Where's Dating 2.0? Innovations in the Online Dating Industry

Here is a summary of Sam Yagan (CEO & Co-Founder) OKCupid presention at the internet dating confernce.

Sam Yagan is the speaker for Where's Dating 2.0. Here is a little background on him: CEO of www.sparknotes.com (1999-2002), CEO of www.edonkey.com (2002-2005), and CEO of www.okcupid.com (2004- )
We incrementally innovate. Geocities has turned into Livejournal. Friendster is now Facebook. Online dating sites just changes their logo.Do we need to innovate? Yes! Dating sites were among the first to embrace UGC in form of profiles. Dating sites have the deepest and most honest data on its users. We need to leverage the tools that are out there. You need to leverage word of mouth virality and "link love".What is the business model of the future? How many large, growing, consumer subscription industries can you name? If you ask your friends how many subscriptions they have online, most will say none.The top 5 innovations that were discussed this morning (see State of the Internet Dating Industry)--
is this really where online dating is?
Is that going to lead us into the feature.Ok Cupid's Web 2.0 Elements 30,000 user generated personality tests, user driven matching algorithm, dating blogs, collaborative profile ratings, and its free.
What is so exciting about free?
When Ben & Jerry's have free ice cream, there are lines around the block. People do that just to save $3. He can't explain why that is. There is also the thinking that you also don't have to call yourself an "online dater" if its free.
Why aren't dating sites using targeted ads better?
It has a lot to do with the numbers of people to be able to target better.

Via onlinepersonalswatch