Seeking.com (formerly known as SeekingArrangement) is an American

online dating service Online dating, also known as internet dating, virtual dating, or mobile app dating, is a method used by people with a goal of searching for and interacting with potential romantic or sexual partners, via the internet. An online dating service ...

founded by

Brandon Wade Brandon Wade (born Lead Wey; 1970) is an American businessman who is the founder and chief executive officer of InfoStream Group, an online dating company. He is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and MIT Sloan School ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, in 2006. Wade was previously the CEO of the company until June 2022 when he was succeeded by Ruben Buell, who will serve as CEO of Reflex Media, the company that maintains Seeking.com.

History

Seeking.com was founded as SeekingArrangement.com in 2006 by

, who was born in Singapore and later moved to the U.S. to attend the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

. By 2009, the website reported more than 300,000 registered members and had an active

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

in which users debated different subjects related to

sugar dating Sugar dating or sugaring is an interpersonal relationship where one person receives money or gifts in exchange for intimacy or companionship. The provider (called a sugar daddy or sugar mommy) is typically older and wealthier, while the recipi ...

. When the

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took place in

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, the website saw a 25.9% increase of site users stemming from this geographic area. This increase translates to the average of 1,823 daily users increasing to 2,295 accessing the site at this reported time. According to ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

,'' among the 200,000 Sugar Daddy users, 42.1% reportedly identify as

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

and 34.9% as Democrats. In October 2013, the website had a surge in registrations during the U.S. federal government shutdown. In 2016,

Doug Richard Doug Richard (born 6 May 1958) is an American entrepreneur best known for his television appearances in the United Kingdom. He appeared as a "Dragon" on the first two series of ''Dragons' Den'' and was also a government adviser. Education Richa ...

admitted to sexual activity with a 13-year-old girl met through SeekingArrangement, believing her to be 17 at the time. The court heard that the 13-year-old girl in question told Richard on a number of occasions that she was 17. On January 29, 2016, Richard was cleared of all charges brought against him by a unanimous jury decision. By 2016, the website reported having five million members and that it generated nearly in revenue each year. In 2021, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reported that Joel Greenberg, the former Seminole County tax collector indicted on federal

sex trafficking Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Perpetrators of the crime are called sex traffickers or pimps—people who manipulate victims to engage in various forms of commercial sex with paying customers. Se ...

charges, used the site to meet women. United States Representative

Matt Gaetz Matthew Louis Gaetz II ( ; born May 7, 1982) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the U.S. representative for from 2017 until his resignation in 2024. His district included all of Escambia, Okaloosa, and Santa Rosa counties, ...

also allegedly used the site. By February 2022, the website had completed a rebrand to Seeking.com as part of a strategy advertising shift. In June 2022, the website's founder Wade stepped down as CEO and was succeeded by Ruben Buell, who will serve as CEO of Reflex Media, the company that maintains Seeking.com and several other similar websites.

College users

In 2010, the website began offering free Premium Memberships to students who registered using their university

email address An email address identifies an email box to which messages are delivered. While early messaging systems used a variety of formats for addressing, today, email addresses follow a set of specific rules originally standardized by the Internet Enginee ...

es. By January 2013, the website reported 2 million users, of which 44 percent were college students after seeing a significant increase in college students registering for the site compared to the previous year. In 2014, over 1.4 million students were registered on the website. Requests from Sugar Babies varied from assistance with college expenses to monthly allowances for living expenses. In 2015, SeekingArrangement released a list of the top 20 colleges attended by women using the website as sugar babies. The number one university on the list was the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

. Other information on sugar babies was also provided such as the average allowance and a breakdown of what women spent it on.

Operations

The company's business model is based on a membership system. Members are able to register for site services free of charge, which provides them with a limited number of messages. Members have the option to purchase credits for expanded messaging privileges on either a monthly or annual basis with Premium and Diamond Memberships. The website is used in more 130 countries and includes versions of the interface in eight languages. The company headquarters is presently located in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. There are additional offices located in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

References

External links

*{{official website, http://www.seeking.com Online dating services of the United States Internet properties established in 2006 2006 establishments in the United States Adult dating websites