Dating Services

The recipient of the Editor's Top Pick - Innovative Award is Match.com. In 2009 Match.com introduced a number of new features and it was also the year in which Match.com embraced the smartphone. MatchMobile has been around since 2005 (I believe) and allows the everyday cell phone to connect to Match.com, search for matches, view profiles, and send emails. Match.com decided to expand on this functionality and last March released an iPhone App. With its larger high quality screen and touch interface the iPhone made mobile dating easier to view and simpler to use (no typing on a 10 digit pad). iPhone users also were able to edit their profiles and use other features of Match.com which is not available on MatchMobile. The iPhone with its built in GPS also allowed Match.com to offer location based dating to its members. This opt-in feature allowed you to see if there are other Match.com members nearby in which you could communicate with. This is ideal for singles who enjoy the bar scene and want to find other singles in the vicinity. Later in the year the Palm Pixi and Palm Pre also saw the release of a similar Match.com dating application and in January 2010 an App for the Blackberry was released. An app for Andriod is also expected soon and once released Match.com will have a dating application for 90 percent of all smartphones. This gives them a huge jump on the competition.

Late in December of 2009 Match.com released a suite of matching tools called "My Match". These tools were designed to complement Match.com's existing search capabilities. In the suite members will be familiar with the "Daily 5" which Match first launch in December of 2008. The Daily 5 provides a quick and easy way for you to review qualified matches based on your profile information and preferences. The next tool is called "Mutual Match". It works by sifting through Match.com's database of members to identify those who not only match your criteria, but whose criteria also match you. The third dating tool is called "Singled Out". This feature allows Match.com when they find a member who really stands out as someone they think you'll have a connection with, to "single this match out" for your consideration. The last tool in the suite is called "Like At First Sight". This tool has an additional quiz component which concentrates on finding out what makes a good first impression to you. Based on your answers Match.com will introduce you to members which should have immediate appeal for you.

If you are interested in a dating service which continues to innovate and create a better overall online dating experience then Match.com is an ideal choice.

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

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

According to a recent article from PC World, geeks are the most romantic bunch of folk out there! Whether it's men being able to better identify with tech-savvy women or simply the inherently creative nature of techier gigs, it seems that geeks rule both the online and real world romantic spaces. And guys - there's something to back up your argument when people say geeks are no fun!

But what about the ladies? The article reports that geek girls (or "geekettes") are more likely than their non-tech savvy fellow femmes to have more active social live. This translates into delving into the online dating scene as well as other tech-based social activities like FourSquare, Brightkite and community or regional groups like Meetup.com. So the bottom line is: nothing's wrong with being a bit of a geek, especially when you're out and looking for love.

If you're still a bit skeptical about the allure of "geekdom," we've put together a list of awesome things that geeks bring to the dating table:

• Great shoppers - A geek knows his or her way around online shopping. Give them a mouse and a laptop and they'll click their way to shopping bliss.
• They're connected - When you come across a fellow geek on an online dating site, they're likely to be better with emails and communicating before the first date. Tech is their niche, so take advantage of some great email banter!
• Oh-so-resourceful - Since a geek knows their way around a computer just think of their ability to tap into the local pulse. Live music, local events, movies and dinner reservations - the options are endless. Need something researched and planned? Give it to a geek!
• Simply handy - It's not so bad having a techie close by. Think iPhone snarls, cell phone questions, mp3 download and home theater system hookups. Sometimes you just can't beat "geek" for answering the questions posed by modern technology.

For the Editor's Top Pick - Match System Award, the recipient this year is eHarmony. This is the second year in a row for eHarmony to win this award, and the reason why is, this dating service continues to push the boundaries in matching singles. eHarmony also achieved a major membership milestone in 2009. By September they had surpassed 30 million member accounts since the launch of their dating site in 2000.

eHarmony has always been about matching people through compatibility. This is the reason for the in-depth profile and the 200 plus questions. eHarmony needs to get to know you before they can match you with someone. Most dating sites rush you through the sign up process in under 5 minutes; eHarmony's takes a good hour. This means most members you find on eHarmony are serious about finding love since they need to make a fair commitment in time before they can view their matches. Another thing that makes eHarmony different is they send you matches of compatible singles. You do not search for them. This may put some people off, but what this allows eHarmony do is make sure you see the right people who are compatible with you. Not the people you think should be compatible, by the searches you perform.

If you are someone who is interested in a long term relationship and are someone who believes matching involves compatible personalities then eHarmony is the dating site for you. If you need proof that eHarmony works, all you need to do is visit their Facebook Fan Page to see the thousands of submitted success stories and pictures on their wall.

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: Chemistry.

Just in time for Valentine's Day, eHarmony here in the United States and Canada is planning to have their 23rd free communication weekend (FCW) starting Thursday February 11th, 2010 to Monday February 15th, 2010.

During this 5 day eHarmony free communication weekend, all members will be able to review matches and to communicate with these matches for no cost. The month of February and especially around Valentine's Day is when dating sites are the busiest. This means if you haven't tried eHarmony yet, this is your best chance to see how it works and what type of matches they have in your area. As with previous FCWs, members will not be able to FastTrack the guided communication process. Member's photos also are also not viewable for this promotion.

The last eHarmony free communication event occurred during New Years Eve (see Story).

Check out our review of eHarmony for more information on the dating site.

Singles interested in the United Kingdom Free Communication Weekend, read this News Story.

Update: I see that the Australian eHarmony dating site is having a FCW as well but it runs from Friday Feb.12th to Feb. 15th.

Match.com and Meetic have created an equal partnership together in Latin America where the two dating companies will be combining their resources. According to the CEO of Match.com, Greg Blatt:

By combining ParPerfeito's strength in the Brazilian market with Match.com's presence in the rest of Latin America, we believe we're best positioned to drive that expansion and create an asset of meaningful value. We're confident from our work together in Europe that further partnering with Meetic will be a productive experience.

The online dating market is less mature in Latin American than the larger North America and Europe markets. By making a combined push now both companies feel that they will come out ahead in this merging dating market. Match.com will control the new entity's operations and will pay Meetic $3 million in cash at the closing (March 15, 2010). I am not sure what Meetic's responsibility in all this is but, I will assume that they must be required to push traffic to the new venture. At the beginning of the fourth year of operations Match.com has reserved the right to buy Meetic's share of the entity at fair market value.

When we receive more news about this new entity (like the name of the website) we will be sure to pass it on.

For more on the story read the press release.

Match.com currently offers their dating application on the iPhone (see Story), the Palm Pixi (see Story) and the Palm Pre (see Story), or so I thought! While researching a story about the Google Android OS I see Match.com now offer a dating application for the Blackberry phone. As with the other Match.com smart phone applications you can browse for singles, send and receive emails and wink at members. Blackberry App users can also upload photos and edit their profiles. These smart phone apps for the most part allow you to do everything you can on the website. As far as I can tell the Blackberry Match.com dating application was released sometime late January, 2010.

We also just got news that Match.com is currently working on a dating application for Android phones. Once this app is completed in the coming months Match.com will have almost 90 percent of the world's smart phones covered with their dating application. When you combine this with their current matchMobile service (which has been around for a number of years now for regular cell phones) you can tell Match.com has taken a special interest in mobile dating.

For more on the story read Forbes. To find out more about mobile dating applications on Match.com, read out review of Match.com.