General News

eHarmony UK released a survey in April that they had conducted which showed that 92 percent of British newlyweds lived together before they got married. Of these couples more than a 33 percent had lived together longer than a year. In comparison about 10 percent of couples lived together before they got married in the 1980's.

50 percent of the people polled who were married less than a year said they had spent at least some time apart (due to relationship troubles). This number drops to 20% for those who had been married much longer. It was also found that 38 percent of the people new to marriage had already been raising kids together. For those who married more than 25 years ago this percentage is only 9.

The survey by eHarmony in the United Kingdom polled 1035 married people. 530 of them had been married for less than a year and 505 of them have been married for more than 25 years.

I am not surprised by this survey as here in North America I am sure that statistics about this topic are pretty much the same. All of my friends who have married within the last 10 years have lived with their significant other before they got married. To find out more information about this dating site for British singles, please read our eHarmony UK review.

According to the blog "Breaking the online dating sound barrier”, the dating site Plenty Of Fish only accepts users from Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Spain, France, Germany and Italy. I did try creating a new user from China and I didn't have any problems (I had the account deleted), so POF must check the IP of the user to see what country it is from before they allow them to register.

The other bit of news about Plenty Of Fish is, it now supports 4 languages. Before now the site was only available in English. As of a few days ago French, German and Spanish versions can be accessed with an Italian version coming soon. This means any text from the user interface (menus, links, etc.) along with all help and information pages are available in the language. The only thing that doesn't get converted is any text a user may have typed for profile fields like the About Me section.

For more information on this story you can check out Fernando's Blog and to find out more about this dating site you can read our Plentyoffish.com review.

We are hard at work finishing up our new dating site comparison tool that will allow people who search for dating sites to also make a side by side comparison by checking off 2 or more dating sites and then clicking the compare button. On a new page, the sites will then be listed vertically along with all of the attributes we track for each site. These attributes include number of members, costs, features and all whole bunch more (about 30 in all). We hope to have this up in running in June.

In the next few weeks we also hope to have our Facebook and Twitter account login integration finished which will allow users to log into Dating Sites Reviews using these accounts. Most people have one or both of these accounts so we figured it makes sense to support them. Plus, when you create an account here your user information, Bio and picture will automatically transfer over from Facebook or Twitter once you give permission.

In a recent study, Match.com found that single parents in the United States are dating more (21%) than singles without children (16%). To celebrate Mother's Day, the site released a line-up of the top 10 cities where single moms are hot commodities:

1. Yonkers, NY
2. Alpharetta, GA
3. Newport News, VA
4. Beverly Hills, CA
5. New Haven, CT
6. Schenectady, NY
7. Olympia, WA
8. Fairfax, VA
9. Green Bay, WI
10. Rockville, MD

Match.com relationship expert Whitney Casey also offers the following advice for single parents who are looking for love but are unsure of how to get back into the dating game when children are involved:

• Revamp your wardrobe. Being a mom is not an excuse to wear mom jeans. You don't have to donate your entire closet to the Goodwill, but if you've been out of the dating scene for a while your look could probably use some freshening up. Looking good on the outside will make you feel good on the inside, and help you face the brave new world of online dating with a little more confidence.
• Remember that your kids are important - but they're not the only important thing in your life. Incessant discussion about your children is not appropriate first date conversation material. A first date is about getting to know each other - not each other's families. How can your date discover who you really are if you let your kids define you? If the spark is there, there'll be plenty of time for chatting about your children in the future, once you've established a deeper connection.
• But on that note...don't try to hide your children, either. Don't try to hide your single parent status because you're worried it will limit your options. Be proud of your parenthood, and honest with all of your dates. If someone isn't interested in dating a person with children, why waste your time with them in the first place, when you could be using it to find that special someone who will love your children as much as you do?
• Determine your approach to introducing your kids to your date. There's really no right way or wrong way when it comes to this issue, just personal preference. One school of thought believes that dates should be introduced to children immediately as a "friend," so their presence isn't a big deal if they become a larger part of your life. Others feel that children shouldn't be introduced to someone you're dating until a solid, committed relationship has been established. Match.com research found that 25% of singles said they would wait 2-3 months before introducing a date to their kids.

And if all else fails...consider moving to Yonkers.

For more information on this dating service, please read our Match review.

Late last month IAC released their first quarter 2011 results. Overall IAC revenues were up a fair bit from the same period last year. Revenue was $460.2 million which was an increase of 22 percent. Net income for the quarter was $18.1 million.

For the dating sites IAC owns (which are listed under the heading Match) revenue for this quarter was $111.6 million. This is up 25 percent over the same quarter in 2010. The IAC Core dating properties saw subscriber growth of 22 percent which drove revenues to increase 18 percent to $93.3 million. Core consists of Match.com (US only), Chemistry and People Media's dating sites. IAC's Developing dating properties was responsible for $18.3 million in revenue which is an 82 percent increase over last year's quarter. Q1 2010 did not include a full quarter from SinglesNet though since it was acquired during that time. Developing consists of SinglesNet, OkCupid, mobile only products and international operations.

One interesting note in the report was that subscribers who use mobile phones to access Match.com grew by 135 percent when compared to 2010.

For the complete public financial IAC Q1 2011 report read this page. For more information on the dating sites owned by IAC, read our Match.com review and our Chemistry.com review.

Related Story: Match.com Fourth Quarter 2010 Financials

Match.com has released a study in time for Mother's Day, listing the top ten cities for dating as a single mother.

The results were calculated based on the cities where single mothers have had more success meeting someone through Match.com than those without kids. What city topped the list? Yonkers, New York seems to be the ideal location if you're a single mother who's looking for her next relationship. But the list spans cities all the way from New York to California, so fear not if you think you're geographically challenged.

Following are the top ten cities making the list:

1. Yonkers, NY
2. Alpharetta, GA
3. Newport News, VA
4. Beverly Hills, CA
5. New Haven, CT
6. Schenectady, NY
7. Olympia, WA
8. Fairfax, VA
9. Green Bay, WI
10. Rockville, MD

Single parents all over the U.S. date more than their childless single counterparts, too. Twenty-one percent of single parents date compared to only 16% of singles without kids, according to the study. And it seems that particularly in the past year, singles without children are slacking in the dating department: 35% of single parents have been on a first date versus only 27% of singles without kids.

Note to those without children: don't blame your busy schedules on your lack of a love life. They can't be more hectic than those of a working single parent!

Also, it seems that single parents are more cautious about introducing a love interest to their children. Rather than rushing things if they are falling head over heels, 25% of singles would wait at least 2-3 months before introducing the person they're dating to their kids, and 58% said they would first invite their children and date to an activity outside of the house.

These results are part of a larger study of 5,200 singles across the U.S. to understand the behavior and interests of modern day singles, conducted by anthropologist and Chemistry.com consultant Dr. Helen Fisher.

It seems this is as good a time as any to meet the other 92 million singles in the U.S., so single parent or not, what are you waiting for?