Match Group

In the 90's Match.com at one point found that 70% of their members were men. Since then, more and more woman have found online dating and the scales have tipped . Some dating services still have a greater percentage of men to women but they mainly are more "Adult" in nature. But, services like Match.com usually have more woman, though this usually is less than a 10% difference. To start off the second half of the year Match UK plans a marketing campaign aimed at single men that is titled Too Many Woman. To start off this campaign Men who sign up before September 14 will get one week free. Starting tomorrow new TV commercials will begin to air for 4 weeks on mostly men TV channels.

Find out more at UTalk Marketing and for further details about the UK dating site, Match.com, read our review.

It appears woman over the age of 50 want a younger man on two of the most popular dating services, as reported in the Washington Post. On average a 50 year old woman on Match.com wants a man who is 48. At the same time on eHarmony, a woman who is 50, is looking for a man 10 to 15 years younger. Thanks to in part of the women's movement and the fact that woman now are more independent equal opportunity has come to matching. Older woman matched with younger men also makes sense from a biology stand point.

Women, according to calculations based on mortality risk, are five years "younger" than men the same age. The 65-year-old woman is the biological equivalent of a 60-year-old man. So it's sensible, not just fanciful, for a woman to look for a younger guy.

By looking at the averages on eHarmony and Match.com though, most men are still looking for a younger woman. eHarmony has found men 50 years or older are seeking women 6 to 26 years younger and Match.com has a similar ratio. On average men who are 56 are seeking someone who is 54 but, when you look at men who are 70, they are looking for a 58 year old woman.

Of course this is what people want and the problem with it is, it creates an age gap. If both men and woman over the age of 50 are looking for a younger partner, matching them up becomes difficult. Of course what a person wants and what happens in real life is a different story. On eHarmony were reporting of successful matches is requested, it has found woman 40 years or older found a match with someone who is plus or minus 4 years their age. For men at age 40 it is the same age difference as woman but, by the time men reach 60, successful matches for them has reached the age range of plus or minus 6 years.

For the full story see the Washington Post. Read our Match.com Review or eHarmony Review for more information on these popular dating services.

A press release yesterday from Chemistry.com informs us that Denver residents will be receiving a Free Communication Weekend, starting today (August 1st) to August 3rd. Full access will be available to Denver singles including the ability to communicate with other locals. Chemistry.com currently has over 5 million members.

With the success of eHarmony's free weekends I guess Chemistry decided to give it a try. Not sure why it is only for Denver though. Maybe in the next week or so they will have another free weekend for a different city. This way Chemistry may generate more press.

The last time Chemistry offered free memberships was mid June for the state of California (see Story).

Check out our Chemistry Review for more information on this dating service.

The Earth Times has a press release from Chemistry.com regarding a new promotion to celebrate California's ruling to overturn the state's ban on gay marriage. Chemistry will offer free 7 day memberships to anyone in the state of California who visits this promotional page on Monday, June 16. This is the same day San Francisco will begin issuing marriage licenses.

I'm glad Chemistry supports equal opportunity for all couples who want to declare their commitment, I just have to wonder what is so special about this particular promotion. We have been advertising a 7 day free trial Chemistry promotion for all U.S. and Canadian singles for a while now. It is available from our Chemistry review or our Dating Service Coupon page (which also has some good deals for other online dating sites as well).

NWA.CO.UK is reporting that Match.com has partnered with Russell Grant Horoscopes. Russell Grant is a popular spot for horoscope enthusiasts in the United Kingdom. You can access the dating service under the Free Dating menu item on the left of the site. Russell Grant Dating is powered by Match.com and allows you to search for members by your star sign. The marketing director of Russell Grant Astrology, is quoted as saying:

This is a unique and exclusive partnership that brings together the leaders in astrology and online dating to give singles the best possible chance of finding love.

Russel Grant Dating is Match.com UK but with a modified Russell Grant Logo at the top of the page. It contains all the functions and features of the normal Match.com dating site. I'm surprised they didn't modify the Match.com partner dating site theme more to make it fit better with the look and feel of Russell Grant Horoscopes.

There are two things I have questions about. Why is the dating link labelled Free Dating, when it is not? You can create a free membership but you not allowed to communicate with members until you pay for a subscription. While there is nothing wrong in paying for a dating service subscription, this is misleading people. The other thing I wondered about is why there is a link at the top of the page that says "Log In to your DatingAgency.com profile". This is even visible when you have logged into Match.com. The link goes to another Russell Grant dating site. I have a feeling this is probably the original dating site before Match.com's partnership. I'm surprised Match.com allowed these two things to happen. It looks unprofessional and is misleading, 2 things Match.com usually does not do.

USA Today had an article about singles finding love and marriage through online dating after the age 45. The article focuses mostly on older singles who have not married before. In 1990 only 0.4% of woman and 0.6% of men married for the first time between the age of 45 to 49. According to the U.S. Census, In 2006 on average men married for the first time at 27.5 years of age and woman at 25.5.

Recently dating sites have started to track this demographic of later life first marriages. Match.com reports an increase of 10% of new members since 2005 who are over the age of 45 and never have married. Currently this demographic makes up 14% of their members. Yahoo! Personals also has seen a increase of 33% in this demographic for 2006 and 2007.

Online dating has made it easier for these singles to meet. According to Craig Wax of Match.com:

As people get older, they tend to find themselves in fairly established patterns, so the ability to meet new people goes down over time. They've got to do something new if they want to meet different people.

By doing a new activity, it allows these singles to easily reach out beyond their circle of friends, family and co-workers and meet someone new. If you want to find love, online dating is your obvious choice since these services offer an environment that is geared towards matching compatible singles.

For more information about the dating services mention here, visit our Match Review (match.com) and our Yahoo! Personals Review (Personals.Yahoo.com).