Dating Services

Back in July we mentioned that the PlentyOfFish iPhone App would be here in a few weeks. Well it is now December and I must confess, I forgot all about it.

It looks like the iPhone PlentyOfFish Mobile App has been available on iTunes since August. The current version is 1.02 which was released on Oct 22, 2010. It is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch and the iPad as long as they have iOS 3.0 or later installed on them. Most of the reviews of this iPhone dating app seem to indicate that is okay (it has a 3 out of 5 star rating) but lacks a few features and should just be used as a supplement if you can't use your laptop at the moment.

Features of the app include searching, checking your matches and sending and receiving PlentyOfFish email messages.

For more information on this dating site, read our review of PlentyOfFish.

It looks like PlentyofFish.com has a new payment option that enables members to purchase credits to use on gifts and other features of the dating site. To buy these Goldfish Credits (they are also called PlentyOfFish Credits or POF Credits on the site) you will need to try sending a Gift, Ice Breaker or attempt to view the Sent Message Status. From any of these pages you will be shown your Goldfish Credit status and have the option to visit a page to buy some.

POF updated their site a few days ago with this new credit system. There was no official word as far as I could find on the topic so I am sure it caught a few members off guard. I think members will probably complain most about requiring credits for the View Sent Message Status. Since, this means free members of POF will now not be able to tell if a member has read or deleted their message anymore unless they pay for the privilege first.

The cost of Goldfish credits vary on the amount you buy. The costs listed are in USD:

• 100 credits for $9.95 (10 cents a credit)
• 215 credits for $18.95 (9 cents a credit)
• 500 credits for $37.95 (8 cents a credit)

Now don't confuse Goldfish credits with POF points. Points still do exist and are earned by doing certain activities on the site like creating an account, and every time you login.

On a related note, the first time POF wasn't 100% free happened in March 2009 when they first offered the Serious Member Profile Upgrade (see Story).

For more information on this story you can visit Bonny's Dating Blog who got the scoop first. To find out more about this popular dating site, you can read our PlentyOfFish review.

Lavalife has a gift for singles this holiday season. It is a coupon code that gives members 20 percent off on a subscription to Lavalife during the month of December, 2010.

Save 20% on Lavalife (coupon code: XMAS20)

If you are interested in finding out more about this popular online dating site you can read our review of Lavalife.

It looks like Barry Diller will be turning over his CEO job at InteractiveCorp (IAC) soon to Match.com's Greg Blatt. Barry Diller will still remain IAC's chairman and their biggest shareholder. Greg Blatt has been in charge at Match.com since the beginning of 2009. There is no word yet who will take over at Match.com.

For more on the story, read the WSJ and to find out more about some of the dating sites IAC owns, read our Match.com review and our Chemistry.com review.

eHarmony has launched dating sites in the United Kingdom (2008), Brazil (2010) and now it looks like one will be launched in Japan soon. Currently the eHarmony's Japan website (eHarmony.jp) has a welcome message explaining what Japanese singles can expect if they join the dating site plus a short message at the top saying that they will launch soon.

If the launching of the last two country specific eHarmony dating sites is any indication, eHarmony will probably offer three month memberships for free, for the first three months to help populate the member database. We will update our blog when the new site goes live so stay tuned.

To find out more about this popular international dating service, read our eHarmony review.

I was happily surprised to see that eHarmony.com has an early gift for us this holiday season. They are having a free guided communication event starting today (Dec. 3rd) and ending on Sunday December 12th, 2010 (at 11:59pm PST to be exact 😉).

So what does a free guided communication event offer? It allows new members to create a profile, take the personality test and review matches at no cost. Plus, all members will be able to communicate with their matches with the four step guided communication process for free. This initial communication is designed to let matches learn more about each other. During the free guided communication event, Fasttracking the communication process, eHarmony Mail and viewing of members profile pictures are not included.

The last free event occurred at the beginning of November (see Story).This event will mark the 31st time eHarmony has offered it.

For more information on this popular dating site, you can read our eHarmony.com review.