True (dating service)

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True is an online dating service that was founded in 2004 by Herb Vest. It is known for its strict policies regarding background checks, which are used to ensure its members are not felons or married. It claims to have 16 million members, but it is unclear how many of them are paying or active members.

1 Advertising
2 Lobbying efforts
3 Criticism
4 External links

[edit] Advertising

An example of one of True's online ads.

True advertises aggressively online and spent $52.2 million in online advertising from January to November 2005, more than any other online dating service. True's ads often feature provocatively dressed women with sex-themed taglines such as "It's nice to be naughty." These ads are particularly prevalent on MySpace.

[edit] Lobbying efforts

True has, with little success, lobbied state legislatures to pass laws requiring online dating services to disclose whether or not they conduct background checks similar to its own. Their efforts have been unsuccessful, though True is currently supporting bills in Texas, Michigan, and Florida that are being considered.

[edit] Criticism

Blogger David Evans is quoted in the New York Times as saying True's competitors were upset with True's sex-themed ad campaign, saying that "they worked hard to overcome the stigma of providing these services, [a]nd True comes in, grabs the lead in page views and drives up the cost of dating keywords on the search engines for everyone else."

The New York Times has noted customers have had frustrating experiences trying to cancel their service, including the service failing to honor their cancellation request and charging them for several more months.

True also generates and sends messages indicating interest ("winks") to its members that appear to come from other members without the latter's knowledge. The company defends this by saying the feature can be disabled, and that the feature is intended to help out members who might be shy.