China

There is a promising future for mobile dating as predicted by Juniper Research. They claim the value of the chatroom market and mobile dating will grow to almost $1.4 billion by 2013. For the most part revenue will be generated by subscriptions but event-based charging (like paying a fee to contact someone or virtual gifts) and advertising will continue to become a larger part of the revenue stream.

... many companies which have migrated to this approach are seeing conversion rates amongst customers buying premium rate goods and services which generate revenues significantly in excess of those achieved under flat rate subscriptions.

By 2011 it is predicted less than 30 percent of mobile dating customers will be on a flat rate subscription model. China and Japan currently have the largest number of mobile dating customers.

There is no mention what the 2008 revenue is for this market. Currently from our reviewed online dating services, Match.com (called matchMobile), Date.com, Lavalife, DatingDirect and Shaadi.com all offer a mobile phone service along with their dating website. Other sites like MeetMoi also offer location based mobile dating based on the GPS in your phone (with lots of privacy options of course). With the rise of 3G and the large bandwidth it provides I expect to see the rise of video mobile dating as well.

For reviews on dating services that offer a mobile/cell phone dating service check out our new Mobile Dating Category.

Just a small news tidbit,

JLM Pacific Epoch is reporting that Match.com China (cn.Match.com) has been online since 2006 and has now more than 8 million registered members.

The Los Angeles Business Journal has a piece called "Translating the Book of Love" which looks at the dating service eHarmony and if its current matching and communication system will work well in other countries with different cultures. Currently eHarmony has separate dating services for the United States, Canada and Australia. These services do differ slightly but the questions for the dating profiles and the matching system, for the most part, are either the same or very similar. This is in part because all 3 countries major language is english and the culture surrounding marriage and dating are not all that different.

In June eHarmony plans to launch a UK version with other European countries to follow. The big news is, they do plan to launch a dating site in China. This means a new language for them and new cultural differences to work out. eHarmony did do some research to see if it was possible to convert their dating site and matching system. Through focus groups in China, a panel of psychologists validated the translations of questionnaires and found that cultural differences matter little when it comes to measuring personality types and values. A Beijing University study also confirmed that eHarmony's matching system will work well in matching China's singles together. eHarmony's lead PH.D. psychology researcher, Galen Bucjwalter is quoted:

“We found the models to be highly effective in that we can predict successful marriages in China,”

With 4 times the population of the United States, and with China's average income levels for the middle class increasing every year, there is a huge potential for revenue if a dating service is well received by the public.

Another interesting point in the article was the fact that eHarmony spends about $3 million a year in research to find out what makes couples compatible and stay in a long term relationship. This dollar amount includes the salaries of 6 full time PH.D. researchers.

For more information about eHarmony, take a look at our review.

All matchmaking services in Shanghai must register with the Shanghai Association of Matchmaking Management by next year. Among other things, the association will keep track of any misdemeanors of the matchmaker service.

Each employee who works at a matchmaking service must obtain two certificates from the Shanghai Association of Matchmaking Management. One is a qualified matchmaking certificate and the second one is a matchmaking company employee certificate.

More information on the new regulations can be found at Shanghai Daily.

2 years ago a trend started in China's big cities. More and more single Chinese men and woman started to join dating sites. According to CCTV international, there are now an estimated 8 million or more registered members with over 70 percent having a bachelors degree. The reason for this huge jump is the busy lives of the white collar workers and the easy access they have to dating sites through the internet. White collar Chinese workers are now too busy to meet new people the traditional way.

To read more information on this Asian trend check out this article at CCTV International. For information on 2 popular Asian dating services read our Asia FriendFinder or Asian Singles Connection.

I saw this article called "Dating websites rebuked for promoting sex trade" on China Daily reporting that 12 dating websites are accused of being a cover for prostitution. No personals sites are named but apparently they are very graphic and lists pricing and contact information of the prostitutes.

I thought this article was relevant to our reviews site since I just added a second Asian dating site called Asia FriendFinder. The Asian dating services I have reviewed here are in no way involved in this type of thing.