CBS EARLY SHOW — Mar 31 — Today, online dating is socially acceptable and totally mainstream. 26 million people visit dating sites each month. Consumers will spend over $500 million on online dating services this year. The Early Show turns to AOL's Consumer Adviser Regina Lewis for tips on finding love online. Lewis says that for many singles, heading online is actually the preferred method of hooking up with potential dates because it offers them more control over their dating lives…"it can be a lot more productive. That has inherent appeal for a lot of people with busy lives." Lewis says about half of the people who date online claim to be "serious daters." The other half, are "casual daters," who simply want to meet more people and have a good time. Match.com, the largest, claims that about 200,000 users a year find the relationship they are looking for. Eharmony reports 4,000 marriages. About 18% of those dating online now are over 55. The other big trend is the growing number of "niche" dating sites. "The people I talk to who seem happiest with the process view it all as upside," she says, "They're happy to go on three or four dates a week even if many of them turn out to be not-so hot. They look at it as at least I'm getting out there. Others do get burnt by the process and often make comments like, 'If I go on one more bad date, I am going to scream, and this is taking up tons of time and getting me nowhere.'" Then again, when you remind them, sitting at home also gets them nowhere, they tend to come around and concede, 'I guess you're right.'" FULL ARTICLE @ CBS NEWS
Mark Brooks: This sums up the upside of online dating nicely. There's not much in the way of downside, and it's a helluva deal for the money.