Online Dating

The popular UK dating site, DatingDirect, has recently launch a service called DatingDirect Affinity. It is a separate dating site but it is easily accessed through the DatingDirect membership area. DatingDirect Affinity provides a service based on a unique psychometric test. The test is designed to bring together compatible members and to build strong and lasting relationships. It has almost 100 questions that touch on 71 different psychological criteria. The Affinity test will explore your fundamental values, interests and gather information on your views of love, life and family. The test was designed by a group of psychologists who are specialised in psychometrics and dynamics of human relationships. The test is based on the highest standards of analysis as defined by the American Psychological Association and the Educational Testing Service.

Once you have completed the test, you can view your confidential personality report as well as see a detailed breakdown of your compatibility with other members who meet your search criteria. The compatibility is defined by an affinity score, which each member who has taken the test will have. Your personality report is made up of three groups of criteria. These are:

Christian Mingle has recently added keyword searching to their dating site. They have also enabled automatic keyword searching when you are viewing a members profile. How it works is, In essay questions like My Introduction, certain keywords used in their answers, when clicked return other profiles that have used the word as well. This makes it a few steps easier to find matches that relate to each other.

For more information on this religious dating service, read our Christian Mingle review.

We have found a few articles lately which looked at what most people like to call Sugar Daddy dating sites. These sites for the most part offer a place for wealthy men to find attractive woman who are looking for the finer things in life (to put it politely). Similar sites also use the terms Wealthy, Millionaire, Sugar Baby and Gold Diggers. An article from ABC news recently asked the question if these type of sites promote a form of prostitution (see Story). This time, the New York Times is taking a look at the topic.

In an article called Keeping Up With Being Kept, the New York Times calls Sugar Daddy dating sites a down-and-dirty marketplace. The article is seven pages and goes into detail on several peoples experiences at the website called SeekingArrangement.com. Founder Brandon Wade says the site creates relationships that are mutually beneficial. With more than 300,000 registered members, nearly half the sugar daddies on Seeking Arrangement are married.

I just noticed on the Indian dating service, Shaadi.com Matrimonial, that they now offer a 100% money back guarantee. They are confident to offer this guarantee because of their successful track record of matching singles. Shaadi calls the guarantee an Unconditional Guarantee - 100% money back, but there is a few conditions.

The first condition is, If you do not have at least 1 accepted member in the first month, Shaadi.com will refund your entire Premium Membership fee, with no questions asked. A accepted member is considered to be either a member who expressed interest in you and you responded positively OR a member who responded positively to your interest expressed.

You are also expected to fill in all details of your profile, create a partner profile, upload your photo and actively communicate with members.

For more information on this online dating site, read our Shaadi.com review.

Australia's largest online dating site, RSVP, reported strong growth in membership over their last quarter. They saw a 31 percent increase in members in the first quarter of 2009 when compared to the last quarter of 2008. Men memberships increased by 30 percent while woman jumped even higher at 36 percent. The month of March even had higher numbers than January, which is usually one of the best months of the year.

Apparently even in Australia, online dating sites like RSVP.com.au are experiencing growth while the global economy suffers a recession.

For more on the Australian dating site, you will find our RSVP review here.

From a CNN article about Matchmakers thriving in the current economy I learned that there is a Matchmaker Institute which was established in 2003. Described as the go to place for everything matchmaking, the website is designed for the Matchmaker business professional. It is a place you can go to become a Matchmaker or to improve your Matchmaking business. They offer training and certification as well as a Matchmakers Network, the industry trade association. Among other things they also offer business software, Home Study Kits (that can run thousands of dollars), and the Matchmakers Multiple Listing Service (MMLS) to help in your business as well.

The Matchmaker Network does have a Code of Ethics which looks good on the surface but it is unknown to us what happens to a Matchmakers Certification if he or she has one or more infractions. A code of ethics is useless if not enforced.

According to the institute there are about 1,500 independent matchmakers who operate in the United States, I was unable to find how many actually belong. The Matchmaker Network is a good idea as long as they are ridged with their rules and are not in it just to make money. It would be beneficial if something similar was setup for online dating sites, with a similar set of code of ethics. We all know dating sites are all over the map when it comes to how they treat their members.

For more information visit the Matchmaking Institute. If you are looking to hire a personal Matchmaker, visit our Matchmaking Services category.