Just in time for Valentines Day eHarmony is having a 5 day free communication weekend. It starts Thursday February 8^th and runs to the end of day on Monday February 12^th. This event is for eHarmony.com (United States) and eHarmony.ca (Canada) members.

To participate all you need to do is create a free eHarmony account. No credit card is required. Once your account is created you can then complete the second part of the signup process which is taking the personality questionnaire. The questionnaire is an important part of eHarmony's match process as this information is used by their matching algorithm to determine your most ideal matches that will give you the best chance for a long term relationship. It takes about 15 minutes to 30 minutes to complete and is multiple choice questions.

Once you are finished with the questionnaire you will then receive your first set of 4-5 matches. You can then review your matches profiles and send messages to those you wish. Everyday you will receive a new set of high quality matches from eHarmony. One thing that is not included during free communication is viewing of profile photos. To view these you must become a subscriber.

Remember the sooner you register on eHarmony the longer you will have to communicate with your matches for free. For more about this online dating service, please check out our review of eHarmony.

Alexa can play music, tell you the weather, make phone calls, create to-do lists, read the news, shop for groceries, suggest restaurants, request an Uber, order pizza, tell jokes, translate languages, book vacations, control your smart home, talk to your cats, help prepare dinner, find your lost phone, check if you’ve been hacked, and that barely scratches the surface of the 15,000+ skills now available on Amazon’s virtual assistant.

With so many consumers now relying on these voice-activated devices, dating services are wasting no time in jumping on the trend. eHarmony launched its own Alexa skill last October, while Plenty Of Fish opted to join forces with Google Home instead.

Match is the latest to get in on the game with Match First Date What Ifs, a skill designed to turn Alexa into a digital wingman.

Valentine’s Day is approaching, which means more news stories about the prospects of finding love online. Dating apps have changed the romantic landscape in recent years and offered more opportunities to meet new people, but have they really helped daters meet their ultimate goals?

On February 6^th Intelligence Squared U.S., a non-profit organization which encourages thoughtful discussion and debate, will be hosting a live debate from New York City: "Swipe Left: Dating Apps Have Killed Romance."

In a nod to the complicated state of dating today, the keynote will be delivered by Daniel Jones, longtime editor of the hugely popular New York Times’ essay column ‘Modern Love.’

Recipient
PlentyOfFish.com

The 2018 Dating Sites Reviews Single's Choice Award poll open for voting on October 1, 2017 and was closed for voting on December 31, 2017. In the 3 months that voting took place the poll received a total of 393 votes from visitors to our site.

This award is the result of the votes on the second question from the poll which asks the reader what in their opinion is the best free dating service (includes websites and dating apps). The top 10 free dating services as choosen by our Editorial team are given as options for the visitor to select from. The dating services selected met a number of criteria. This includes having the core features of the service being free (like profiles, searching, and messages), and having enough members and visitors everyday which would give the average user a good chance of finding a partner within a couple of months.

The recipient of the 2018 Single's Choice Award for a Free Dating Site or App is Plenty Of Fish. This is the 9^th straight year in a row that Plenty of Fish has won this award. Plenty of Fish received 109 votes which is almost 28 percent of the total vote. This is down 3 percent compared to last year.

Here are the final results of the poll:

Dating apps run by 21 firms in China have been shut down amid allegations of fraud affecting hundreds of thousands of customers.

According to the Modern Express newspaper, police have arrested more than 600 suspects operating across 13 provinces after it was revealed that some of their messages purporting to be from female users were in fact being automatically generated by computer programs.

The investigation began in August 2017, after one app was suspected of fraudulently charging customers to view pornographic videos that did not exist. When users complained, customer service representatives were instructed to invent excuses such as a malfunctioning mobile version or poor internet speed. Users would then be charged again each time they tried to view the imaginary content.

Match Group, the company who brought online dating into the mainstream first with iconic dating site Match.com and then with its acquisition of Tinder, is looking for new business opportunities outside the dating industry. This week at CES, the company announced the new app Ripple for those wanting to network for career opportunities.

The app is positioned to be a direct competitor of LinkedIn, a popular career building and networking site. According to Ripple executives, LinkedIn’s framework is too stagnant for users to effectively network, and ends up being primarily a database of resumes. LinkedIn also doesn’t do much to create stickiness for people to update their profiles and check in regularly, unless they are actively seeking clients or trying to find a job.

Ripple borrows the matching game from Tinder to help with its stickiness. When you launch the app, Ripple presents you with people who might be a good professional match, based on interests, people you are connected to, events you’re attending, and groups you are part of. Ripple also includes your social networks like Twitter and Medium, so potential employers or work colleagues can see what you’re posting and what is most current (encouraging you to be more active). Users are able to decide whether someone is a good fit, and then connect with them.