ECONOMIST – Aug 20 – Personal ads never accounted for more than 1% of marriages in America. Today dating sites and apps account for about a sixth of the first meetings that lead to marriage there. As early as 2010 the Internet had overtaken churches, neighbourhoods, classrooms and offices as a setting in which Americans might meet a partner of the opposite sex. In a 2013 study from Harvard University and the University of Chicago showed that marriages that started online were less likely to end in break-up. The business is worth $4.6B globally, growing fast and highly competitive. Match Group had revenues of $1.3B in 2017. Facebook is getting into the market, too. Many users, while welcoming the broadening of choice that the online world offers, are also becoming aware of its downsides. For those who find popularity on the apps, endless choice can become something of a burden. Others talk of the exhaustion of trawling through endless matches. New services are looking at ways to make their users happier.
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