Its no surprise that singles flock to online dating sites around Valentine's Day; in fact, it makes perfect sense in this economy. Its expensive to go out to the bar or indulge your every social interest in the hopes of meeting someone new, and free dating sites (or even the least expensive) fit this bill nicely. But there is something different going on this year, something exciting and new.
Jupiter Research has predicted a 16% increase in revenues from 2007 to 2012, yet from September 2008 to January 2009, eHarmony posted a 20% increase in sign ups from the same year previous, while PerfectMatch's revenue increased 42% from the quarter before and earned 62% more users. And even though the 2008 online dating advertising statistics aren't quite fully compiled yet, they already show a marked increase from the 2007 numbers, with an all-time high of 2.5 million dollars in advertising spending for August of last year.
Additionally, the major free dating sites saw huge numbers of singles flock to them - not surprisingly - accounting for 25% of all online dating traffic in December of 2008, as opposed to 15% the year before. Free dating sites like Adam4Adam, Plenty of Fish, Date Hookup and Ok Cupid, although still not the majority, are definitely catching up.
So what does this mean for you? If you haven't already created a dating profile at one of these sites, now is most definitely the time. With more users and fewer costs associated with meeting someone, anyone can jump on board, no matter how the economy is affecting them.
Related: How To Date Online, Should I Date If I Don't Have a Job?.
Sources:
Davies, Jennifer. Recessions Change Love Statistics, too San Diego Union Tribune 14 Feb 2009
Online Dating and Advertising Prove To Be A Good Match Nielsen Wire Blog 11 Feb 2009
Kharif, Olga. Why Pay Match.com When Dating's Free Sites Beckon? Business Week 06 Feb 2009
I’ve read conflicting reports. It seems that the larger dating sites are growing at the expense of the smaller ones.
But in these financially insecure times, I say LONG LIVE INTERNET DATING.
Online dating is so the way to go – not just because it’s easy, which it is, but because you get a chance to get out of your own neighborhood, you get to go out of your comfort zone. It’s adventurous, and gives you so much more energy for “dating.” If you use it to explore possibilities instead of to complain about what’s “available” – you win. Sarah
Thank you for the information, I’d like to find a friend dating my beautiful and I, for that I do………
Plenty of Fishis no longer ‘100% free’. You need to remove it from your list of free sites.
Unique users to online dating sites have increased by 31% as people return from using social networking.
According to Nielsen Online data, dating sites are welcoming back users following decreases between December 2007 and May 2008 as users moved to social sites.
“Traditional ways to date can be expensive; a small subscription is relatively cheap. Marketers should be focusing on the cost-effectiveness of online dating.”
Social networks are actually better for online dating than single communities or dating portals. At least for men. The reason is that while on dating portals it’s often the men who are the majority on social networking sites the gender ratio is the opposite – or at least even.
Another reason is, that women prefer to meet a man trough common friends. There are a lot of women who will never subscribe to a dating portal. But you still have to show me a woman who is not on facebook these days…
I think the online dating industry will take a big leap especially during difficult times. It is easy and cost effective as well. In fact you have a lot of choices to choose your date from.
LoveCupid is another great dating site I’ve come across. They’re just in the UK though.