????今年年初,，這家總部位于莫斯科的公司請(qǐng)來(lái)了布魯克斯這位在線相親業(yè)的知名咨詢(xún)師來(lái)掌管其增長(zhǎng)戰(zhàn)略,。它還拓展了在美國(guó)的業(yè)務(wù)，聘請(qǐng)了更多美國(guó)人,，在紐約設(shè)立了辦公室,，而且還引入了一家曼哈頓的公關(guān)公司，號(hào)稱(chēng)今年打算在營(yíng)銷(xiāo)上砸進(jìn)4,500多萬(wàn)美元,。最近,，它還在消費(fèi)者新聞與財(cái)經(jīng)電視頻道（CNBC）、探索頻道（Discovery）,、高爾夫頻道（Golf）,、歷史頻道（History Channel）和美國(guó)有線電視新聞網(wǎng)（CNN）上大做廣告。對(duì)此,，布魯克斯的說(shuō)法是：“我們現(xiàn)在對(duì)聲譽(yù)非常非常重視,。”

????同時(shí),，這家公司還在努力整頓自己的運(yùn)營(yíng)方式,。比如,，和我在線聊天的安娜塔西雅和我聊上幾分鐘就能拿到一些回扣,，而這是違反公司政策的,。布魯克斯稱(chēng)：“這是絕對(duì)禁止的。不過(guò)不守規(guī)矩的事仍時(shí)有發(fā)生,，所以我們正在升級(jí)游戲規(guī)則,，杜絕這種做法?！惫菊?jì)劃對(duì)那些付錢(qián)給女性,、讓她們上線與客戶(hù)互動(dòng)的本地代理商嚴(yán)加管制。

????布魯克斯把這類(lèi)問(wèn)題歸咎于全球化過(guò)程中“成長(zhǎng)的煩惱”,。他們的網(wǎng)站擴(kuò)張速度太快,，所以難以達(dá)到嚴(yán)格的質(zhì)量控制標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。不過(guò)他表示,，隨著跨國(guó)相親被越來(lái)越多的人接受,，這類(lèi)問(wèn)題都會(huì)迎刃而解。他說(shuō)：“如果你覺(jué)得我們正在走向一個(gè)全球化的社會(huì),，那毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)這正是我們前進(jìn)的方向,。在社會(huì)交往上，我們正變得日益國(guó)際化,。這是件好事,。”

????不過(guò)現(xiàn)在的尊享國(guó)際相親行業(yè)看起來(lái)和10年前的郵購(gòu)新娘行業(yè)似乎截然不同,。首先,，它的規(guī)模要大得多。從美國(guó)移民統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)和塔希莉司法中心（Tahirih Justice Center,，華盛頓地區(qū)的非營(yíng)利性組織——譯注）的分析來(lái)看,，1999年從事跨國(guó)婚介的公司大概有200家，促成了4,000到6,000樁婚事,。到了2010年,，這類(lèi)公司已經(jīng)達(dá)到了400家，促成的婚姻數(shù)量則飆升到10,000 到 15,000樁,。而這還只是一小部分,。這個(gè)行業(yè)現(xiàn)在基本上都在網(wǎng)上運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)了。實(shí)際上,，AnastasiaDate的絕大多數(shù)用戶(hù)永遠(yuǎn)也不會(huì)跑到國(guó)外去和他們的聊天對(duì)象約會(huì),。

????這個(gè)網(wǎng)站的運(yùn)作方式是：網(wǎng)站的絕大多數(shù)活躍用戶(hù)是年薪超過(guò)10萬(wàn)美元的美國(guó)男性，年齡在35歲到60歲之間,。要在網(wǎng)站上互動(dòng),，就需要購(gòu)買(mǎi)積分。積分是按比例定價(jià)的,，20個(gè)積分的起價(jià)是15.99美元,，1,000個(gè)積分的定價(jià)則是399.99美元,。每分鐘即時(shí)通訊聊天需要一個(gè)積分。特殊的尊享表情符號(hào)——如震動(dòng)的多彩“LOL”——要價(jià)更高,。視頻聊天（沒(méi)有聲音）每分鐘需要6個(gè)積分,。有聲音的視頻聊天收費(fèi)更高。

????網(wǎng)站用起來(lái)很簡(jiǎn)單,。AnastasiaDate還運(yùn)營(yíng)著AmoLatina.com和 AfricanBeauties.com這兩個(gè)網(wǎng)站,，通過(guò)AsianBeauties.com提供的免費(fèi)試用視頻聊天，我很快就和一個(gè)穿著細(xì)條紋背心的年輕姑娘聊上了,。我們沒(méi)法聊得深入,，語(yǔ)言障礙太大了。不過(guò)她已經(jīng)注意到了,，我其實(shí)不是男人（揮手示意,！本文作者是女性——譯注），我們也確認(rèn)自己的攝像頭都是正常的（豎起大拇指?。?。盡管知道了我的性別，在我的試用時(shí)間結(jié)束后,，她還是給我發(fā)來(lái)一大堆粉紅色的表情符號(hào),，并發(fā)來(lái)“嗨，親愛(ài)的,，請(qǐng)回復(fù)”和“我好喜歡你啊”這類(lèi)信息,。

????Early this year, the Moscow-based company hired Brooks, who is a prominent online dating industry consultant, to head up its growth strategy. It has also expanded its U.S. presence, hiring more Americans and opening a New York office. It brought on a Manhattan-based PR firm and says it will spend more than $45 million on marketing this year. Recently, it ran ads on CNBC, Discovery, Golf, the History Channel, and CNN. Says Brooks, "We are very, very sensitive to reputation now."

????The company is also trying to clean up its act. For example, the online interaction I had with Anastasia, where she got a small kickback for minutes chatting with me, is against company policy. "It is outright forbidden," Brooks says. "Abuse still happens, and we're raising our game to stamp it out." The company is planning a crackdown on its local partner agencies who pay women to interact on the site.

????Brooks chalks up problems so far to the growing pains of globalization. The site simply scaled too fast to meet strict standards of quality control. But he says those wrinkles will be smoothed out as dating overseas becomes more widely acceptable. "If you consider where we're going as a global society there's no question that this is the direction we're heading," Brooks says. "Socially, we're becoming more international. This is a good thing."

????Today's premium international dating industry looks radically different from the mail-order bride trade did 10 years ago. For starters, it's much bigger. According to U.S. immigration statistics and analysis from the Tahirih Justice Center, there were roughly 200 international marriage broker agencies in 1999, which coordinated between 4,000 and 6,000 marriages. In 2010, there were 400 such agencies, and between 10,000 and 15,000 resultant weddings. But that's only part of the story. The business now exists largely online. In fact, the vast majority of AnastasiaDate users will never actually go abroad to meet the women they're chatting with.

????Here's how it works: The site's most active users on average are American men making more than $100,000, between ages 35 and 60. To interact on the site, they can buy credits. Credits are priced on a sliding scale, starting at $15.99 for 20 credits, and going up to $399.99 for 1,000. Each minute of simple, instant messaging-style chatting costs one credit. Special, premium smilies -- like a vibrating, multi-color "LOL" -- cost extra. Cam share (audio not enabled) costs six credits a minute. Video chat with voice costs even more.

????The site itself is easy to use. With a free trial cam-share chat on AsianBeauties.com -- Anastasia date also runs AmoLatina.com and AfricanBeauties.com -- I was able to quickly set up a feed with a young woman in a spaghetti string white tank top. Our conversation didn't get deep, the language barrier was formidable. But she did note that I was not a man (wave!), and we established that both our cameras were, in fact, working (thumbs up!). My gender didn't stop her from sending me dozens of rose emoticons after my trial ran out and typing messages like "hey ..dear reply please .." and "i like you so much .............."