groups and languages, including Asia FriendFinder (for the worldwide Asian community), and Amigos (a Latin dating site in English, Spanish and Portuguese). The comScore statistics do not include web traffic for FriendFinder's GradFinder, ShareRent, Dine and FriendPages sites.
Online dating has become the major driver in the online content business. With its leadership position in the marketplace established, Friendfinder.com plans to target new business development opportunities in 2004. The industry brings in more revenue than any other category of legitimate paid Web content -- more than digital music or business and investing advice. Revenues for online dating are expected to exceed $313 million for 2003, up from $228 million in 2002, according to Jupiter Research.
Over 62 million members have registered and used FriendFinder since its founding in 1996, and over 20 million registered users are actively using the service today. FriendFinder was one of the first dating services on the Internet and has continued to lead the highly competitive online dating personals category by enabling people to confidentially and anonymously meet friends with similar interests and lifestyles in a variety of dedicated virtual "communities."
The FriendFinder online dating network includes:
- Flagship Site - FriendFinder.com
- Demographic - SeniorFriendFinder.com
- Religious - BigChurch, JewishFriendFinder.com
- Multicultural - AsiaFriendFinder.com, IndianFriendFinder.com, Amigos.com, GermanFriendFinder.com, FrenchFriendFinder.com, KoreanFriendFinder.com, FilipinoFriendFinder.com
- Casual Dating - AdultFriendFinder.com, Passion.com, Alt.com, OutPersonals.com
Founded in 1996, privately owned, consistently profitable and growing for 28 quarters, FriendFinder California Inc., employs 150.
NOTES:
* Based upon a custom aggregation of URLs submitted to comScore Media Metrix by FriendFinder representing online dating sites that are 100% owned and operated by FriendFinder.
**Category and competitive set defined by Friendfinder.
About FriendFinder California Inc.
Headquartered in Palo Alto, CA, FriendFinder California Inc. is the largest global operator of dating and social networking Web sites with a growing network of multicultural and multilingual dating and relationship sites. With an active membership in excess of 20 million and over 62 million registered members since its inception in 1996, FriendFinder California Inc. enables members to privately and anonymously meet people with similar interests in a safe, exciting environment. FriendFinder California Inc. also operates GradFinder, ShareRent, Dine and FriendPages.
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