Dating Services

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.

I just noticed that the dating site Lavalife has released a coupon code which is good from April 15, 2010 to May 15, 2010. This promotion gives you 25 percent off on any Lavalife membership. All you need to do is enter the following code when you purchase a membership at Lavalife:

Coupon Code: LAVA25

To use the coupon visit Lavalife directly or check our Lavalife review for more information on this popular dating service.

ChristianCafe.com gave their homepage a bit of a facelift recently. The cafe table with a cup of coffee which was the original homepage image since the beginning has been changed and now includes a happy couple drinking some coffee. Showing a good looking couple with a background that has richer colors enhances the appeal of the dating site and makes the different parts of the page stand out.

ChristianCafe is also promoting more predominantly that they are Christian owned. This is a good selling feature since most other niche Christian dating sites cannot say the same thing. The Free Trial stands out more as well since it is in a larger font and on a colored button. They also mention in bold lettering that communication is included in the Free Trial which is a good idea since most experienced online daters now realize a lot of dating sites "free trials" just mean you can create a profile and search for members, you cannot communicate with them.

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

CupidMedia's popular AsianEuro.com dating service was renamed AsianDating.com last Monday. This change will not affect current customers in any way and the site will continue to function as before. Cupid Media decided to go ahead with the new name since it better reflects what the dating service offers its members.

For those of you who have not heard about AsianEuro.com before, the dating site was launched in 2000 and has grown into a popular spot for Asian singles to mingle. Currently there are over 1 million singles worldwide that have joined this dating site.

We don't have a review for this dating service yet but, it is on our to do list and should be up in the next few weeks.