We have had our compare dating site feature up and running for a few weeks now. Our dating sites compare tool is integrated right into our dating site search tool. Once you select the criteria for a dating site and perform a search, you now have the ability to check off any dating site in the search results and compare them.

You can compare as many dating sites as you wish but we only show up to 4 on any one page. Dating sites when compared are displayed top to bottom (side by side) to make it easy to look across the page and compare each feature of all the services. A list of features are displayed on the left with the name of the dating sites across the top and bottom. A checkmark will be visible in the feature row if the service supports the feature. If the feature is not supported then a minus sign or a blank will be present. Compare results can be sorted and you can remove any dating site from the results once you have disqualified it to make comparing the other services easier.

We keep track of many features dating sites offer. This includes things like if there is a guarantee or coupons offered, to what regions and languages the site is available in. We also list if the dating site is designed for a particular person in mind like seniors or someone from a specific faith. Mobile applications are also listed along with the type of relationships the site is designed to create (i.e. casual, long-term, marriage, etc.). Using our new compare tool now makes it much easier for singles to see a side by side comparison of any dating site we have reviewed.

Check out the following page for examples of some of the more popular dating sites being compared with each other.

Over the last few years PlentyOfFish has tried several different ways to monetize their members. They first offered paid virtual gifts back in December of 2008. It didn't last long though and was pulled after about a month. In March of 2009 PlentyOfFish then offered the "Paid Profile Upgrade". This upgrade called the "Serious Member Badge" was designed to showcase that the member was serious about online dating by displaying icons on your images and highlighting your profile. Prices ranged from $5.95 to $9.80 a month. By mid-2010 the Serious Member Badge also offered a few additional features including having their profile appear above others in search results.

Early this month PlentyOfFish started to offer a new regular membership. As far as we can tell this membership has replaced the Serious Membership along with the “privilege of upgrading” assessment which was supposed to weed out all those who were not serious about maintaining a long-term relationship. The new membership offers:

• The new and improved Ultra Match matching system
• Improved visibility on PlentyOfFish including higher placement in search results
• Find out if your emails were read or just deleted
• The use of profile themes
• Who has viewed your profile
• Unlimited virtual gifts through email
• Additional credits for placing gifts on profiles

Membership costs have increased slightly and range from $6.78 a month for a year to $11.80 a month for a 3 month term. There is no auto rebilling but memberships are also non-refundable. With these new membership changes the only thing that differentiates PlentyOfFish with most other popular paid dating sites is that they still allow all members to email and message each other for free.

With the new membership comes a new statistic. If you upgrade to the new membership it will improve your chances by 530% according to PlentyOfFish (I assume this is when compared to a free membership on the site). With the Serious Membership upgrade your chance of a relationship only increased by 230% 😉 (See Story).

I also notice the other week that the domain Plentyoffish.com now forwards to POF.com, this use to be the other way around. The URLs in the emails I receive from PlentyOfFish for matches etc. also use the POF.com domain though the email is still sent from customercare@plentyoffish.com. The site is still obviously called PlentyOfFish so I am not sure why they changed the primary domain at this point to just the initials. Maybe it will be easier to remember for the average user, or maybe there will be a name change in the future? (I really doubt this will happen)

The last thing that has changed is that the forums link is now back at the top of the PlentyOfFish dating site. We notice that this link first disappeared sometime last summer (See Story). The upgrade link in the forums though still points to the old “SERIOUS UPGRADE” page and not the new membership upgrade page.

To find out more about this dating service you can read our POF review.

It has been about 3 months since eHarmony has had a free communication event. Well the wait is over! In the United States and Canada eHarmony will be having a free communication event from September 2nd to the end if day on September 5th. September 5 also happens to be Labor day in the US making it the last long weekend of summer (FYI Canada also celebrates Labour Day at the same time).

So what is a free communication event? As the name suggests all members of eHarmony will be able to communicate for free during the promotion. New and existing free members will be able to create a dating profile, receive matches, and use the guided communication process to communicate with those matches at no cost. The only thing not include is viewing of members profile pictures and Secure Call communication.

This will be eHarmony's 35th free communication event with the last one occurring last spring in May (see Story).

To find out more about this matchmaking service you can take a look at our review of eHarmony.

We have had a number of site upgrades over the last week. While a little late (I was hoping to have it finished in June) you can now use your Facebook account to log into Dating Sites Reviews. This means in as little as two clicks, visitors now can create an account on our site with all of your basic information filled in. This means participating in the forums, writing comments and reviews has now become much easier. As an added benefit, once you have created an account you also can opt-in to receive email notifications on any posts you have written.

Our Facebook login is very secure. It is all done on Facebook itself so we never need to know your password. To log into our site using Facebook and create a new account all you need to do is click on the "Login with Facebook" button at the bottom of the page in the left column. From there you will be redirected to Facebook. Once at Facebook, if you are not logged in, it will ask you to do so. Facebook will then ask you if you wish to allow our site access to you public information and your email address. If you click "Allow" you will then be redirected back to Dating Sites Reviews where we will automatically create an account based on the information you have granted us access to.

If you would like to create an account and/or login now you can also visit our user login page.

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.

Chemistry is having another popular free communication weekend soon. Starting this Friday March 25 you will be able to communicate for free on Chemistry.com for 3 days. This means every single member will be able to communicate for no cost and with no credit card required during this time period.

To start, all you have to do is signup as a free member and take the personality test. Once the test is complete you will then start to receive matches based on the results of your test. These matches you receive from Chemistry are generated from a matchmaking system designed by famed Biological Anthropologist Dr. Helen Fisher. From your matches you can then choose which ones you would like to start up a conversation with. With communication being free from March 25 to March 27 you can expect the dating site to be extra busy during this time. This means you will have a greater chance of finding the one!

The last free communication weekend was just before Valentine’s Day (see Story). For more details about this dating service for singles who wish to find a long-term relationship, you can check out our Chemistry.com review.