Match

Instead of launching Chemistry in the United Kingdom (which is available only in the US and Canada) Match.com has decided to include a personality test called Match Insights as part of the UK Match.com dating site. After reviewing the 2 tests I found them almost exactly the same (at least with the way I answered the questions). For existing Match.com members you can find the personality test in the My Profile section. According to the press release about this news:

... the self analysis is available free to all match.com online dating members in the UK. This will be followed by a premium service available early next year which will deliver every ’match insights’ user their best matches each day based on their personality type.

It looks like this will become an additional paid service that will most likely continue to be a part of Match.com instead of becoming a whole new dating site.

Once again Match.com is the winner of the Editor's Top Pick - Over All, Award. This is the second year in a row for Match.com and, there are good reasons for this.

• While not as strong a pick as last year due to only marginal growth of members this year in North America, Match.com offers the largest number of high quality profiles by far. Internationally, Match has lept a head due in large to successful partnerships with a number of popular websites in South America and Europe. International members get a modified version of the dating site from North America. They tailor profile questions and searching criteria depending on what is important to singles in these countries and/or cultures.
• Match.com continues to innovate. Starting from last December, examples of this are; Match My Friends with testimonials, their foray into Facebook with the Little Black Book, the profile service MatchStudios, expanded cell service for Match Mobile, the Insiders Guide, and the Daily 5. Not everything was a success (The Little Black Book comes to mind) but they are one of the few dating sites to consistently offer their members major new features.
• Website design and interface improvements. Match.com's recent website redesign and their interface tweaks through out the year continue to improve usability. Their web interface offers new members a simple to use layout that doesn't get confusing, while still offering more experienced members the control they require over searching and profiles.

Match.com offers members a premium dating service. This has been their business for 13 years now, and year after year they have consistently been the dating site to join. People who choose Match.com will get the online dating tools required and access to one of the largest membership pools of singles looking to find their potential partner.

Read our review of Match.com for more information about this online dating service or visit Match.com directly.

This Years Runner Up for this award is: eHarmony.

In the beginning of the year we took a look at a new Facebook application called the Little Black Book from Match.com. We were not overly impressed but, felt it did hold some promise. Being maybe a few weeks old at the time, the Little Black Book had 67 daily active users with about 600 total installed users. Our main complaints involved around the clunky user interface and browser compatibility problems.

A month later, David from the Online Dating Insider took a look at the application as well. At this time there was 240 daily active users. While not impressive numbers for a Facebook application, it was an improvement from when I had looked at it. In his review, David had a wish list of improvements and found the browser issues were still present.

Flash forward 11 months and the Little Black Book has disappeared from Facebooks application list. The last appearance I can find of it is a Google Cache page which was capture September 29, 2008. At this time there was only 100 monthly active users with a 1.6 out of 5 star rating. The reviews of the application were not pretty.

Did Match.com take down the application to redevelop and fix its problems or is it gone for good? I think it is in Match.com's best interest to forget about Facebook applications. A search for the term "Dating" on Facebook revealed that the most popular application has over 12 thousand active monthly users. Not a lot when you consider the 1.3 million paid users Match.com website had this past quarter. Match.com employees time would be better spent on other projects.

November 18th, 2008 is the day that Match.com officially passed the 1 Billion winks sent, mark. A wink is used to notify other members you are interested in them without actually sending an email. Currently Match.com members send over 735,000 winks a day, worldwide.

A wink in my opinion is not the best way to notify someone you are interested. It basically puts the onus on the other single now to strike up a conversation through email (which almost never works). If you really want the best chances of getting someone's interest, send a well crafted email.

See our previous story on the subject . For more general information on this dating site, read our Match.com review.

An article on NewMediaAge mentions the fact that Match.com has rolled out personality testing (think eHarmony). It is a 30 minute test with 56 questions of different types. The article says 88% of members are completing the test. That is a high percentage but, when I logged on to both uk.Match.com and Match.com I couldn't find the personality test anywhere. Maybe it is only for new member signups, I'll have to try that next. I have a feeling this feature is not for North America though, since Match.com's sister site Chemistry is all about the personality test. Why would they want to compete directly with each other.

The short article quotes Match.com International MD Jason Stockwood. He says that it is the biggest innovation in five years. With eHarmony having launched a UK dating site this year, maybe Match is feeling the pinch and wants to fight back. I just wonder why they don't launch a international version of Chemistry. I think they may have added the personality test into Match.com instead of creating an international version of Chemistry due to all of Match.com worldwide partner programs.

For more information on this dating site, read some of our Match.com Reviews and UK Match.com Reviews.

Match.com has renamed their profile writing service MatchStudios to ProfilePro. A good move on their part since the old name MatchStudios doesn't scream profile writing and makes it sound more like a service purely for photos. The new name doesn't seem to have prompted any other changes to the service. The price remains the same at $39.99.

For more dating profile and photo help services, check out this category.

Related Story: Match.com New Service - MatchStudios