Online Dating Goes Global as Userplane Provides Live Video/Audio Messaging to Array of International Dating Sites

Online dating is going global as singles worldwide take to the Web in their search for love and companionship – while the dating sites they’re visiting seek a competitive edge from Userplane, a pioneer in applying Flash-based instant messaging to support live communications for Web-based communities.
   
Userplane announced today that it is providing the Userplane Instant Communicator™ audio/video instant messaging technology and Userplane AV Recorder to eight international online dating sites serving singles worldwide. Underscoring the increasingly global nature of the online dating phenomenon, Userplane President Michael Jones will participate in the inaugural meeting of IDEA OASIS, a not-for-profit association for the Online Dating and Social Networking industries. The meeting will be held on July 15 at the Internet Dating Conference in Nice, France. Jones is a founding board member of the organization.

Userplane is the leading provider of video and audio instant messaging to the domestic online dating community, with the Userplane Communication Suite deployed at more than 100 U.S.- based dating sites. Userplane is providing its Communication Suite to:

WorldSingles.com – An online dating hub that brings together people who share a common culture, with sites like IranianPersonals.com, EligibleGreeks.com, ArmenianPersonals.com, TurkishPersonals.com and ArabLounge.com

ItaliaDate.net – A new online dating community based in Italy and targeting the Italian dating community

FunkySexyCool.com – An Australia-based website that enables members to interact with other members and join special interest groups

CityCrowd.com – A London-based online dating site that caters to singles in the United Kingdom

MaybeFriends.com – Ireland's premier dating Web site helps people meet other like-minded individuals

Xaijin.com – Based in Japan, Xaijin.com helps members find real relationships, romance, and friendship

Sulekha.com - This online Indian community connects people of Indian origin worldwide, with members in more than 100 countries.

Saylavie.com – An online dating service that targets young and professional people from all over the world

Userplane Instant Communicator, the next generation instant messenger, gives dating site users the ability to see and hear each other by streaming both audio and video through a Flash MX based client – creating an online social environment that enables live interaction from the comforts of home, while still protecting users' privacy through a certain degree of anonymity.    

Userplane's use of Macromedia Flash technology for both front-end and back-end functions supplies dating and social networking sites with complete design flexibility, one-click access for the vast majority of users, simple integration of audio and video, and support for PC, Linux and Macintosh platforms.

"We're seeing a surge in interest internationally in live audio and video solutions for dating Web sites," said Jones. "The online dating trend is now worldwide, as these new sites demonstrate. These companies and their customers understand the value live video and audio capabilities bring to an online community. Wherever they may be, site users have come to expect that level of interaction and won’t accept anything less. Live video and audio sets these dating sites apart from their competitors, letting users see and hear each other for a much more engaging experience, even at low bandwidth."    

According to ComScore MediaMetrix, personals Web sites attract 30 million visitors a month in the U.S. alone. According to Nielsen NetRatings, 84 percent of visitors to online dating sites surf for love five or more times a week. Spending on online personal ads and dating Web sites in 2003 reached $449.5 million, up 49 percent from 2002, according to the 2003 Online Paid Content U.S. Market Spending Report conducted by the Online Publishers Association (OPA) and ComScore Networks. The personals/dating category was the largest, making up almost 30 percent of total online content spending by U.S. consumers, according to the report.

About Userplane
Userplane is the leading provider of Flash-based Web applications that support live text and audio/video communication. Based in Los Angeles, the company is an innovator in enterprise community messaging that enables a broad range of Web sites to run branded communication applications. Using Macromedia's Flash Communication Server MX technology, Userplane Apps are deployed internationally on sites ranging from online communities to intranets. The application suite reaches tens of millions of users and supports more than three million live conversations a month in twelve countries. Userplane continues to provide forward-thinking Web and software development for industry-leading clients including Red Bull, Honda, and 1-800 Flowers.

Media Contact:
Ken Greenberg
Edge Communications, Inc.
818/719-9292
ken@edgepress.com