Dating Services

Some of you may have notice in the last month or so that eHarmony has added a new feature to their dating service called "Something to Talk About". This feature is designed to help break the ice and to get conversations started between matches much easier.

To setup "Something to Talk About" you first need to visit the "My Profile" tab found when you log into eHarmony. Once on the tab, take a look at the "In My Own Words" section. Here you will find the link "Something to Talk About". Currently there are eleven topics that you can answer one or more questions on. Sample topics include sports, Music, Movies and Leisure. Questions under these topics can be as easy to answer by checking off what sports you like, to actually typing in a short answer.

So when does "Something to Talk About" get used? When you are viewing your profile matches and when a match has also filled out "Something to Talk About" you are presented with a nice block on the right side of the page that shows all the things you and your match have in common.

To find out more about this dating site read our eHarmony review.

The Game Show Network has a new dating TV show called Baggage and it is hosted by none other than Jerry Springer. The show first aired on April 19 and runs weeknights at 6:30pm / 5:30pm central time. Perfectmatch.com is a featured partner of the GSN and will be featured on the show as well. So what is the half hour show Baggage about? It involves 3 contestants and one dater. Jerry Springer coaxes the dater to choose among the others who should reveal their hidden flaws, what people would consider relationship baggage and what most would keep hidden well into a relationship.

Here is Jerry explaining in his own words what his new show is all about:

Note: Unfortunately the source to the video and/or image which once was displayed here has since been removed by the authors for an unknown reason.

If you are a fan of the Jerry Springer show (which is in its 19th year by the way and one of the longest running TV shows) you should enjoy Jerry's new show Baggage. For more on this new dating show you can check out the Baggage website on the Game Show Network. For further details about the dating site featured on Baggage you can read our Perfectmatch.com review.

The OkCupid blog has been a hit lately in the media with such posts about Picture Myths and how Race Affects Dating. Their recent post about why you shouldn't pay for online dating garnered a number of negative blog posts in return about OkCupids research on the subject (and not from other dating sites).

The Strange to Say blog has a well written post called "OKCupid’s Misfired Arrow". In it he points out several flaws in OkCupids thinking. The first thing he points out is that OKCupid offers a paid component to their service as well called the A-List. This omission on OkCupids part in the article is surprising and makes you wonder what is OKCupid really trying to say here? Are they saying that you're stupid to pay for a dating service, except if it is theirs? Strange to Say had a good comparison for this. To them it would be like GM saying not to buy cars from Ford or Chrysler since they are American made and then not telling the public that their cars (GM) are American made as well.

Another good point that the Strange to Say blog presented was that OKCupid says paid dating sites do not have the interest of their members in mind when they join their site. OkCupid says their main goal is to keep you paying for a membership as long as possible instead of finding the member a match as quick as possible. The funny thing is this logic also works against supposedly free dating sites. Free dating sites make most of their money from Ads being displayed on their site. The more members viewing ads, the more money they will make. Because of this, it seems free dating sites may have a conflict of interest as well. A good example of this is when PlentyOfFish removed the instant messenger from their site (see Story) just over a year ago. The reason POF did this was because they wanted members using the website and mail system (where they can increase ad impressions) instead of communicating with other members via Instant Messenger.

The Unofficial eHarmony Blog also has a good article on the OkCupid blog post. While their post deals with more on what OkCupid says about eHarmony it does poke a few additional holes in OkCupids theory.

Match.com launched April 21, 1995, this was 15 years ago exactly last Wednesday. They were owned by Electric Classifieds and a membership cost $9.95 per month. In a little over a year they had 100,000 registrations. In 1997 CUC International Inc. acquires Match.com and by the next year a monthly membership rose to $12.95. By 1999 memberships was $16.95 a month and Match.com purchased one of their competitors, the One & Only Network.

In 2000 Match.com had 156,945 paying subscribers and by 2001 they had partnered with AOL and MSN. A membership price at this point was $24.95 a month. In 2002 Match.com was then available in 40 countries thanks to in part by acquiring the international dating site Soulmates.com. In 2003 Match.com entered the cell phone dating market by launching MatchMobile. 2005 was a big year for Match.com when they launched the MindFindBind program. This program was created in part by the famous TV talk show host and relationship expert Dr. Phil. During this year Chemistry.com was launched as well.

In 2009 Match.com sold their European operations to Meetic and buys People Media from American Capital Ltd.. People Media run several niche dating services with the most popular ones being for Seniors, Black Americans and Christians. During this year Match.com also launches Dating Applications on the iPhone, Palm Pre and Palm Pixi cell phones.

In 2010 Match.com releases Dating Apps for the Blackberry and Android mobile phones. Match.com also acquires Singlesnet.com. At this point a monthly membership at Match.com costs $34.99.

The top picture on the right is what Match.com looked like in 2000 (thanks to the WayBackMachine). The bottom right photo is a snapshot of what Match.com looked like in 2009.

For a more detailed timeline visit Fox Business or read our own recorded history of Match.com. To find more information on this dating site, read out review of Match.com.

We got word of some new features at Perfectmatch.com.

The first one is called "Like It" and it allows members to tell other members if they liked one or more of their photos, personal statements, and the "In My Words" content section. What makes "Like it" personal is the ability to tell the member why you liked the photo or other statements. For example with photos you can select from 6 preselected answers which include telling them you liked the energy of the photo, too their eyes or smile. Once you tell someone you have liked a part of their profile an email message will be sent to them, informing them of this connection.

Another new feature is a quick compare tool. When you click on "Compare Us" when looking at a profile you will be presented with a 2 column layout showing on the left the person you are interested in and on the right your own profile details. This includes a photo, the Duet Analysis showing the Similarity Factors as well as the main parts of the profile that can often be deal breakers in a relationship. Some examples include smoking, drinking and food preferences.

Perfectmatch.com also launched a revamped dating guide called "Life, Love and Dr. Schwartz" which offers a column from their relationship expert, Dr. Pepper Schwartz, as well as content from members including dating disaster stories and their favorite date night recipes. This is also where you go to find the latest Polls and Quizzes on love and relationships. Online safety tips and advice is also available from here as well.

To find out more information about this dating site, read our review of PerfectMatch.com.

I notice the other day that the ChristianCafe is having a sale on their memberships. This sale can save you over 20 percent based on regular membership prices. This offer is for a limited time only, so if you are interested in this dating site you should give their 10 day free trial a try. Their free trial includes email which enables you to communicate with members fully. This combined with searching should give you a good idea if there are plenty of active members living in your area.

Term	Regular Price	Sale Price	Cost Per Day
1 Month	$34.95	NA	$1.17
3 Months	$49.95	$39.95	$0.44
6 Months	$79.95	$59.95	$0.33
1 Year	$109.95	$89.95	$0.25

For more information on this dating service, read our review of ChristianCafe for more information.