Is the perfect partner dall, dark, and handsome? Is he a leather jacket-wearing bad boy? Maybe she’s an effortlessly beautiful model, or a geeky gamer girl.

The real answer, of course, goes much deeper than that. A perfect partner should be judged not by their looks, but by their actions. EliteSingles polled 10,000 members from around the world about how they would like their future partner to act in a relationship. Some of the results may surprise you.

Participants were asked to agree or disagree with a series of statements about the behavior they expect from their partners. According to the survey, the top five things singles would like their ideal partner to do are:

1. Share his/her concerns with me: 91%
2. Include me in his/her plans for the future: 86%
3. Accompany me to a family member’s birthday party: 84%
4. Give me freedom to have time (hobbies, interests, etc.) for myself: 83%
5. Find the time to talk to me every day: 80%

The study also delved into things EliteSingles members didn’t expect their future partners to do. Men and women gave mostly the same answers, but they expressed a significant difference in the way they expected their partners to show affection. Only 2% of women wished for their partners to show affection through sex, while men were averse to being shown affection by receiving compliments. Only 3% of men said they expect praise from their partners.

Other key differences between Mars and Venus focused on household chores and fashion choices. Fifty-nine percent of women said expect their partners to do housework, compared to 38% of men. What men were more interested in was lingerie - 62% of men said they would like to be surprised with sexy underwear, compared to just 26% of women.

As silly as some of these stats may sound, and as easy as you may think it is to write them off, expectations are essential to relationships. Standards are necessary and healthy, as long as you don’t saddle a partner with an excessive number of expectations or expectations that are unreasonable.

EliteSingles psychologist Salama Marine offers this caution:

“The problem is when you feel obligated to fulfill your partner’s expectations: when you start to feel limited in your decisions or not free anymore to do what you want; or when your needs are completely forgotten to only respond to your partner’s expectations. If this is the case, then it’s a sign that there is a problem in the relationship.”

If you find yourself in that situation, there’s only one solution: communication. Discuss your expectations with your partner clearly and openly, and be sure to listen to them in return. "Good communication will allow you to negotiate and compromise,” says Marine.

For more information on this dating service please read our Elite Singles review.

Having survived its first quarter as a standalone public company, Match Group Inc. has released fourth quarter 2015 results.

"Match Group had a seminal fourth quarter, completing our initial public offering, the acquisition of PlentyOfFish, and the realignment of our management structure to better reflect our increasing global scale," commented Greg Blatt, Chairman and CEO of Match Group. "At the same time, we delivered solid revenue and profit growth and we head into 2016 with increasing momentum, which we expect will continue to build throughout the year."

Highlights of Q4 2015 include:

• Total revenue increased 12%, or 16% excluding the effects of foreign exchange, driven by a 14% increase in Dating revenue attributable to 30% higher Average PMC, which grew to over 4.6 million globally.
• Excluding both deferred revenue write-offs related to acquisitions and foreign exchange impacts, total Dating revenue would have been $259.4 million, or 22% higher than in Q4 2014.
• Adjusted EBITDA for Q4 2015 was $99.3 million, an increase of 16% versus Q4 2014.
• ARPPU was $0.53 for Q4 2015, compared to $0.62 in Q4 2014, a decline of 14%. Excluding the effects of foreign exchange, which was approximately 400 basis points, and deferred revenue write-offs related to acquisitions, which was approximately 300 basis points, ARPPU declined 7%.
• The increase in Average PMC compared to Q4 2014 was driven primarily by significant growth at Tinder and the acquisition of PlentyOfFish, which closed on October 28, 2015.
• Net Income and GAAP Diluted EPS declined by 26% and 44%, respectively, in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to Q4 2014, driven primarily by an increase in stock-based compensation expense of $14.9 million and an increase in interest expense of $16.9 million, which includes $7.3 million of debt issuance costs. Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted EPS, which exclude the impact of the stock-compensation expense, declined 2% and 26%, respectively, as a result of the increased interest expense.

Total revenue for the October-December period was $268 million, up 15% but short of the $278 million expected by Wall Street analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. The company reported a net income of $35.6 million, a 26% decrease from $48.3 million in the same quarter last year.

Tinder and Plenty Of Fish were behind the greatest growth in paid subscribers in the quarter. Tinder reported January 3 as the single busiest day in its three-year history, responsible for the highest volume of downloads and growth in active users.

Despite the existence of several major players in the dating app industry, Tinder is the clear leader. Deutsche Bank analyst Ross Sandler valued the company at $1.2 billion, and according to SEC filings from Match Group in November, Tinder boasts 9.6 million daily active users and 583,000 paid members.

Those solid numbers, along with Tinder’s commitment to regularly updating its product, mean the app is unlikely to be dethroned any time soon. Going forward into 2016, Match Group will likely continue to focus a substantial measure of its efforts into Tinder to maintain its top spot. For more information on Match Group dating services you can read our Match.com review, OkCupid review, and our Tinder dating app review.

Hinge doesn’t want to be another version of Tinder. Instead of focusing on the swiping game with attractive profiles, Hinge wants its users to engage, message and date – in other words, take the process of dating a bit more seriously.

Millennials are by far the biggest users of dating apps, and are less inclined to pay for a dating service. They also take dating less seriously than older daters. Tinder attracted the young market because the app was free, easy and accessible. But then apps like Hinge came along, who wanted to change the “hook-up” mentality many online daters have become accustomed to.

The majority of Hinge users are Tinder’s target market – Millennials. Hinge is betting on the fact that many young daters want to be more serious in their search, and not just use apps for that last-minute hook-up.

Hinge has done several things in trying to find its sweet spot, including launching a new feature this past November where users had to respond to a new match within 24 hours or they would disappear from their match list. Apparently, this didn’t go over well, because in February, the company announced that it was removing the feature.

In an email sent to its users, Hinge said: “You are busy, and 24 hours is sometimes not enough. At the end of the day, our job is about helping you find someone great, and timed matches didn’t do that. We want to make it right. So we’re turning off the clock. The 24 hour clock that is.”

Users still have to make contact with matches within a 14-day period, because the company maintains a time limit does increase communication and the likelihood of matches actually getting to the date.

And last month, Hinge launched a feature called Story Cards that helps users initiate conversation by letting them answer yes or no to “life experience” questions. According to website Global Dating Insights, the app’s CEO Justin McLeod revealed that during beta testing, Story Cards “generated a 20% increase in two-way messages between users, as well as more phone numbers exchanged.”  

News website Tech Crunch has suspicions that the next Hinge announcement will be a paid service, since Tinder is the only app that can really make money solely on advertising spend. 

In the article, writer Jordan Crook says: “Hinge is undergoing a huge makeover, ditching the swipe mechanic and adding a paid subscription layer to ensure folks who use it are there for the right reasons.”

Hinge also provided the following statement, causing more raised eyebrows:

“We are continually focused on helping our users find meaningful relationships. To that end, we’re always working with our users to test new concepts. However, at this point nothing is confirmed – everything from friend endorsements to concierge matchmaking has been on table. What we do know is that each global release continues to be the result of enormous amounts of work alongside our community in an effort to understand what sparks online connections that have the power to become lasting offline relationships.”

One thing seems clear: Hinge wants to focus on the sweet spot that is missing in popular dating apps – building real, lasting relationships. To find out more about this dating app you can read our review about Hinge.

When Pew Research Center first studied online dating in 2005, few Americans had ventured into that uncharted territory. More than a decade later, digital technology - especially smartphones - has drastically transformed all aspects of our society, including our love lives. Today 15% of American adults say they have used online dating sites or mobile dating apps.

Pew Research Center continues to produce some of the most comprehensive and interesting data on online dating, most recently with the release of five facts about online dating in 2016:

1. Online dating has lost much of the stigma that once plagued it. In 2005, most Americans had little exposure to online dating. It was viewed as a poor way to meet people and those who used it were considered desperate. These days, nearly half of the public knows someone who has met a partner using a dating service. Attitudes have shifted significantly, making it much more culturally acceptable to find a romantic partner online. Nearly half of US adults agree that online dating is a good way to meet people.
2. Online dating is increasingly popular with singles under 25, as well as those in their late 50s and early 60s. Between 2013 and today, the share of 18- to 24-year olds who use online dating has roughly tripled from 10% to 27%. Usage amongst 55- to 64-year-olds has also risen substantially. Only 6% of adults in that age bracket reported using dating services in 2013. Today that number is 12%.
3. One-third of people who have tried online dating have never actually gone on a date with someone they met using those services. Two thirds (66%) of online daters told Pew Research Center that they’ve gone on a date with someone they met through a dating site or app. That’s a large increase from the 43% percent who answered the same in 2005, but it still means that one-third of online daters have never turned their online activities into offline romance.
4. One-in-five online daters have sought help with their profile. Online daters recruit friends to help them put their best digital foot forward. Around 22% have asked someone to review or help create their profile. Women are especially likely to seek outside advice - 30% of female online daters have done this, compared to 16% of men.
5. 5% of Americans who are in a marriage or committed relationship say they met their significant other online. Online dating plays a larger role in modern romance than ever before, but the vast majority of relationships still begin offline. Even newer relationships are more likely to start in traditional ways. Eighty-eight percent of Americans who have been with their partner for five years or less say they met their partner without the help of a dating site.

For more statistics from Pew Research Center, click here. For our own information on the subject you can visit our Dating Statistics and Facts page.

It’s no secret that scammers flock to dating sites. Lovelorn singles are easy targets for con artists looking to lure victims into financial fraud, and over and over again, we hear tales of hackers stealing sensitive personal information to sell to the highest bidder.

What we don’t hear about nearly as often are infractions from the dating sites themselves. In fact, many popular dating services have a poor track record of security vulnerabilities and privacy violations.

Signing up for anything online puts you at risk, but dating services may be some of the most dangerous online destinations. Dating sites regularly collect data on users, then sell the information to marketers. Profiles can remain on company servers for years after subscriptions are canceled. Profiles may also be indexed by search engines, allowing services like Google Image Search to link photos on your profile with your real identity.

Even well-known, trusted dating sites have been guilty of privacy violations over the years. Here are some breaches:

Another year, another Singles In America study. Match.com kicked off February by releasing the results of the 6th edition of the annual survey, which explores the attitudes and behaviors of over 5,500 singles across the nation.

“This year we focused on the crucial ‘second date,’” says Dr. Helen Fisher, biological anthropologist and Chief Scientific Advisor to Match, “a vital courtship step that has been seriously understudied until now.”

Yes, believe it or not, there’s actual science behind your likelihood of scoring a second date. For starters, Match explored where singles are most likely to find great dates. They found that 33% of respondents met their last first date through online dating, while 26% met their last first date through a friend. And there’s even more good news for online daters: those who use dating services are 93% more likely to want to get married and 78% more likely to get a second date.

Experts encourage out-of-the-box date ideas, but many singles stick to the classics and there could be a reason why. Singles In America 2015 found that you’re 107% less likely to get a second date if you skip dinner or drinks (ouch). You can stack the deck even further in your favor if you choose your destinations and your orders wisely:

• Going for sushi ups your chances by 170%
• An expensive restaurant ups them by 50%
• Ordering a cocktail boosts your odds by 137%
• After-dinner drinks increase your chances by 59%

Of course, it’s not just about what you put in your mouth. It’s also about what comes out of your mouth. Match studied first date conversation to compile a list of do’s and don’ts. Despite the commonly held belief that controversial topics should be avoided, Singles In America found that politics, money, and religion are fair game for 80% of daters. In fact, discussing politics boosts your chances by 91%.

On the other hand, only 14% of singles are up for discussing their ex on a first date, so it’s safe to say that’s a subject best saved for later conversations. Even sports, a seemingly harmless topic for a date, didn’t rate highly with survey participants. Less than 25% said they care about athletics.

Timing, as they say, is everything. The majority of singles - 60% - prefer an evening date, but a minority of 22% would rather go out in the afternoon. Weekends, naturally, are prime time for romantic adventures. Thirty-nine percent of Singles in America respondents opt to go out on Saturday nights, followed closely by 34% who prefer Friday night dates.

If all goes well, you’ll find yourself saying goodbye on the doorstep at the end of the night. Fifty percent of singles think a good first date ends with a kiss, so go ahead and pucker up if you’re feeling a connection. The odds aren’t bad.

For more first date data, visit the Singles In America microsite. To find out about the dating service you can read our Match.com review