Former Friend Finder general manager Jack Mardack has left the company and announced the launch of adult-to-mainstream online dating consultancy ProfitLAB with rival SexSearch.com.
Although ProfitLAB’s activities won’t be specific to SexSearch.com, the online adult dating site is largely responsible for its launch. Mardack’s first order of business will be to bolster member acquisition for SexSearch.com through such measures as internationalization, adding new features and functionality, affiliate management, and implementing network strategy to tap into mainstream sources.
Beyond that, ProfitLAB is geared toward bringing mainstream and adult sites together.
“Mainstream is a big theme throughout this. We’re going to be doing some of that work on SexSearch.com directly, but we’re also creating a new business where we’re helping adult-sponsor programs, who are what I would describe as the best traffic investment on the web, and making that investment available to mainstream through traffic sources,” Mardack told AVNOnline.com.
ProfitLAB’s creation is the result of what Mardack calls a casual dialogue that has been going on for some time between he and SexSearch.com CMO Adam Small. It comes after Friend Finders recent merger with Legendary Lars’s Streamray, something Mardack openly admitted factored into his decision to leave.
“I have the greatest respect for [Friend Finder owner] Andrew [Conru] and Lars and wish them all the best in their endeavors, but I’m going in the direction where the opportunities are more interesting, and frankly, I have a very nice simpatico with SexSearch. We’re of a mind, we’ve been speaking, and we have what I would describe as a strong partner dialogue. All the indications to me are [that] this is the next thing I would like to put on my resume,” Mardack said.
Meanwhile, Lars was officially named head of marketing for FriendFinder Inc. on Tuesday afternoon.
“What I’m doing is on a bigger scale because I’m handling both Streamray and Friend Finder. [Jack] was more an affiliate manager. I’m going to be doing all the board relations and the public image,” Lars told AVNOnline.com.
ProfitLAB, whose website will be at proflab.com once completed, is basing its philosophy on something called “breakthu strategy,” which is defined as creating custom traffic bridges through mainstream traffic sources and adult grade ROI.
“The idea comes from what happens when long separate markets finally come together. It’s our belief that …the legal, political, and even practical complexities that make it impossible for mainstreamsite.com to put a link to pornsite.com on its page, [doesn’t] speak anything about the potential for mutual benefit. What we’re doing is becoming the world’s first interindustry bridge,” Mardack said.
“You give people on a site access to each other, and then you can conduct them and encourage them to self-target—to self-qualify by going into other areas of interest to them.”
Small could not be reached for comment by the time this article went to post, but released the following statement:
“We are very excited by the launch of ProfitLAB,” he said. “Jack’s extensive knowledge, experience, and contacts in the industry will help us grow to new heights.”
