YNOT – Former FriendFinder affiliates who find themselves adrift after the online dating company closed 5,000 co-branded websites earlier this month may find a new friend in Dating Factory. On Monday the latter announced an expanded suite of services for partners, including database co-ownership and higher revenue shares.
During a quarterly financial teleconference on Aug. 15, publicly traded FriendFinder Networks abandoned the white-label dating business, saying that maintaining sites the company does not own is “too cumbersome and cost-prohibitive.” The company has shifted from an affiliate-driven model to one that focuses on FriendFinder’s own brands. About 28,000 FriendFinder-owned websites exist.
Dating Factory Chief Executive Officer Tanya Fathers said her company sees co-branding as an enormous opportunity for both sides of the equation. She and her staff consider no partner “too much trouble,” she said.
“We will make the transition to our platform a simple and smooth process so the ex-FriendFinder [partners] can immediately enjoy the numerous features we have to offer, such as 100 percent of the revenues from initial conversions and 50 percent of revenue from advertising,” Fathers said. Dating Factory also offers “database co-ownership, Latin American and French Canadian market coverage, instant set-up, an extensive range of promotional tools, multilingual professional customer and partner support, and a local office in the U.S. with instant local support. Partners will be in full control of their database and member promotions.”
Established in 2009, Dating Factory currently boasts 12,000 white-label partners worldwide. Sites are available in 18 languages and 42 niches covering heterosexual, GLBT and alternative segments of the mainstream and adult markets.
For more information, visit DatingFactory.com.
