Dating Services

I notice this article on Online Dating Insider, it looks like Match.com now requires you to sign up for a free membership before you can perform searches or view any profiles. While I understand they are doing this to increase membership numbers, I think the increase in singles creating fake profiles or people just moving on and not signing up would be a bigger loss to Match. Most singles do join multiple dating sites (according to our polls) but I would think they like to perform searches to see if there are potential matches close to home before investing time in creating a quality dating profile.

Should be interesting to see if Match.com does this still in 6 months.

I received an email from Relationship.com. They are changing their name to ChristianMingle.com to make it easier for people to realize what type of single Relationship.com is trying to attract.

For the last year or so Relationships.com has been the most visited Christian dating site according to Hitwise. Hitwise is a company that keeps track of how many people visit web sites and then ranks them accordingly.

I guess this means I'll have to update my review of Relationship.com to reflect the new name change. I should have another look at this dating site anyways since it's been a while and I like to review each site at least once every 6 months.

Perfectmatch.com sent out a press release today announcing that it has teamed up with NBC to launch a TV dating special called "Science of Love: A Modern Dating Experiment". This show is scheduled to air on Monday, June 25th, 2007 at 10:00 pm ET. It should be an interesting show to watch for all of us online dating enthusiasts. Science of Love takes a look at the following question:

Can science make a better love connections than instinct?

For the contestant, NFL football player Adam Johnson chooses a candidate for his first of two dates based on his own experiences and instincts. Perfectmatch.com's Duet Total Compatibility System is then used to make a match for the second date. From here the show follow's Adam on his dates and to the ultimate conclusion where he picks which date works out the best for him.

3 Ball Productions is producing "Science of Love". Other shows they have produced includes "The Biggest Loser", another widely popular show on NBC.

The relatively new site, eHarmony Labs is now offering couples in a serious relationship of at least 3 months a web tool to perform a relationship check-up. Once the check-up is complete you will be offered relationship advice based on your answers.

The check-up consists of 60 questions and is designed to be taken consecutively by each person in the relationship. The questions will take approx 40 minutes to complete. After reviewing the test I found that eHarmony has taken this task as seriously as their profile matching system for singles. They ask in-depth and thought provoking questions that make you look at you and your partners relationship. Even if your relationship is not in trouble there is a good amount of information to learn about your partner from the check-up.

For more information or to take the "eHarmony Relationship Check-Up", head over to eHarmony Labs.

Lavalife is in the midst of testing their new site for older and senior singles called Lavallife Prime. Officially to launch on May 23, 2007, Lavalife Prime looks to combine social networking (friends and interest groups) and online dating. They plan to offer people the freedom to add to your profile any life experiences, goals and interests you have along with any audio, pictures and videos that go with it. An interesting idea, most social networking sites are geared towards the younger generation, I wonder if this will be the one for the older?

Currently you can only create a profile on Lavalife Prime. You will have to wait to May 23rd to be able to log in and try it out.

According to this article on BrandWeek True.com has caught over 25,000 sex offenders and felons who have tried to registered. I've always wondered how many people their system has caught. I was never able to find a number about this on True's web site. I've always liked this feature of True and it is a first good step in having a safer online dating environment. I am surprised that the other major dating services have never offered something similar.

Read more about True on our review.