Closed

The controversial Erotic Services category is being replaced on Craigslist. With the recent so called Craigslist killings and the legal suit which called Craigslist one of the largest sources of prostitution (see Story) the classifieds ad website started on Wednesday to reject any new ads for the category. Instead, a Adult Services category will be built to take its place. Ads for this new adult category will have to go through a manual approval process and cost $10, which is twice as much as ads for the old Erotic Services category. It is unknown if any revenue generated from this new adult category will go to charity as what was happening with the previous category. Current advertisements for illegal sexual activities in Craigslist Erotic Services category will expire Wednesday May 20, 2009.

Will this move stop prostitution on Craigslist? I highly doubt it. While the Adult ads may meet the websites new guidelines, I am sure the world's oldest trade will continue to use Craigslist to subtly promote their services.

For the full Craigslist story, read our Craigslist review.

Here is another story from my draft folder. Back in February, PC World looked at the matching algorithms of attraction and the business models behind some of the more popular online dating sites.

Here are a few interesting statistics which emerged from their review of the industry as a whole:

• For 2009 the dating industry is expected to top $1.049 billion and is likely to grow at a rate of 10 percent.
• It is estimated with free dating sites, at least 10 percent of new accounts created each day are from scammers.
• With paid dating sites, on average 10 percent of members pay for the service and stay for less than 3 months.
• In November 2008, online dating traffic as a whole was over 22 million with males making up 52.4 percent of the total number of visits (females 47.6 percent).
• Average time spent per visit to the top 10 online dating sites in 2008 was 22 minutes and 27 seconds.

A lot of the information mention in the article we have talked about before, so I will only discuss any new details. What we did learn, deals more about the hardware needed to run a busy dating site and the process of matching. For instance (WARNING tech talk coming), eHarmony has over 4 terabytes of information on more than 20 million registered members, each who have completed the 400 to 256 profile questions (eHarmony's profile has gotten shorter over the years). After a user signs up at eHarmony, a 10 Gig Oracle database is used to match you with initially, a few members. Apparently the real matching takes place later when your answers are matched up with thousands of other users who have answered hundreds of questions. The whole process takes almost 1 billion calculations and is done in a batch operation at the end of each day. This is a lot of calculations to find matches for a single user. It also tells me that while the initial database is probably filled with the most current users who are using eHarmony now, the matches which you may be more compatible with, will be given to you in a day or so from the much larger database. To give you an idea of the size difference between the two, the main database is about 400 times larger. eHarmony also says a members actions and outcomes on the site is stored and used to help determine matches. The example given deals with your geographical limit you set when you first filled out your profile. If you say, set it to 20 miles, but the eHarmony matching system sees you are viewing members who live farther away, then your location limit will be adjusted. This is because, eHarmony will assume location of a match isn't a deal breaker for you (so only click on those long distance matches only if you really want to travel).

PerfectMatch.com (which has 5 million members) has a lengthy profile as well when compared to most other dating sites, but it still only takes about half of the time to complete when compared to eHarmony's. For their dating site, Perfect Match uses 5 web servers and a number of SQL server database servers. A number of other servers are also used to handle messaging and marketing needs. According to the company, PerfectMatch.com's matches happen right away, there is little to no delay.

PlentyofFish.com is also mentioned and the article. According to the author, POF wants to keep things simple when it comes to the profile and searching. The thing is, POF does have a Chemistry test which for some reason is not mentioned. Plenty Of Fish also has been promoting this fact lately due to their new Serious Member paid membership. Serious Members must take the chemistry and personality test to qualify. Hardware wise, we learned that Plenty Of Fish uses 3 web servers, 5 messaging servers and 5 database servers. Their database of user information is 200 GB. For the year the total cost to operate is only a couple hundred thousand dollars with the majority of the money spent on bandwidth.

For information on some of the dating sites mentioned here, read our eHarmony review and our Perfect Match review.

The rumor was first posted 5 days ago on Online Personals Watch that Userplane is closing its doors. Userplane provides websites with features like chat rooms, instant messaging and bulletin boards. Dating sites are a main source of their revenue. David Evans of the Online Dating Insider also mentioned hearing some buzz as well but hasn't confirmed anything. It seems like we are all waiting for our emails to be answered. The Userplane website is still up but no information has been posted which confirms or denies the fact that they are going out of business. Since it has almost been a week and the fact that we haven't heard anything from Userplane, I take this as a sure sign that they are in fact closing the doors.

If you are a dating site looking for a chat provider or are, or was, a customer of Userplane, take a look at Toska. They offer easy to implement solutions which are 100 percent hosted by them. They are currently offering a 15-day trial and a extra 10 percent lifetime discount for all current Userplane customers if you sign up before May 15th.

Craigslist is in the news again about their Casual Encounters section of the classifieds website. The last story in March was about a Chicago Sheriff who sued Craigslist for being one of the largest source of prostitution on the internet (see Story).

The New York Times takes a look at Craigslist, specifically the Casual Encounters section.

Like bathhouses and sex clubs, the Casual Encounters section caters to the erotic underbelly of society, where courtship gives way to expediency and anonymity is a virtue (or at least a turn-on). The section was introduced in late 2000 and is available in all cities served by Craigslist, for users gay and straight, male and female. The ads range from prim to raunchy; a good number of people include photographs of precisely what they have to offer.

We just got a coupon code for PerfectMatch.com which is good until April 30, 2009. It is a little hard to remember, but if you type in

Coupon Code: 8G37A564

into the coupon code box when you upgrade your membership, you will receive the following special offer: 3 months on Perfectmatch for only $26.65 per month (Regular $36.95). This also includes a free book titled "Finding your Perfect Match".

This book is by relationship expert, Dr. Pepper Schwartz, and is valued at $14.95. Dr. Pepper Schwartz has written 15 other published books and many articles for such publications as the New York Times and Lifetime Magazine. She has appeared on such shows as Oprah, Good Morning America, Dr. Phil and CNN as a relationship specialist. For more details on what the book itself is about, visit Amazon.

For more information on this dating site, read our Perfectmatch.com review.

Perfect Match just let us know of their new Buy 2, Get 2 Free promotion. This means when new members signup and purchase a 2 month subscription, they will get 2 additional months for Free.

To be eligible for this promotion, visit Perfectmatch.com.

Perfect Match is a dating site that combines the best of two types of dating sites. You get a detailed profile and a relationship assessment which helps them generate matches for you using the DUET Compatibility matching system plus, you can search for members yourself using their advance website search tools. This popular dating site has been featured on many TV shows including Dr. Phil, The Today Show and Dancing with the Stars.

For more information on this dating site, read our Perfect Match review.