Page 39 - AVN February 2016

The online dating industry is evolving along with
today’s tech-driven hookup culture, creating a
new era of opportunity for adult entertainment to
flourish.
Adult dating sites continue to be profitable in
spite of recent challenges, but executives navigating
the space say it’s imperative to make adjustments
going forward.
Not unlike other sectors of adult, those who learn
to adapt to the market conditions are the ones who
will be left standing.
“The approach to online dating worldwide has
dramatically changed over the last five years,”
said Jenny Gonzalez, vice president of sales and
marketing for Dating Factory, a leading European
white-label and private-label dating software
provider. “Our industry has gone from being
something that people were ashamed to admit to
using to becoming a pop culture phenomenon (now
that we all get Tinder references thrown at us left
right and center!).
“The industry has evolved beyond the borders
of English-speaking tier-one countries and just a
few niches. In fact the dating industry has single-
handedly become the bridge between mainstream
and adult when it comes to performance marketing.
Personally, the biggest difference I have seen in
recent years going to mainstream shows has been
how dating offers have gone from being hush hush,
to where every single marketer out there is looking
for specific niches and geos to monetize their
traffic.”
Gonzalez said one of Dating Factory’s key
accomplishments in recent years has been the
growth of its database worldwide.
“One of the biggest challenges when running
a dating site is always database related, getting
enough members to create interaction and
achieving a good balance with male and female
ratios,” she noted. “I feel we have done a fantastic
job at achieving the right mix and that is one of
the reasons people continue to choose to run their
dating brands within our platform. Happy users
convert and we have happy users in every corner of
the planet.”
Dating Factory, which was recently acquired by
Agile Wings, has set plans in motion to roll out
several new features sooner than later, Gonzalez
said.
“Together we will be taking Dating Factory
to a whole new level in the near future,” she
added. “I am excited about every single bit of that
process and what it will mean for our partners and
affiliates.”
The challenge is just
to innovate.
—Bako Kaye, founder, Etology
In fact the dating industry has single-handedly
become the bridge between mainstream and adult
when it comes to performance marketing.
—Jenny Gonzalez, VP of sales and marketing, Dating Factory
Bako Kaye, the founder and president of the
invite-only ad network Etology, said that his firm
specializes in monetizing the members areas of
dating sites.
“If somebody joins our network, we make sure
we perform,” said Kaye, who launched at the
Internext Expo in New Orleans in May 2014.
“Our traffic speaks for itself. We make sure we
optimize the traffic to the maximum. We have
account mangers for each client to maximize how
the clients run their ads. It is not a self-service
business.”
Etology last month announced the launch
of DatingTraffic.com, a premium ad network
focusing specifically on the lucrative dating vertical.
Dating Traffic focuses exclusively on traffic
from prominent dating members area networks.
Members area traffic is in high demand as it
converts at a much higher rate than standard tube
or adult traffic.
Kaye said, “the challenge is just to innovate,”
adding that one of the evolutions of the community
is the different types of pre-landing pages that have
become prevalent.
“These pre-landers are giving traffic flow a
different tide,” Kaye continued. “It’s not the same
idea. It’s not ‘Shauna waiting for you in Burbank’ or
Glendale. They’re asking [users] all the questions
and identifying them in the sign-up process. The
pre-landers came up in the past year and they’re
working extremely well.”
Alfonsus Kusuma, also known as “AK,” launched
his own CPA private affiliate network called
Madzuma in 2015 following nine years as an
executive at Dating Gold and five years working in
cams affiliate programs.
“I’ve seen a lot of changes year after year,” AK
said. “The most significant change that I’ve seen
is how competitive the market is. … It’s getting
very competitive and it’s not going to stop any time
soon.”
AK also pointed to the growth of mobile traffic,
which in some places accounts for more than 50
percent of the pie.
“Monetization of mobile traffic is actually harder
than it is on desktop for site operators,” AK said.
“It’s expensive to obtain leads… Now a lot of dating
operators are actually putting ads on their members
area.”
AK said that going forward, “The way I see it
there are only going to be a handful of big media
buyers who are able to monetize what they buy.”
Interestingly, AK noted, “the majority of live
cams traffic is deemed to be converting really well.”
“A lot of the big companies have cam solutions,”
he said, adding the average lifetime value of a dating
site user comes in between $120-$150, whereas a
live cam customer is in the $400 range. “Live cams
will always be there.”
Among the biggest challenges facing the dating
site community this year is legislation, according to
Dating Factory’s Gonzalez.
“As with most of the internet, the online
dating business continues to be a puzzling
concept to many governments,” Gonzalez said.
“The rise of so many scams online does not help
give the online dating industry the credibility it
deserves. That’s why the online dating industry
has taken it upon themselves to self-regulate
proactively before others do. Dating Factory is
in fact a founding member of the Online Dating
Association (OnlineDatingAssociation.org.uk),
which was established in 2013 by a number of
industry insiders who saw the need to step up and
take responsibility for setting and maintaining
standards.”
AK agreed that “credibility” is the challenge for
the adult dating community.
“At the end of the day it’s adult entertainment.
Adult dating is adult entertainment and we provide
entertainment value,” he said.
I’ve seen a lot of
changes year after year.
The most significant
change that I’ve seen is
how competitive
the market is.
—AK, founder, Madzuma
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