Mobile dating applications are proving to be amongst the most profitable data services for mobile operators says SmartTrust and application developer Landmat. A recent study by Landmat into operators that have deployed its DateTrak application has shown ARPU increases of up to 80% as a result of the huge numbers of subscribers actively texting their possible love matches. The application, which allows users to anonymously search for, and text, compatible partners across mobile networks, has already been deployed across the world with several operators.
Landmat, who launched the first version of the DateTrak application 2001, actively monitored service usage across two European and one Asian operator for a period of 12 months. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the company discovered that despite the majority of users being under 25, more than 50% of revenue comes from users over 25 years of age, with those over 30 representing the most profitable user group.
"Users over the age of 30 generate up to four times more APRU than 15-20 year olds. The majority of data services offered by operators are traditionally targeted at the youth market so this study is a perfect example of how, with the right application, revenue from data can be found across all age groups," explains Eythor Arnalds, director of strategic relations at Landmat. "Initially the results took us by surprise, but we soon realised that whilst the dating application is multi-generational, the over 30's are simply more frequent users. In fact, 28.4% of all users used the service over 100 times in the 12-month period. This figure represents an extremely high level of repeat usage."
The study found that on average, nearly 8% of all operators' customers try DateTrak within the first year of launch and that the breakdown of sex is 78% male / 22% female. 58% of users used the service more than 20 times during the study period. 28.4% used the service over 100 times. "
Posted to the site on 29th April 2003
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