EMARKETER — Feb 14 — Online dating was one of the few paid-content success stories of the dotcom boom. As recently as 2003, total revenue for companies in the online dating market was growing at more than 70% annually. Today online dating is a hectic market, competition is coming from all direction. As a result, online dating's growth has slowed significantly.
The full article was originally published at eMarketer, but is no longer available.
PR WEB — Feb 13 — Dating network Singles of America's AIR will allow singles, who download the AIR toolbar, to instantly be alerted when they receive dating emails. Singles of America was founded in 1997 and has nine dating websites including: LargeAndLovely, SoberAndSingle, SinglesOfAmerica, SpiritualRomance, DatingForSmokers, SmokeFreeSingles, MustLoveSports, MustLovePets and ColorBlindPersonals.
ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR — Feb 11 — Legislation advancing in Springfield would require online dating services that don’t conduct background checks to post this notice on their Web sites: “No background check of felony or sex offense convictions is done on members who use this service. Please take appropriate safety measures to increase awareness of possible risks associated with dating.” A House committee unanimously approved the measure Wednesday, and the full House could vote on it next week. Rep. John Bradley, a Marion Democrat sponsoring the bill, told the committee he is trying to protect Illinoisans who go looking for love online.
NEW AMERICA MEDIA — Feb 10 — As a 28-year-old single South Asian male entrepreneur living in downtown Chicago. I've traveled to India with my parents three times in the last five years. My family places an ad in a local New Delhi newspaper saying that I am looking for a wife and then the responses are collected and sorted. My father talks to various girls' parents on the phone about my astrological mapping. The girl's parents, uncles, aunts, siblings and any living grandparents come over to our house in New Delhi, without the actual girl, to interview me. Then a second in-person meeting is arranged, and we have our first date; she and I are sent to a separate room of the house to talk and decide if we should spend our lives together.
The full article was originally published at Pacific News, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: Shaadi is the leading matrimonials site.
Mark Brooks: Downloading it now. I’ll post my findings shortly…
BUSINESS WIRE — Feb 9 — The second annual LOVE@AOL Dating Trends (in conjunction with Opinion Research Corporation, survey of 4,000+) survey finds that 76% of singles nationwide who use Internet dating sites have met someone special, with 58% of those respondents saying they have turned an online connection into a relationship that has lasted for several months to more than a year. 54% of women said they would date someone who makes less money than they Do. 49% said the man usually pays for the first date. 68% of men agreed they usually pick up the tab! While 82% of women say it is okay for a woman to call a man after the first date, 49% say they never make the call. Luckily for them, 77% of men call within two days after the first date.
LOS ANGELES TIMES — Feb 9 — As online dating has become more widespread, so have niche sites specializing by lifestyle and interest; truckerpassions.com, tallfriends.com, friendslikeme.org, gothicloveonline.com, conservativematch.com, hiphopmatchmaker.com, rightstuffdating.com, grapedates.com, datemypet.com, sugardaddie.com, dharmadate.net, veggiedate.com, largepassions.com. According to JupiterResearch, 14% of American Internet users browsed personal ads in 2005. In 2006, that figure is expected to increase to 16%. Spark operates 26 dating sites. Twenty-five of them are niche, including blacksinglesconnection.com, deafsinglesconnection.com, singleparentsmingle.com, christianmingle.com, militarysinglesconnection.com. The largest dating portal for Jewish singles, JDate currently has 600,000 members.
The full article was originally published at LA Times, but is no longer available.