Match

In time for Valentine’s Day, online dating service Match released its seventh annual Singles in America study, the largest and most comprehensive study of its kind.

This year’s focus was a little different from previous studies, exploring new dating rituals, shifting gender roles, and the impact social media has had on the dating culture.

First, thanks to mobile apps and the accessibility of online dating, almost one in six singles (15%) of those surveyed by Match feel addicted to the process of looking for a date. Millennials are 125% more likely to say they feel addicted to dating than older generations. And men are 97% more likely to feel addicted to dating than women – although more women feel more burned out by the process (54%).

Match.com has released its seventh annual Singles in America study, the nation’s largest and most comprehensive annual survey of dating in the United States.

The 2017 survey is set to reveal surprising data and trends on new dating rituals, the impact of social media on the dating landscape, shifting gender roles, and attitudes about love, sex, and relationships across generations.

Unsurprisingly, Millennials were a major focus of the study. The much talked-about generation is “diligently using technology to find love,” says Dr. Helen Fisher, biological anthropologist and Chief Scientific Advisor to Match, “and building new dating rules and taboos along the way.”

Match Group reported fourth quarter and full year 2016 financial results, revealing a mix of highs and lows.

“Match Group executed well in our first full year as a public company,” said Greg Blatt, Chairman and CEO. “We had strong double digit revenue, operating income, Adjusted EBITDA and PMC growth, generally on track with our expectations at the time we went public. As we roll into 2017, we’re confident we can maintain that momentum.”

Q4 2016 highlights include:

Online dating industry giant Match is looking to distinguish itself from the more popular dating apps like Bumble or Tinder. In an effort do this and to attract new customers, Match unveiled “Missed Connections,” a location-based feature that allows users to see other members they have crossed paths with in real life.

For example, if you walked in your neighborhood park this morning or grabbed coffee at your favorite coffee shop, you can see who on Match did the same and reach out to them.

The new feature offers a more organic approach to dating. Match hopes it will help people connect more easily in real life instead of relying on messaging, which has become an issue with many dating app users. In Match’s upcoming “Singles in America” survey (which will debut in early February), 55% of singles say they feel that technology has made it more difficult to connect with others in real life.

Recipient of Gold
Match.com

Recipient of Silver
eHarmony

Recipient of Bronze
Elite Singles

The 2016 Dating Sites Reviews Single's Choice Award poll was launched on October 13th, 2016 and in two and half months closed for voting on January 1st, 2017. By this point it had 407 people cast their votes. For the first question of the poll, it asked our visitors what paid dating site or app would you recommend for the Single's Choice Award. Voters had an option to select from 10 possible answers of the top dating services of 2016 (as chosen by the Editor's). This is 2 more dating services to choose from compared to last year. For this award the top voted service receives Gold, followed by Silver, and for third, Bronze.

The recipient of the Gold 2016 Single's Choice Award is Match.com. Match received a total of 83 votes which worked out to 20.4% of all votes cast. This gave match a strong 6% lead in votes when compared to the dating service which received the Silver.

The recipient of the Silver 2016 Single's Choice Award is eHarmony. This year eHarmony received 57 votes which is 14% of the total votes cast. This gives them a solid position over third. At the end of this year eHarmony went through a number of changes including updates to their relationship questionnaire and expanding how matching works. It will be interesting to see how this affects things next year during voting.

The recipient of the Bronze 2016 Single's Choice Award is Elite Singles. Elite Singles received 49 votes which is 12% of all votes cast. This is the first time Elite Singles took part in the Single's Choice Awards showing that their members believe in this new service.

Here are this year's standings for the Single's Choice award for all dating sites in the poll:

Recipient
Match.com

The Editor's Top Pick - Over All Award recipient for 2016 is Match.com. This award is a difficult one to determine as the race is very close amongst the popular dating services. After careful review we determined that Match would be the recipient of the Overall award this year thanks to their continued popularity and customer service.

In a recent study it was found that 38% of Match members had a relationship (which started on Match.com) that had lasted longer than one month. This was the highest of all the dating services which were in the study. Thanks to statistics like this and Match's continued ability to offer easy and accessible tools for members to find their potential partner, it raised the bar and put this dating service top on our list for 2016.