The advertising agency says the prohibition on dating and matchmaking ads is old-fashioned and websites are the new village square.
Voice of Israel director general Amnon Nadav cancelled the airing of a commercial for dating web site JDate, saying that the Israel Broadcasting Authority Law on advertising contains a clause prohibiting ads about dating and match-making. The JDate web site, which specializes in facilitating matches between Jewish singles, has operated from the US for three years and began operating in Israel three months ago. The advertising campaign of the Israeli site, conducted by the Drori-Shlomi-Aroeti agency, started a month ago. It has so far included newspapers and billboards.
Drori-Shlomi-Aroeti partner and VP business development Yossi Aroeti said in response "The Israel Broadcasting Authority Law is old-fashioned, from the pre-Internet era. Websites are the new city square, where people mingle and meet. The sites are respectable and legitimate. They're widely used and so popular that the name JDate has become a household name." Aroeti added that his agency would consider appealing Nadav's ruling.
JDate is owned by MatchNet, which operates other dating sites worldwide. MatchNet, owned by co-founder and president Alon Carmel, an Israeli businessman, is traded on the Frankfurt stock exchange. No response to the report was received from Nadav.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on 18 December, 2001