Zoosk's domination of the online dating scene isn't ending any time soon. The online dating site, which first rose to popularity by making romantic links between Facebook users, is preparing to create an important connection of its own - with investors in public markets.

Zoosk was founded in 2007 by Iranian entrepreneurs Alex Mehr and Shayan Zadeh, who met as students at Tehran's Sharif University of Technology. They moved to the U.S. in 2000 and launched the company seven years later. Zoosk acquired users quickly by tying itself to Facebook and the hundreds of millions of users who already used the ubiquitous social networking site to post personal information and photos. It's since branched out to mobile, the most rapidly-growing sector of the dating market, and has raised more than $60 million from investors including ATA Ventures, Canaan Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners and Crosslink Capital.

Zoosk is now taking steps to go public in 2014. The San Francisco-based company has picked Bank of America to lead its initial public offering, along with Citigroup and Royal Bank of Canada. Oppenheimer & Co. and William Blair & Co. will serve as co-managers.

In the $2.1 billion dating services business, Zoosk has a 2.9 percent market share, trailing behind Match.com and eHarmony in the competitive industry. Zoosk currently has more than 40 million active members, a success rate that can be attributed in part to the additional features the site offers. The challenge faced by most online dating sites is that, if their service is successful, their users have no reason to continue using it. Forward-thinking companies like Zoosk are counteracting that problem by offering other social features - like sending relevant discounts to couples or making date suggestions - to keep users coming back.

The approach is working. Close to 4,000 businesses compete in the dating services market, according to IBISWorld, yet despite that heavy competition, Zoosk said in May that its first-quarter revenue topped $40 million and that visitors to the website more than doubled from the prior year.

There's no question about Zoosk's impressive track record, but there are some questions about the success of these kinds of sites' attempts to go public. Following Facebook's troubled IPO in May 2012, there was a lull in social-networking deals. But Twitter Inc.'s debut last month seems to have put some people's fears to rest, and Twitter is now up 89% from its IPO price. Whose footsteps Zoosk follows in remains to be seen.

Mobile dating apps like Tinder have been getting all the attention because of their hook-up potential. But what if a dater wants the convenience of an easy-to-use mobile app like Tinder but with a little more promise that a meet-up might progress to a relationship?

Enter new dating app Hinge.

Hinge started in the Washington D.C. area and is now moving to other parts of the East Coast, including New York, Philadelphia and Boston. According to founder Justin McLeod, there are about 110,000 single college graduates in the D.C. area, and about 20,000 are actively using Hinge. The total user base is 30,000 and the average age of the users is 27. It's made about 200,000 matches, which are pretty good odds for a mobile dating app.

Part of the appeal of Hinge is that unlike Tinder, it relies on your Facebook networks (friends and friends of friends) rather than a location - (like who is single within a two-mile radius of the bar where you're having a beer). A good amount of information is pulled from your Facebook profile too, so there is a lot more transparency and more qualified matches than with other dating apps. You can only join Hinge if you already have friends on the app, so networking really works to your advantage. Also, it displays your last name along with your age, workplace, school and mutual friends so there's no hiding if you're behaving badly.

Hinge generates the basic profile but there is a bit of personalization you can do, including adding your height and religion as well as "personality tags." These tags are created by Hinge and offered as a list for the user to choose from, adding a little creativity to your profile ("Zombie Survivalist" and "Lawn Game Champion" are a couple of examples.)

Hinge borrows a bit from dating app Coffee Meets Bagel, where a set of matches appears every day at noon. (CMB offers only one match however, whereas Hinge offers five to seven.) The point of restricting potential dates is to ensure you have enough friends of friends to last for a few months, rather than trolling through all available singles in your network right away. You rate each other with either a heart or an "X," and like CMB and Tinder the hearts must be mutual for you to be a match.

This app might end up attracting more women, since Tinder doesn't really offer the same kind of pre-screening for its potential matches. Hinge is definitely an app to watch.

And I'm sure 2014 will keep offering us better and better options for mobile dating.

Newsflash #1: the new study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project says that online dating is now completely commonplace.

Newsflash #2: that is totally not a newsflash. There's pretty much no one left on the planet who doesn't know that online dating is a perfectly acceptable way to meet your partner these days.

This latest study to look into the world of online romance says that 11% of American adults have tried online dating sites, 38% of whom identify as "single and looking for a partner." And if they themselves aren't searching for love online, they almost certainly know someone who is: 42% of American adults who use the Internet say they are personally connected to someone who uses a dating site.

The last time Pew asked Americans about their dating habits was 2005, and as you can imagine, things are more than a little different now. Since then, the rate of people who find long-term relationships using online dating sites has soared dramatically, from 15% of Americans in 2005 to 29% of Americans in 2013. The biggest booms have been seen amongst college graduates, individuals in higher income brackets, and singles over age 65.

For the most part, attitudes towards online dating are positive. 59% of those Pew surveyed say they believe online dating is a good way to meet people, which explains why 46% of them are using dating sites to find a long-term relationship or marriage.

Still, it's not all good news for online dating. Many believe that having easy access to so many potential partners actually reduces the chance of finding a long-term relationship, and a fifth of respondents say they feel that online dating is "desperate" despite all the progress it's made. That number, however, has dropped from where it was in 2005 and will likely continue dropping.

Online daters are also concerned about other users lying about themselves online. The majority say they have encountered someone who they felt "seriously misrepresented" himself or herself on a dating site, while 28% report being contacted by someone through a dating service or app in a way that made them feel uncomfortable.

On the whole, though, online dating is marching confidently and triumphantly into the future. And that future, for those who are curious, is probably in mobile apps. For now only 3% of American adults say they're using their smartphones to find love, but with mobile usage increasing in leaps and bounds all the time, it's bound to conquer the dating world soon.

On December 18, 2003 the first post for Dating Sites Reviews (DSR) went live. In those 10 years we have published more than 3,500 online dating and relationship articles that covered everything from the latest dating industry news to what makes a perfect dating profile. We also maintain more than 100 reviews now of dating sites and related services.

A lot has changed in the dating industry over the last decade. We have gone from about 20 main dating sites that shared the top spot down to about 5. We have seen a lot of dating services come and go. Some of these services just lost traffic slowly and disappeared, while others were bought out by a competitor.

The new year is around the corner, and you know what that means - more resolutions! Are you wanting to change things in your life, to have more fun on dates, to meet someone special? This is the time of year to reflect on what's most important to you and what you'd like to improve.

We make resolutions every year to do things differently, but then once we start the task seems overwhelming and difficult. But it doesn't have to be if you take small steps. Changing your dating life doesn't mean denying yourself fun - it means injecting a little more fun into it. Taking yourself out of the normal routine, meeting new people. There's nothing too hard about that!

Following are some resolutions you can make that will make a huge difference in your dating experience:

Engage in conversation. Instead of sizing your date up over a twenty-minute coffee meeting, try approaching the next date with an open mind. Ask questions, get to know the person sitting across from you. Even if he's not right for you, he likely has something interesting to share. We all have different experiences, and it connects us to be able to share them. Engage in more conversations, instead of quickly writing your dates off.

Mix up your routine. There's nothing that says "boring date" like the twentieth time you're meeting someone for coffee at the shop around the corner. So, pick a new place! Instead of traditional dates like drinks or dinner, try doing something active instead. Take your dogs for a walk in the park. Go on a bike ride. Or since it's winter, try ice skating or indoor rock climbing. You'll find it's easier to connect and converse with someone when you are active. It also makes your time together more fun.

Give every date a second chance. Don't just go on a series of first dates. If you aren't sure about someone, or there wasn't the great chemistry but you had a nice time, go on at least one more date. Most people are nervous for first meetings and you don't really get a sense of who they are. Instead of being quick to judge, try taking a step back and moving more slowly. It pays off.

Project what you want to attract. If you are looking for love, you won't get it by having a negative attitude about dating or blaming others for not being what you want. Try taking a more positive approach. Most people are looking for love just like you. If you allow yourself to enter a date with a fresh perspective, to be willing to give love, then you'll find a whole different dating experience.

Dump those lists. I know we all have standards, but sometimes they just don't serve us. Instead of getting hung up on someone meeting all of those qualifications you require (lots of hair, nice smile, taller than me), try thinking about how you want to feel in a relationship (listened to, supported, encouraged). It makes a big difference.

Dating is a tricky thing. People have different views on what's acceptable and what's not, but they don't always communicate it. After all, would you feel comfortable saying that you want exclusivity on a second or third date? Probably not. But when you avoid the hard conversations with your dates in order to just be casual and have fun, you might be sending the wrong message.

For instance, if you're a woman who enjoys meeting men, do you have an obligation to tell a man you've been dating for a month that you don't want to be exclusive? Or is it better to wait until he brings it up to you?

Many people opt for the latter, because they are afraid to have the serious conversations. They are afraid being truthful will mean they might have to give up something that's easy and fun.

But dating requires us to be truthful in order to have a real relationship. If you're hiding what you want, you aren't doing anybody any favors. People deserve to know where they stand, even if it means breaking things off.

Let's look at a few examples:

Jack and Simone - they have been dating for two months. Simone is also sleeping with her co-worker, but she doesn't consider this a "real" relationship, just a convenience. She doesn't want to give her co-worker up in case her new relationship doesn't work out, but recently he's been wanting more than just a casual fling. Should she come clean with both of them?

You can see why Simone might be hesitant. She stands to lose both dates by telling them she's not interested in being exclusive just yet. Her co-worker could be angry that she was dating at all, especially if she wasn't clear about her intentions with him. And if she is ready to take her new relationship to the next level? She has to risk potentially losing her new guy, too. He might not want to be exclusive, but she owes it to herself to be clear about what she wants and to communicate it.

Anna and Caleb - Anna has been dating a few men she met online for the last several weeks. She likes them all, and figures she should keep dating all of them until they fall out. Steve is really handsome and charming, Rob is really energetic and creative, and then there's Caleb, who makes her laugh. She's most interested in Caleb, but he's been giving off a vibe that he's not really the monogamous type. She and Caleb haven't discussed their relationship at all, but she assumes he's seeing other women and she wants to leave her options open, too.

When you're dating, you're still in the process of getting to know someone, so there's no need to rush into a relationship. However, you can't date multiple people without being honest with all of them. If she really wants to continue dating all of them, she has to tell them she's dating other people, and let them decide whether or not to continue. But even more to the point, it's important that she tell Caleb her feelings, otherwise she will continue dating him without getting her needs met. There's no point in holding on to someone if there's no chance your relationship will progress.

There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to dating, but it's most important to be honest - with the people you date and yourself.