Dating Services

2012 is upon us, and so is an annual rush to join online dating sites in the new year.

It's known as the Holiday Effect - the 15 to 20 percent increase in online daters from December to February. Every year online dating sites experience a surge in membership over the holiday season, as singles who didn't have someone to kiss under the mistletoe or at midnight on New Year's Eve turn to the Internet for a fresh start in the new year.

There are a number of reasons that January has become such a busy month for online dating. New Years resolutions are on everyone's mind, focusing many people's attention on improving their current relationships or finding a partner if they're single. The idea of making a fresh start for the new year is also a strong motivator that draws traffic to online dating sites, as is the pressure from family and friends to settle down that singles often experience during the holidays.

"There is also the anticipated Valentines Day event which many single people dread more than any other day of the year," says Penny Russell, a spokesperson for a single parent dating site, "and this often spurs them into action and a determination to seek out a new partner before that day arrives."

Doree Lewak, author of The Panic Years: A Guide to Surviving Smug Married Friends, Bad Taffeta and Life on the Wrong Side of 25 Without a Ring, believes that the pressure to be attached during this time of year is especially strong on women. "Women still feel huge pressure around the holidays," she told USA Today, "and certainly exacerbated by New Year's - to have a date. I don't think that moment has passed."

Dating sites all across the Web experience the Holiday Effect from both men and women, from Match.com who say that their busiest season is December 26 to February 14, to PlentyOfFish.com who report a 15% spike in sign ups and a 20% increase in activity from current users during that period.

And it's not just the dating sites themselves that benefit from the Holiday Effect. As more and more members join the sites, the pool of potential dates increases dramatically, improving everyone's chance of finding love in the new year. Many dating sites respond to this trend by offering special rates around the holiday season, so if you're in the market for a membership take advantage of their holiday gift and start the new year off right.

If you are interested in finding a service to join this year, you should take a look at our list of reviewed dating sites or try our dating site search tool.

Recipient
MillionaireMatch.com

In 2011 the Editor's choice for the Top Pick - Wealthy Award goes to MillionaireMatch.com. It was a close race this time around but we felt that MillionaireMatch.com still offered the best service and higher quality members when compared to other similar dating sites.

Millionaire Match went mobile in a big way this year. Not only can users surf around the site using a mobile internet browser but apps for both Android and the iPhone where released in 2011. These dating apps are fully functionally and let you create a profile, perform quick and advanced searches, and communicate with other members. You can also view your lists of favorite matches and find out who has viewed your profile and when. This site is also one of the few who will verify members. These members are marked with an icon identifying that they have had their photo, profile and/or income verified.

If you are single and looking for a wealthy match or if you are someone who has money and is interested in having some fun then MillionaireMatch.com may be the site for you. They have many unique features and have been featured on many prominent publications like CNN and the Wall Street Journal.

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

This Year's Runner Up for this award is: Sugardaddie.com

Recipient
SeniorPeopleMeet.com

The Editor's choice for the Top Pick - Senior Award goes to the dating service SeniorPeopleMeet.com. This is the third year in a row that this niche dating site for seniors has received this award. In 2011 according to the traffic statistics from Alexa, SeniorPeopleMeet.com continued to grow and attract many visitors. This is one of the main reasons that they received this award since as far as we know, no other senior dating service comes close to offering their members this type of exposure for meeting new people.

The design of SeniorPeopleMeet.com makes it easy for new comers to online dating to use the service. Profile creation is simple and doesn't take long to complete. Searching allows you to either use a basic search form which allows you to quickly see who may be your match, or an advance form which allows you to further refine your matching criteria and narrow the scope of the search listings presented. Also, all the lists about who has viewed you, who you have flirted with, etc. are accessible with one click from the main menu box.

For singles 50 years and older, SeniorPeopleMeet.com is an ideal place to meet others at a similar point in their life. It is free to sign up and browse profiles so there is no cost for you to see what all the fuss is about.

Read our review of SeniorPeopleMeet.com for more information about this dating service or visit Senior People Meet directly.

This Year's Runner Up for this award is: OurTime.com

Recipient
eHarmony

The Editor's choice for the Top Pick - Innovative Award for 2011 goes to the matchmaking service eHarmony. Last year eHarmony continued to improve their mobile and tablet applications which resulted in a huge surge in popularity. The eHarmony mobile dating app has now been downloaded more than 1 million times and gets downloaded on average 10 thousand times a day.

eHarmony's mobile dating app has been updated several times throughout 2011. Each update has brought new improvements like the streamlining of the profile creation process. They have reduced the number of profile questions to 100 while ensuring that with less questions the matching process will still produce high quality matches. The interface has also received an update which requires less key presses when answering questions and relies instead more on the touch screen. eHarmony's mobile questionnaire now takes about 10 minutes to complete and it will auto save after each question so if you run out of time you can always come back later to finish your profile.

If you are looking for a highly innovative dating service that takes technology seriously and offers a great user experience not only online but through the iPhone and Android devices, then you should consider checking out eHarmony.

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

This Year's Runner Up for this award is: Match.com

Recipient
Lavalife

The recipient of the Editor's Top Pick - Canadian Award for 2011 goes to Lavalife. Since their launch in 2001 Lavalife quickly became one of the top picks for online singles in Canada looking for love.

With Lavalife's 3 exciting communities you can join (casual dating, relationships and intimate encounters), it doesn't matter if you are just looking for some fun or a long-term relationship, members can easily distinguish what you want. Another great thing about Lavalife is that they allow free members to reply to paid members messages. Unlike some other dating sites, doing this makes sure that their customers can communicate with all members on the dating site and not just other paid members. Besides email, Lavalife allows members to communicate in a number of different ways including video, by phone (100% anonymous) and instant messages. With all of these communication methods, it allows members to easily get to know their match before making that big step of meeting in person for the first date.

Lavalife, is a popular dating site for Canadians and since it has 3 distinct communities available under one dating site, you should be able to meet someone looking for the same type of relationship without any problems.

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

This Year's Runner Up for this award is: POF.com

Recipient
ChristianCafe.com

The 2011 Editor's Top Pick - Christian Award goes to ChristianCafe.com. This Christian owned and operated dating service saw continued growth this year and remains our number one recommended dating service for Christian singles. If your faith is important to you and you want your dating service to take into consideration your religion and the part it plays in your life then this site is ideal for you.

ChristianCafe.com had increased media exposure this past year through radio and TV. This helped to increase the popularity of this already active dating site and brought in many new members. The CEO appeared on the Boundless Radio Show and the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) as a dating expert. He also took the time to explain why his dating site for Christian singles is an ideal way to find your soul mate.

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

This Year's Runner Up for this award is: ChristianMingle.com