Category: Shaadi

Web Sites Cash in on South Asian Marriage Desires

Posted on March 6, 2006

Shaadi_1INDUS BUSINESS JOURNAL — Mar 1 — Young South Asians are increasingly using online dating and matrimonial sites.  Shaadi.com offers 21 choices of community from Assamese Hindus to Tamil Hindus to Buddhist to Jain. SuitableMatch.com, offers matches by religion, community or country. BharatMatrimony.com offers profiles from a choice of 15 languages. It is these details that make these sites more potentially successful. Desimatch.com and Merapyar.com cater to the younger  crowd. BharatMatrimony was launched in 1997 as a "serious" matrimonial portal and has 7.5 million members, 300,000+ in the US. Subscription run from $39 for three months to $125 for nine months. DesiMatch.com, with about 25,000 members, commands a $15 monthly fee or $60 for six months. Shaadi.com has about 5 million members with 15-20% in the US. A three-month subscription is $42, and a year costs $110. 

The full article was originally published at Indus Business Journal, but is no longer available.

Web Sites Cash in on South Asian Marriage Desires

Posted on March 6, 2006

Shaadi_1INDUS BUSINESS JOURNAL — Mar 1 — Young South Asians are increasingly using online dating and matrimonial sites.  Shaadi.com offers 21 choices of community from Assamese Hindus to Tamil Hindus to Buddhist to Jain. SuitableMatch.com, offers matches by religion, community or country. BharatMatrimony.com offers profiles from a choice of 15 languages. It is these details that make these sites more potentially successful. Desimatch.com and Merapyar.com cater to the younger  crowd. BharatMatrimony was launched in 1997 as a "serious" matrimonial portal and has 7.5 million members, 300,000+ in the US. Subscription run from $39 for three months to $125 for nine months. DesiMatch.com, with about 25,000 members, commands a $15 monthly fee or $60 for six months. Shaadi.com has about 5 million members with 15-20% in the US. A three-month subscription is $42, and a year costs $110. 

The full article was originally published at Indus Business Journal, but is no longer available.

Zoroastrians use Internet Dating to Rescue Religion

Posted on February 8, 2006

ShaadiTHE WALL STREET JOURNAL — Feb 6 — There are fewer than 200,000 Zoroastrians in the world, experts say. Most are in India and Iran, the religion's birthplace. To replenish their ranks, followers of the Iranian prophet Zoroaster, who is thought to have lived about 3,500 years ago, are extolling not just the modern benefits of fertility clinics but also those of Internet dating.

The full article was originally published at The Post-Gazette, but is no longer available.

Mark Brooks: Shaadi.com is mentioned as one of the sites catering to Iranians.

Online Dating: Easy?

Posted on June 14, 2005

Friendfinder_1POTOMAC NEWS — June 13 — Thousands of uncreative personal ads, dozens of first dates, one three-month relationship, but still, Aaron Tax believes in dating online.  “Just like the real world, it’s a crapshoot,” said Tax, 29, a lawyer.  “You can really find anyone you’re looking for,” said Tim Chanaud, PR manager at FriendFinder.  Members on Amigos and FilipinoFriendFinder are very focused on marriage, he said, while SeniorFriendFinder users have different goals in mind.  “They’re looking for companionship, friendship,” he said.  Maansi Kashyap, spokeswoman for Shaadi (means 'marriage' in Hindi), said marrying within a similar culture is vital in many South Asian countries.

The full article was originally published at Potomac News, but is no longer available.

Mark Brooks: Shaadi is the leading matrimonials site.  FriendFinder does not appear in the top 15 online dating sites…but if you rolled all of their 20 sites together they would be in the top 3 every month.  Really!  They fly nicely under the wire because Hitwise, Comscore and Nielsen refuse to list AdultFriendFinder, Passion (same database as Adult FriendFinder but with a PG home page and users have to opt in to see naked profile pictures), Alt and Outpersonals in the online personals category.

Arranged Marriages in the Modern Indian Community

Posted on March 26, 2005

Arranged_marriages_india_datingTHE STAR (MALAYSIA) — Mar 26 — With the advent of internet dating you would think that arranged marriages among the Indian community are a thing of the past.  Not so.  Arranged marriages work through family networking.  “I feel it’s their job to find me a man since they brought me into this world. I have no time to go looking around. They know me best.”  Usually, parents enlist the help of a matchmaker; most are not paid for their services. 

The full article was originally published at The Star, but is no longer available.

Mark Brooks: Shaadi.com is the most popular of the 'matrimonials' sites.