Juniper Research has just released a new report that claims the value of the mobile dating and chatroom market will grow to nearly $1.4 billion by 2013, and also pegs the total UGC market to reach $7.3 billion by the same time. The estimate is up almost half from a report by the research agency that was presented in May 2008, which said revenues from mobile dating and chat services were expected to exceed $1 billion by 2010.
The predictions are a bit optimistic in my opinion, but the suggested growth should make startups like the UK-based Flirtomatic, MeetMoi, PlutoLife and IceBrkr hopeful, although the big dating sites like Match.com and WebDate are heavily experimenting with expanding their dating services to mobile platforms as well.
With 3G-enabled video chat and 24/7 access, mobile phones definitely offer a potentially strong medium for dating services, although I consider a great user interface that matches with its fixed counterpart and security two major hurdles to overcome. Also, the business model remains largely unproven; besides mobile advertising, some services charge a fixed fee for membership, others per message sent, and others provide free access but generate revenue from selling mobile virtual goods in addition. Juniper Research says the bulk of revenues will come from the subscription model, but the other models are definitely growing in number and weight.
It’ll be interesting if and how mobile social networks and applications that leverage devices’ location awareness (or a combination of both) will integrate mobile dating services into their offerings.
(Image via Textually)
though you can guarantee that those will not be the women on the other end (well.. maybe the one on the left).
exciting genre. whos in the game?
GirlsLocator.com – we rule
Sounds a little spooky..
In The Netherlands KPN tried mobile dating with their service called Olllo (yes 3 times L). They failed. Launched in September 2007 but already dead 6 months later. Hope this service has more success.
anything research firms say i stay short on that sector
and i have made money!
It’s the time to dive into new frontiers.. Thanks for the Tip Mike, I will pass it to our boss.
I agree that this will be the where the next focus for dating & social networking will come from & of course the dollars!!! You failed to mention funky,sexy,cool http://tinyurl.com/8uvqqf which is based out of NYC but run by Aussies!
Kitteh haz doubts about on-line dating service
http://icanhasc...dating-service/
Not really that much of a surprise.
Anything that can go mobile will go mobile. And anything that will go mobile will likely make money while doing so.
Location awareness will be only be useful if the sites can get to a critical mass in that area. This will of course be easier in more built up areas.
Location awareness will be only be useful if a site can get to a critical mass in that area, this will of course be easier in more built up areas.
I am very sceptical towards this service. Why just don’t go to a club, meet women and than get their number the old-style like. Then you can make your private mobile dating without any services and costs.
Because AFCs don’t know how to meet women. And there’s a lot of AFCs out there.
Not a shock, but still interesting. I wonder which site will be the first to reach the expected $1billion…
Flirtomatic has proven a business model for mobile dating exists – combination of ads, virtual goods, user payments. If you look at the size of other mobile markets around the world (e.g. ringtones) $1.4bn seems pretty realistic for this service category.
We build white-label mobile communities and they all have the option of including dating or member search.
http://www.tribalg.com
Tribalg, the contact form on your website does not work. zonedate at g m a i l.
Anyone wonder why Skout is going dating??? http://www.skout.com free easy location aware mobile dating.
yes this is good news , very good news indeed, mobile + smartphone + gps + 3g has huge posibillities for the future for many many business out there , as usual entertainment explores the territory first taking out the bugs , figuring out the nuts and bolts on how to make money here and then “normal” business will follow
We launched mobile chat and dating a few years ago (2000) and it became very popular in Australia and New Zealand. It is still growing fast. Issues started arising with mobile user safety and was dealt with via the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) in 2005. We adopted their recommendations world wide because they were the organisation that put the most thought into it. One big concern for the ACMA was that mobile Chat and dating plus GPS = mobilestalker.com. It seems like such a great and obvious idea, but if you consider the possible implications, you get sober real quick. Happy to receive queries and discussion on this and related issues. There are so few companies in the world, like us with, with real experience in this sector.
The $1.4 Billion estimate seems a bit rich, but the report is spot on with regard to the potential for 3G to be key to this step change.
Check out our 3G Mobile Dating service to see what’s possible with 3G Mobiles already.
All members are 100% real, we have a strict 18+ access control, offer unrivaled safety and maximum fun.
Romi
The 3G Dating Agency
I’ve met lots of people on http://phonefling.com too…
Sweetr.net uses goog maps for location, Skype for presence, voip and chat. Looks great on iphone and growing fast due to facebook! Too many cell clients…get an iphone!
Not entirely convinced – a large mobile dating company (Mobestar PLC) went into administration just a few months ago and most of these dedicated mobile-dating applications just don’t have the critical mass needed.
We’re rolling a mobile dating product onto our platform – it’s the monetisation that is the real issue, but being able to charge users another small amount of top of their subscription (eg. another £1.99/month for mobile use) seems to be the most accepted by members,
Ross
These websites are good but they are not integrating the other features with their social networking. I like the mobile web site http://fonet.mobi which has integrated the other features also with social networking like pictures, blogs, groups etc.
Not only are mobile dating services going to be a growth category, but monetization will be easy with event charges and the like. There’s more about it at this article.
I don’t know why but this post reminds me of Riot-E.
How did they called their dating service?^^