Dating Services

The Editor’s Top Pick - Match System award has been dominated by one dating site over the last 5 years and this year is no different. The recipient of this award for 2012 goes to eHarmony. With their matching algorithm that has 29 dimensions of compatibility it has been designed to find and match single men and women to create meaningful long-term relationships. In fact on average 542 people every day in the United States get married because they met online at eHarmony. Every year this works out to about 5 percent of all marriages. Since eHarmony launched in 2000 they have had about 44 million people register which has resulted in over 1.2 million marriages.

eHarmony may be known for its matchmaking but it is also one of the most popular dating sites on the internet. Google stated that eHarmony was in the top 5 most searched dating sites on the internet in 2012. eHarmony is ideal for singles who are between 30 and 60 and who are looking for a long-term committed relationship. eHarmony allows members to create a profile and review their matches for free. If you want to try sending messages for free then just wait for a free communication weekend which happens about once a month.

Read our review of eHarmony for more information about this dating service or visit eHarmony directly.

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

Say what you want about Google (and believe me, I have), but I can think of no one better to gather the biggest stories of the past 12 months and determine exactly what defined the year 2012.

And they did. It's called Zeitgeist, and it's an annual tradition that analyzes over one trillion search queries in almost 150 languages to showcase what the world searched for. Using data from multiple sources, including Google Trends and other internal data tools, Google has turned the year's searches into a report that reflects 2012.

The report is divided into two sections: Trending and Most Searched. The "trending" queries are the searches that had the highest amount of traffic over a sustained period in 2012 as compared to 2011. The "most searched" queries are the most popular terms for 2012, ranked in order of the queries with the largest volume of searches.

Here's what Zeitgeist has to say about the most searched dating services of 2012:

1. PlentyOfFish: POF - the site formerly known as PlentyOfFish - is one of the most popular free dating services on the Web. Since its launch in 2003, POF has appeared in music videos, launched mobile apps, and conducted a contest with Lady Gaga. For a review of this service see our Plenty of Fish page.
2. Match: Match.com may be the most famous dating site in the world. Match has helped millions of singles look for love in 24 countries and redefined the way modern singles meet. Most recently, the company announced Stir, local events by Match.com. For a review of this service see our Match.com page.
3. OkCupid: OkCupid is famous for its lighthearted and affordable approach to online dating. The site is free to use, and features fun quizzes and multiple-choice questions designed to bring out users' personalities and encourage community interaction. For a review of this service see our OkCupid page.
4. eHarmony: eHarmony is where it's at for singles looking for long-term relationships. Its famous matching questionnaire, developed by eHarmony Labs, takes a scientific approach to love that promises to find a deeper level of compatibility. For a review of this service see our eHarmony page.
5. DateHookup: Online daters really like free stuff. DateHookup is another no-cost service for singles that made it into the Zeitgeist top 10. This year it hit the big times after being bought by Match.com and OKCupid owner, IAC/InterActiveCorp. For a review of this service see our DateHookup.com page.
6. Zoosk: Zoosk distinguishes itself from traditional dating sites by putting the focus on its social networking capabilities. It's currently available in 25 languages and more than 70 countries, and shows no signs of stopping in 2013. For a review of this service see our Zoosk page.
7. ChristianMingle: "Find God's Match For You," says ChristianMingle, a faith-based site created to bring Christian singles together for friendship, dating, and marriage. With over 8 million members, the largest and fastest growing online Christian community. For a review of this service see our ChristianMingle.com page.
8. AdultFriendFinder: AdultFriendFinder is an online sex and swinger personals site that helps members meet new friends and sex partners. What started as a small niche site quickly grew in popularity - it even debuted the music video for Flo Rida's "Touch Me."
9. JDate: JDate is one of a number of demographically focused online match-making websites operated by Spark Networks. JDate offers both free and premium plans to Jewish singles looking to date within their faith. For a review of this service see our JDate page.
10. SinglesNet: SinglesNet offers singles a feature-rich environment with free online dating tools like online chat, personals, and dating forums. IAC added the site to its ever-expanding dating services roster back in 2010. For a review of this service see our Singlesnet.com page.

So what do you think...did the Zeitgeist report accurately capture the spirit of online dating in 2012?

Meetic announced on December 21st, 2012 that they had acquired Massive Media. Massive Media owns Twoo a popular social discovery service and the social network Netlog. Twoo.com was launched in April of 2011 and in under 2 years now receives 9.6 million unique visitors a month. Twoo's main competition in Europe according to information available is Badoo.

Meetic purchased Massive Media for $25 million USD (18.9 Euros) and interestingly enough is mostly owned themselves by IAC, which owns Match.com.

To find out more about this story you can read the press release.

The Editor's choice for the Top Pick - Senior Award goes to a dating site that has become very popular over the last few years, OurTime.com. This online service has seen very solid membership growth in 2012 and it has continued this trend for 2013. It is now one of the largest dating sites for seniors (singles 50 plus).

OurTime.com is a simple dating site to use. Buttons are clearly labeled as to their function and the tabs at the top of the website make it easy to visit each part of the site. Searching is kept simple by choosing the gender you are looking for, the age range, and your location by entering your State or Zip Code. You can also specify to show profiles that have photos, videos and/or audio greetings. When the search results are returned you can sort by new members, distance from you, and the last time they visited Our Time. If you want more, advanced search options are available for those interested in certain ethnicities, relationship expectations, religion and other important profile attributes.

For seniors interested in online dating, OurTime.com is one of the top dating sites for singles 50 years and older. You can sign up as a member for free to check out the different features offered by the service and search for other seniors who have joined. If the site meets with your expectations and you wish to message other members a small monthly fee will be required.

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

This Year's Runner Up for this award is: Senior People Meet

According to Comscore tracking for November 2012 Plenty of Fish mobile visitors accounted for 50 percent of all mobile dating traffic. POF mobile visitors “Average Minutes per Visitor” is also a lot higher than other dating sites Comscore tracks. This means they make up 67.5 percent of the time ALL mobile visitors used when visiting dating sites. I believe the Comscore data of mobile traffic includes web browsing and dating apps for smartphones.

POF also reports that every day their members exchange up to 30 million messages. In the past year to help fix the technology problems this causes all servers (web and database) have been replaced along with their networking equipment to keep up with the demand. To help with their matching and Chemistry Predictor POF will also be building soon a monster CUDA cluster which will have 147,0000 GPU cores. Wow!

To find out more about these statistics you can read the Plenty of fish blog. Hmmm... Markus Frind's blog use to be called the Paradigm Shift ... I wonder when the name changed? You can also find out more about the dating service here and how it works and stacks up against other services.

The Editor's Top Pick - Over All Award for 2012 goes to Match.com. Since we started the DSR awards 6 years ago Match.com has earned the Over All award every year. Match.com’s continued membership growth and great site design has led it year after year to be our top recommendation of a dating site for someone wishing to try out online dating.

The new thing last year for Match.com was their Stir Events. These events are designed to bring singles together who are looking for a relationship in a environment designed to make meeting new people fun and stress free. In 2012 they held over 1,600 events across 80 cities the United States. Over 150,000 singles attended these Match.com Stir Events.

Match.com was also the most searched paid dating site on Google in 2012 according to the Google Zeitgeist report. They clearly outpaced other rivals through word of mouth recommendations and their smart advertising on TV and off.

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: OkCupid