Match.com continues global push, 6% of US relationships started online
Barry Diller's USA Interactive (which owns Ticketmaster, Citysearch, Match.com, Expedia, and Hotels.com) has agreed to acquire British online-personals site uDate.com in a $150 million stock deal according to this Wall Street Journal story (subscription required):
In late November, Match.com announced it would launch 25 international sites by the end of year, utilizing local languages and currency. Among countries included are France, Spain, Italy Japan, Australia, Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom, where uDate has a leading position with 670,000 registered members in September. UDate also has members in more than 100 countries, with principal markets in the U.S., U.K. and Europe.
...Revenue at uDate jumped 61% to $10.6 million from the year-earlier period, as paid subscriptions to its sites grew to 237,000....Revenue at Match.com, meanwhile, more than doubled to $33.4 million in the third quarter, as paid subscriptions hit 653,000.
Online dating continues to take off in popularity and social acceptance. In fact,
A poll conducted recently by Harris Interactive for The Wall Street Journal Online found that about 6% of American Internet users who are in a long-term relationship met online. About one-third of them met through a formal online-dating service, like Match.com or uDate.