Dating zoosk

Zoosk

Contents

History [ edit ]

Zoosk launched in December 2007. Its co-founders, Shayan Zadeh and Alex Mehr, are the company’s co-CEOs. [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 6 ] Zadeh and Mehr met as undergraduates at Sharif University of Technology in Iran and travelled to the US together to attend graduate school at the University of Maryland. [ 8 ] Zadeh worked at Microsoft after graduating with a master’s degree. Mehr earned his master’s degree and Ph. D. and later worked for NASA. Mehr attended business school at the University of California at Berkeley. but he dropped out to work on Zoosk. [ 9 ]

In April 2014, Zoosk filed S-1 paperwork for an initial public offering as it seeks to raise $100 million in capital. [ 10 ] In the S-1, the company reported 2013 revenues of $178.2 million, a 63% increase over the previous year, and that it had cut losses 87% to $2.6 million. [ 10 ] It has 27 million members, [ 7 ] of which 650,000 are paying subscribers, and its membership is growing 44% year-over-year. [ 10 ] [ 11 ] Zoosk has reached the position of no. 1 grossing dating app and a top 25 grossing app on the Apple iOS App Store. [ 11 ]

Product [ edit ]

Zoosk has an iOS and Android app and a desktop chat client. Zoosk uses big data and algorithmic recommendations technology to help users find partners. [ 11 ] Its “proprietary Behavioral Matchmaking engine” learns from users’ clicks, messaging, and other actions to help produce more accurate matches. [ 11 ] The idea is that the more data Zoosk obtains from its users, the better its recommendations can be. [ 11 ]

Zoosk targets younger users aged 25 to 35. [ 4 ] Seventy percent of its users are under age 35. It uses gamification and popularity rankings to encourage participation.

Funding [ edit ]

Zoosk’s investors include Bessemer Venture Partners, ATA Ventures and Canaan Partners. [ 4 ] The company has raised more than $60 million in equity. [ 11 ]

Pricing model [ edit ]

According to its terms of service, Zoosk charges no fee to start using the app and to send one message to another person. Contact and interaction beyond the first message per person, however, requires a premium (i. e. paid) subscription. [ 12 ]

Awards and recognition [ edit ]

In 2014, Zoosk was named one of the Bay Area’s Best Places to Work by the San Francisco Business Times in the Medium Size company category. [ 2 ] The same year, the San Francisco Business Times also named Shayan Zadeh to its 40 Under 40 list of Bay Area entrepreneurs. [ 13 ]

The Wall Street Journal ranked Zoosk no. 29 on its The Next Big Thing 2011 – The Top 50 Venture-Funded Companies list, up from the #42 spot the previous year. [ 3 ]

About. com ’s 2011 Reader’s Choice Awards named Zoosk’s iPhone app a finalist in its Best Dating App competition. [ 14 ]

In 2010, Zoosk was nominated for a Crunchies award for Best Time Sink Application. [ 15 ]

Also in 2010, Zoosk was featured in the Flo Rida and T-Pain single “Zoosk Girl". [ 16 ]

According to AppAppeal, in August 2012 Zoosk was the fifth most popular dating app in the world and the third in the U. S. [ 17 ] In 2012, the company also won an Effie Award for its advertising campaign "Online Dating, Your Way". [ 18 ] [ 19 ]

Zoosk Review

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"Upheld by strong word of mouth, Zoosk has registered tens of millions of users (aka Zooskers) from more than 80 countries and is available in more than 25 languages."

How Zoosk Works

You may come to the site by a cell phone app, Facebook or their website, but all options offer quick, easy and free signups to singles around the world. As soon as you've filled out the form (it took me 15 seconds to fill it out), a pop-up welcomes you, and asks if you'd like to download the proprietary chat program, where you can chat with "Zooskers" around the world. If you say no, you'll then be asked to flesh out your profile slightly - most members (in my experience) have nothing listed except their age, general location, profile name and a picture - and then you'll be shown someone else's profile nearby. You can change what you're "searching for" with a click, but be aware that the site will revert back to whatever they've deemed appropriate for you each time you log in. So, for me, this was a search radius of 80 kilometers and men five years younger than me and ten years older than me. If you'd rather see a larger list of folks rather than one profile at a time, just click on the button that looks like a chess board, and your view will instantly change.

There isn't much more to Zoosk, and that's likely why it's so popular. You don't have to fill out any profile details other than the bare basics, and really, your picture is what really counts here. After signing up you'll get a daily "mutual match" in your email, showing you someone else's profile, and allowing you to state yes or no to being interested. If you say yes, and it's mutual, you'll get a note (but won't know who it is specifically until you pay), and if it's no, you'll hear nothing. After you answer yes or no, you may get a dating-related question to further determine what you're after. For me, this was "Would you date someone four years younger than you?"

Access to the site comes through two means: coins, which you can pay for or earn by logging in and doing a variety of things, or by becoming a subscriber. I'll discuss membership fees shortly, so for now, let's focus on the coins. Zoosk coins offer a few ways of amping up your profile to get more attention, such as a "Boost" where your profile moves to the top of the search results, buying virtual gifts to send to other members, or finding out if and when someone has read your profile or email. "Liking" Zoosk on Facebook or installing the cell phone app get you coins, as do daily raffles for logging in and filling out partner offers such as memberships with NetFlix. Or, you can buy coins via PayPal, a bank transfer or your cell phone starting at $5 for 50 coins.

Unique Features

In addition to the features mentioned above, Zoosk also connects to Facebook and several email programs, working similarly to a social networking site by "finding" your friends. Once you've friended people, you can then chat with them using their in-house program, which you have to download onto your computer or mobile phone. Contact anyone other than a wink costs money, but you can reply using a drop-down list of options should you want to show interest beyond just a "wink wink".

Membership Fees

A one month membership costs $29.95 USD, and directly from their payment page, "If you do not cancel your subscription prior to the end of its term, it will automatically renew." A three month subscription costs $19.98 USD a month, billed in one lump sum of $59.95. A six month membership costs $12.49 USD a month, billed all at once for $74.95. Payment is accepted by credit card, check money transfer or PayPal.

To cancel a subscription, you must log into Zoosk, go to the "Settings" tab, and then "Subscription". Pro-rated amounts are not refunded, and all this does is cancel future automatic billing.

The Bottom Line

Zoosk is a fun dating site that focuses on social networking, and not so much on compatibility or relationships. Most of the profiles I encountered mentioned some sort of casual dating interaction, and that made sense to me considering how the site is set up. Not that the site is seedy or presents itself as an adult dating site; more that it doesn't take itself seriously, and therefore neither do their paying members. Having said that, I've yet to communicate with anyone from the dating site beyond a wink, and didn't like that their search feature automatically reverted back to what the site thought I should review. It's a solid site with one of the fastest growing and largest membership bases in the world however, so it's definitely worth a look if you're willing to shell out some cash for a membership.

Summary:

There aren’t many people in the online dating world that aren’t familiar with Zoosk. com. Many of you have probably tried out that dating site. Obviously, you wouldn’t be here if you actually had success on there. So you’re probably wondering if we had the same problems with the site. It’s very possible. A lot of people that use Zoosk. com report major issues with the site.

For those that don’t know – which is probably only a few of you – Zoosk. com is a free dating site. Because it is free, all the cheapskates sign-up for it. Unfortunately, free dating service websites are among the worst places to find dates. You’d have better luck with the ladies at a gay bar.

Zoosk. com Review: Our Results Using Zoosk. com

120 emails sent

20 replies received to our emails

0 dates confirmed

Emails sent 1 per day for 2 months total between 2 guys

1 out of every 6 emails we sent out was replied to. That’s not good enough. If you’re good at sending creative emails, you should expect to get 1 date for every 25 emails sent on average. So if you’re only getting 1 email replied to out of 6, you’ll need to send out at least 150 emails to get a date – if you’re lucky.

On Zoosk. com, you just can’t expect better than a 1 in 6 response rate. There are too many other guys on the site emailing the same women. Half your emails probably won’t even get read. There are tons of women on Zoosk. com that receive so many emails each day that they don’t even bother opening half of them. We can’t blame them.

Why We Don’t Think You Should Join Zoosk. com

Quite simply put – there’s just too much competition. You compete for the same women with hundreds of other guys. Even if you are a great guy, attractive, and send some excellent emails, you might go unnoticed. It’s like walking into a crowded bar, attempting to pickup women. Even if you’re the best looking guy in the bar and smooth as hell, that doesn’t mean you’re walking out of there with a girl. Competition isn’t a bad thing. Too much competition is. There’s simply too much competition on Zoosk. com

Zoosk. com Dating Service Review: Our Recommendation

Zoosk. com is enticing because it’s free. Unfortunately, it’s just a waste of time. And it’s a very frustrating dating service website. Too many guys, not enough women. For the women that are reading this, don’t get too excited! Yes, there are a lot of guys on Zoosk. com. However, you’ll find nothing but perverts and childish men with very little going for them in life.

Free dating service websites are the biggest ripoffs on the Internet. Pay dating sites aren’t expensive. But you get what you pay for. Or, in the case of Zoosk. com, you get what you don’t pay for. Xpress. for example, is a pay site. But it’s affordable and worth the price of admission.