Zoosk
Encyclopedia
Zoosk is an online dating
website with third-party applications on several social networking services. Zoosk is based in San Francisco, California
, and was ranked number 29 on Wall Street Journal's The Next Big Thing: Top 50 Venture-Backed Companies in March 2011, moving up from number 42 the previous year.
Zoosk claims to have "registered" more than 50 million singles. According to The Economist
, Zoosk has had 4.8 million unique visitors to its website in November 2010, more than Match.com
. According to the Wall Street Journal, Zoosk had 15 million active monthly users around March 2011.
Zoosk is a pay-subscription-based dating service; a non-paying member can post a profile and browse other profiles for free but can send only one message and can read only the beginning of messages unless they are very short.
In September 2010, Zoosk began to restrict the age range of members that are searchable: people aged 18 can search for matches only under the age of 20, regardless of their personal preference.
.
In May 2010, recording artists T-Pain
and Flo Rida
released a song inspired by Zoosk entitled "Zoosk Girl".
, Bebo
, Hi5
, Tagged, or Myspace
social networking platforms. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/03/AR2009120302080.html Zoosk also offers a mobile phone
version of its service.
Online dating service
Online dating or Internet dating is a dating system which allows individuals, couples and groups to make contact and communicate with each other over the Internet, usually with the objective of developing a personal, romantic, or sexual relationship...
website with third-party applications on several social networking services. Zoosk is based in San Francisco, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and was ranked number 29 on Wall Street Journal's The Next Big Thing: Top 50 Venture-Backed Companies in March 2011, moving up from number 42 the previous year.
Zoosk claims to have "registered" more than 50 million singles. According to The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
, Zoosk has had 4.8 million unique visitors to its website in November 2010, more than Match.com
Match.com
Match.com is an online dating company which reportedly has more than 20 million members, made up of a 49/51 male/female ratio, and Web sites serving 25 countries in more than 8 different languages. Its headquarters are in Dallas, Texas and the company also has offices in West Hollywood, Tokyo, Rio,...
. According to the Wall Street Journal, Zoosk had 15 million active monthly users around March 2011.
Zoosk is a pay-subscription-based dating service; a non-paying member can post a profile and browse other profiles for free but can send only one message and can read only the beginning of messages unless they are very short.
Criticisms
The system invites registered members to send messages without warning that only paying members can read all messages completely. If a person tries to send a second message, the system shows an invitation to pay to "validate the message". Additionally, users can not completely opt-out of promotional emails from Zoosk without deactivating their account on the site.In September 2010, Zoosk began to restrict the age range of members that are searchable: people aged 18 can search for matches only under the age of 20, regardless of their personal preference.
History
The company was started in December 2007 by Alex Mehr and Shayan Zadeh, initially as a third-party dating application on FacebookFacebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
.
In May 2010, recording artists T-Pain
T-Pain
Faheem Rasheed Najm , better known by his stage name T-Pain, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, and actor, currently signed to Young Money Entertainment. His debut album, Rappa Ternt Sanga, was released in 2005. In 2007, T-Pain released his second studio album Epiphany,...
and Flo Rida
Flo Rida
Tramar Dillard , better known by his stage name Flo Rida , is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. He released his debut album, Mail on Sunday, in March 2008. His debut single "Low", featuring T-Pain, was a #1 hit for ten weeks in United States in early 2008. Two other singles resulted from...
released a song inspired by Zoosk entitled "Zoosk Girl".
Features
Zoosk users can access the service on Zoosk's main website or use its third-party application on their FacebookFacebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
, Bebo
Bebo
Bebo is a social networking website launched in July 2005. It is currently owned and operated by Criterion Capital Partners after taking over from AOL in June 2010....
, Hi5
Hi5 (website)
hi5 is a social networking website based in San Francisco, California. The company was founded in 2003 by Ramu Yalamanchi. By 2008, comScore reported that hi5 had become the third most popular social networking site in terms of monthly unique visitors....
, Tagged, or Myspace
Myspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
social networking platforms. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/03/AR2009120302080.html Zoosk also offers a mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
version of its service.