Match

Match.com's Singles in America study, now in its fourth year, examines the attitudes and behaviors of over 5,300 American singles from from all walks of life in order to get a glimpse into how love and relationships are viewed today.

First dates are kind of a big deal, so of course questions about them were front-and-center in the Singles In America study. Based on the data, dating is in a place that few would have believed years ago. 92% of men now say they're perfectly comfortable with a woman asking them out (yay!), and only 25% of men say they want to plan the first date themselves. Ladies: time to step up your game.

Oh, and it's also time to step up your online stalking game. 47% of singles research their dates on Facebook before meeting (which could explain why 32% of singles ask for the first and last name when asking someone out). Women are the bigger offenders, with 53% percent conducting a bit of pre-date online research compared to 38% of men.

During the date, men and women take different approaches to attraction. Men are more likely to believe in love at first sight (43% of men vs 32% of women), while women are more likely to later fall in love with someone they didn't initially feel a spark with (53% of women vs 40% of men).

Here are a few important things to keep in mind while you're on that first date:

• Don't talk about exes. 72% of singles say it's the #1 conversational offense on a date, followed by politics (62%) and religion (54%).
• 92% of singles drink on a first date, so don't be afraid to imbibe...but don't go overboard.
• 60% check their phones at least once, even though both men and women consider it rude.
• 35% of men and 27% of women believe that the man should pay for the first date, regardless of who asked for the date in the first place.
• Women are more likely to judge a man by his attire than his car.
• Men are more likely to judge a woman by her tattoos than her shoes.
• A first date can be judged by how long it lasts. 52% of singles think a good first date should be between 2-4 hours.

And what happens after that first date?

• Single men are 5x more likely to hope it ends in sex.
• 51% of singles are already imagining their future together.
• 46% of men and 35% of women follow-up the next day (ideally by phone, though text is a close second). Only 6% of men abide by the "Three Day Rule."

For more on the dating site which conducted this survey you can read our Match.com review.

According to a recent study aiming to find the most desirable single in 2014, you'll have the most luck if you're 25 years old and rich.

The study pooled information from about 81,000 singles between the ages of 25-35 on the dating website Plenty of Fish, along with about 1.8 million messages to see what traits were the most desirable in both men and women who are online dating.

For both sexes, men and women in their twenties received more messages than those in their thirties. Women who were between 25 and 26 years old received the most messages, with a sharp decline once they turned 33.

It seems that both men and women prefer singles who make money. Women who earned between $50,000-$75,000 and men who earned between $75,000-$150,000 attracted more prospective dates than those earning less. And men who have law degrees are also likely to be the most successful in garnering attention online, with 33% more messages than the average single guy.

While data like this paints a certain picture of online dating, it's good to keep in mind that this is information gathered from only one online dating site and from just one demographic. If we were to look at online dating as a whole, the fastest-growing segment is singles over 50. And many people prefer paid dating sites like Match.com or eHarmony because daters tend to be more serious if they buy a subscription.

Free dating sites have always skewed younger, because many young daters aren't interested in serious relationships and want a chance to meet a lot of people. Paid dating sites tend to attract users of all ages who are on different levels of the dating spectrum - from casual to marriage-minded.

Twenty-somethings are also gravitating towards dating apps rather than online dating sites. Apps like Tinder, Hinge, and Are You Interested have been on the rise, mostly because of the ease of creating a profile and meeting people immediately, whereas most online dating sites require a little more effort and time before you're meeting each other face-to-face.

So while the POF study might feed into the stereotypes that persist about online dating (that singles prefer if you're young, earn a lot of money, etc.) - there are in reality a wide variety of singles who are online dating. Don't be afraid to explore a number of dating sites and see which one works best for you. This is the best time of year to do it, since more people than ever are online dating!

Recipient of Gold
Match.com

Recipient of Silver
eHarmony

Recipient of Bronze
Christian Mingle

The 2013 Dating Sites Reviews Single's Choice Award poll was closed on January 2nd, 2014. It ran for 3 months and 423 voters participated. This article takes a look at the first question of the poll that asks what paid dating site you would recommend for an award. These 3 awards are our most important award as they are decided by our visitors who collectively spend many more hours on dating sites than we do.

This year we listed the top eight dating sites for you to choose from. Gold will be given to the dating site with the most votes, followed by Silver and then Bronze.

The recipient of the Gold 2013 Single's Choice Award is Match.com. It was a bit of a tough road this year in the poll as Match.com received just over 20% of the vote. Last year they had 30%. Still, this dating site leads over its closest competitor by 5%. Match.com continues to show that they are the leading service in online dating and singles continue to use the dating site because it brings results.

The recipient of the Silver 2013 Single's Choice Award is eHarmony. This dating site received 15.37% of the vote which works out to 65 votes. This is just under 2% more votes than Bronze making this a tight race.

The recipient of the Bronze 2013 Single's Choice Award is Christian Mingle. They did a lot of advertising this year which boosted their popularity. Christian Mingle got 57 votes which is 13.48% of the total.

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

1. Match.com
2. eHarmony
3. Christian Mingle
4. How About We
5. Zoosk
6. Badoo
7. Lavalife
8. Chemistry

Once again we would like to thank all those who cast a vote in the Dating Sites Reviews 2013 Single's Choice Award. These results helps guides our visitors in 2014.

Big changes are in store for Match in 2014, and by "big" I really mean big. IAC/InterActiveCorp, the Internet holding company controlled by billionaire Barry Diller, plans to turn its Match dating services into a separate business with its own chairman. The newly created group - which also includes Tutor.com, DailyBurn and IAC's investment in Skyllzone - could be setting the stage for a potential spinoff.

A whole lot of internal rearrangement will follow the creation of the new business, called Match Group. Greg Blatt, IAC's chief executive officer, will become chairman. Blatt will continue to report directly to Barry Diller, the Chairman and Senior Executive of the Company. Sam Yagan, the CEO of Match, will become CEO of the Group, where he will focus on growing the dating businesses, implementing best practices, and expanding the Match Group portfolio. Blatt will step down as CEO of IAC and will not be replaced. Instead, Joey Levin, CEO of Search & Applications, and Kerry Trainor, CEO of Vimeo, will report directly to Diller.

Diller explained the move in a statement released just before Christmas. "Over the last three years our areas of focus have crystallized, our management teams have developed, our reporting lines have consolidated, and Greg and I agree that a less centralized operating structure, pushing talent and decision-making closer to the businesses, is now the best way to achieve our growth objectives," he said.

"IAC has evolved into three principal areas of focus," he continued, "and we're now organizing that way. First the Match Group, with early and later stage businesses, collectively represents a significant portion of IAC's value. Our ambitions for growth here are great, and with Greg continuing to work alongside Sam Yagan and the talented management teams these businesses have in place, I have utterly no worry that our goals will be realized."

Investors seem to be equally confident. IAC stock vaulted to a six-year high of 70.44 in afternoon trading directly after the announcement, then closed the day up 14% at 68.49. Shares have rebounded 29% since October 30, when IAC's stock sank more than 8% following a disappointing third-quarter sales report and an analyst downgrade.

Things look bright for the spinoff. "They are effectively aligning the best management resources in the best way possible," John Blackledge, a New York-based analyst at Cowen Group Inc., told Bloomberg. "All those businesses that they have spun off before have been pretty significant," added San Francisco-based analyst Kerry Rice.

To find out more about this dating service you can read our review of Match.com.

Recipient
Match.com

For 2013 the winner of the Editor's Top Pick - Over All Award is Match.com. For seven straight years Match.com has been our number one dating site. They continue to bring in new members who quickly finds results and with this success the word spreads. One of the best things about Match.com is that its appeal is very broad. In 2013 25% of their members are under the age of 29. Almost 50% of their members are between the ages of 30 and 50, and just over 25% are 50 years or older.

This year Match.com continued to expand their Stir Events which are now available internationally. They also have added more games to the event which have proven very popular. In 2013 Match got a boost in publicity when Martha Stewart became a member and added a dating profile. In just a couple of days her profile had over 20,000 hits.

Read our review of Match.com for more information about this online dating service or visit Match directly.

This Year's Runner Up for this award is: Plenty of Fish

We all know that people post older or misleading photos on their online dating profiles from time to time - photos from when they were younger, thinner, or had more hair - just to attract more people. This phenomenon is nothing new, but it's something that frustrates and puts a damper on people's online dating experiences, even though they might not complain to the dating site about it.

But what if a profile is even more deceptive - what if someone has posted a false identity with fake pictures to lure you in? What about extreme cases, like catfishing, where you've been swindled out of some money? Does the dating website have accountability in this situation?

According to a Florida mother and part-time model, Match.com should be held accountable for engaging in 'one of the biggest conspiracies ever executed on the Internet.'

According to a lawsuit Yuliana Avalos filed against the popular dating website, more than 200 bogus Match.com profiles were created using her pictures. She maintains that hundreds, possibly thousands of fake profiles are posted on the site, including those using her pictures, even though she's never signed up for the site.

The lawsuit also claims that "thousands" of others - including celebrities, soldiers and adult actresses, have had their pictures taken from Facebook and other sites and used in creating fake profiles for Match.com. Avalos maintains in the suit that people (mostly in other countries) use the photos and fake profiles to scam people out of money. She says Match.com knows this and looks the other way, because the IP addresses of scammers show that they originate in other countries, even though the Match.com profile claims to be posting from inside the U.S.

Avalos maintains that Match.com could crack down on these fake profiles if they wanted to, simply by using facial recognition software, but they choose not to.

In the suit Avalos asks for $500 million in money damages for the thousands of victims, and another $1 billion in punitive damages.

Although Match.com has been sued over fake profiles before, these suits have been dropped because of the terms of its user agreement. Match.com says it isn't required for them to police the site and so the company isn't responsible for fraudulent information people may post.

The outcome of this lawsuit could change the online dating landscape - especially if companies are required to take action and crack down on those posting bogus information. Online dating could get more expensive for members. It could also bring down membership numbers that are used to boost ratings and attract people to various sites. But then hopefully, it would protect people from being manipulated and cut down on the amount of catfishing taking place in the online community.

We'll see what happens next in Avalos' case.