General News

A recent federal lawsuit filed in by 5 men and women from New York, Tennessee, Washington, Florida, and Iowa alleges that more than half of the profiles on popular dating site Match.com are either inactive or fake, and claims that the site intentionally inflates its membership numbers in order to lure new subscribers.

According to the class action lawsuit, Match.com does not screen the site for "fake and fraudulent profiles posted by scammers and others," does not remove inactive profiles that remain on the site for "months and sometimes years" after members stop using the site, and does not accurately represent the number of active Match.com members. The complaint also alleges that Match.com encourages subscribers to renew their expired memberships by sending them messages of interest from profiles that are inactive or fake. The suit states that "Former employees revealed...that Match routinely and intentionally represents that there are significantly more active members on the website than there actually are," and "Another former Match employee revealed...that a huge percentage of the profiles were not real members but 'filler profiles.'" New York-based law firm Harwood Feffer LLP is suing the company for breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation, and breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.

The description of the case on the firm's Web site asserts that some of the deceptive tactics used by Match.com include:

1. Representing that it approves new profiles when, in reality, it fails to do so and allows numerous fake and fraudulent profiles to be created.
2. Failing to delete inactive profiles and falsely labeling such profiles "active."
3. Failing to take any reasonable steps towards protecting the site from the propagation of false and fraudulent profiles, and thereby subjecting subscribers to countless frauds and scams.
4. Sending "winks" and/or emails to former members indicating that someone is interested in them or that they have a "match." It is only after renewing their subscriptions that these members discover that they have been conned and that "the supposed profiles of interested people are no longer active and/or cannot be reached."

A Match.com spokeswoman issued a brief statement in response to the lawsuit, saying only that "The claims have no merit and Match will defend the lawsuit vigorously. Similar claims were dismissed by a federal judge in Dallas last fall." In 2005, Match.com was sued in California over allegations that employees were hired to create bogus profiles in order to entice members to continue their subscriptions, but the case was dropped. A similar case filed against the company in 2009 was also dropped.

This time, according to lead attorney Jeffrey Norton, things will be different. "We have a strong complaint based on strong investigations," he is quoted as saying in an article from The Dallas Morning News.

A copy of the complaint can be found here, on the Web site of Harwood Feffer LLP. If you believe you have been a victim of the alleged dishonest practices of Match.com, you can join the suit here.

It is a month late but we have finally updated the site with our new Dating Site Search Engine. Over on the left column you will now see a Quick Search block that will be available on most pages of DatingSitesReviews.com. It is very similar to the one below.



From this Quick Search block you can perform a simple search for dating sites based on 4 search criteria about you and the match you are looking for. From here you can also access that Advanced Search page where many more criteria on the dating sites can be selected to search from.

Before, if you wanted to perform a search for a dating site you had to use the search available at the top of the page. This search works well but it would return any page that contained the text you were looking for. This made it more difficult for people looking for just a list of dating sites. This is where our new Dating Site Search Engine comes in. It returns just a list of dating sites and related services in neat rows with the most common details people are interested in about a dating site listed. This makes finding and comparing dating sites much easier.



With our advanced search you have over 15 search criteria to choose from. These criteria are split into 3 groups allowing you to describe yourself, the type of match you are looking for and what your dating service should offer. The advanced dating site search page makes it much easier for visitors to really fine tune their options and help those who are looking for those niche dating sites.

The exciting thing is we are not finished yet with our Dating Site Search Engine. In the coming months we plan to add a compare option which will allow you to do side by side comparisons of each feature of a dating service.

Related Story: Dating Sites Reviews - Upgraded Top Ten Lists

What's your best pick-up line to woo a woman when you're flirting online? Do you tell her you love her eyes, face, or perhaps her sense of humor?

According to a recent study by international online dating site Badoo.com, while the phrase "you have beautiful eyes" is the most common opening line men use, the phrase "you have beautiful lips" is actually more effective. This is the same across the globe, no matter the country in which you live.

Badoo.com claims to be the world's largest social dating network, with 87 million registered users worldwide. The site studied 200,000 online flirtations in 10 languages over a one-month period.

Psychologist and dating coach Jo Hemmings, quoted in the study's release, noted that complimenting the lips over the eyes made sense, "because it's bold not cautious", and because it's unusual and seems more personal.

Different countries have their own preferences of course. The study also noted successful pick-up lines in various regions: in Spain and South America, men get responses when they compliment a woman on her hair, in the U.K., complimenting a woman on her legs, and in Portugal, complimenting her ears.

"This is a scientific study of which pick-up lines actually work", says Lloyd Price, Badoo's Marketing Director. "We've found the Holy Grail of flirting."

While different techniques work for different people, it may be worth a try to test this out and see what happens. Generally speaking, the more personalized and unique your compliments are based on what she writes in her profile, the better chance you have of getting a response.

I have had a number of requests recently by visitors on what online dating site I would recommend for someone with a physical or mental disability. After doing some research on the 5 or so dating sites that cater towards this niche segment, I found that Dating4Disabled.com would probably be the best option for most people who have a disability. I took a number of criteria into consideration when I reached this decision, including the amount of visitors to the dating site every month. While Dating4Disabled.com could never compete in terms of traffic with the more popular and general oriented dating sites, they are definitely in the top of their specific niche.

For more information on this dating site for disabled singles, read our review of Dating4Disabled.com.

Here are the Canadian eHarmony coupon codes for two of their more popular promotions. Both of these coupon codes expire on September 30, 2011.

eHarmony Coupon #1

eHarmony Coupon #2

These coupon codes listed above are valid on eHarmony in Canada (eHarmony.ca).

For US singles, go here for our eHarmony USA (eHarmony.com) coupons.

For UK singles, go here for our eHarmony United Kingdom (eHarmony.co.uk) vouchers.

Read our review of eHarmony for more information about this online matchmaking service.

Here are the eHarmony coupon codes for two of their more popular promotions. Both of these coupon codes expire on January 31, 2012.

eHarmony Coupon #1

eHarmony Coupon #2

These coupon codes listed above are valid on eHarmony in the United States (eHarmony.com).

Read our review of eHarmony for more information about this online matchmaking service.