Match

In the 90's Match.com at one point found that 70% of their members were men. Since then, more and more woman have found online dating and the scales have tipped . Some dating services still have a greater percentage of men to women but they mainly are more "Adult" in nature. But, services like Match.com usually have more woman, though this usually is less than a 10% difference. To start off the second half of the year Match UK plans a marketing campaign aimed at single men that is titled Too Many Woman. To start off this campaign Men who sign up before September 14 will get one week free. Starting tomorrow new TV commercials will begin to air for 4 weeks on mostly men TV channels.

Find out more at UTalk Marketing and for further details about the UK dating site, Match.com, read our review.

It appears woman over the age of 50 want a younger man on two of the most popular dating services, as reported in the Washington Post. On average a 50 year old woman on Match.com wants a man who is 48. At the same time on eHarmony, a woman who is 50, is looking for a man 10 to 15 years younger. Thanks to in part of the women's movement and the fact that woman now are more independent equal opportunity has come to matching. Older woman matched with younger men also makes sense from a biology stand point.

Women, according to calculations based on mortality risk, are five years "younger" than men the same age. The 65-year-old woman is the biological equivalent of a 60-year-old man. So it's sensible, not just fanciful, for a woman to look for a younger guy.

By looking at the averages on eHarmony and Match.com though, most men are still looking for a younger woman. eHarmony has found men 50 years or older are seeking women 6 to 26 years younger and Match.com has a similar ratio. On average men who are 56 are seeking someone who is 54 but, when you look at men who are 70, they are looking for a 58 year old woman.

Of course this is what people want and the problem with it is, it creates an age gap. If both men and woman over the age of 50 are looking for a younger partner, matching them up becomes difficult. Of course what a person wants and what happens in real life is a different story. On eHarmony were reporting of successful matches is requested, it has found woman 40 years or older found a match with someone who is plus or minus 4 years their age. For men at age 40 it is the same age difference as woman but, by the time men reach 60, successful matches for them has reached the age range of plus or minus 6 years.

For the full story see the Washington Post. Read our Match.com Review or eHarmony Review for more information on these popular dating services.

NWA.CO.UK is reporting that Match.com has partnered with Russell Grant Horoscopes. Russell Grant is a popular spot for horoscope enthusiasts in the United Kingdom. You can access the dating service under the Free Dating menu item on the left of the site. Russell Grant Dating is powered by Match.com and allows you to search for members by your star sign. The marketing director of Russell Grant Astrology, is quoted as saying:

This is a unique and exclusive partnership that brings together the leaders in astrology and online dating to give singles the best possible chance of finding love.

Russel Grant Dating is Match.com UK but with a modified Russell Grant Logo at the top of the page. It contains all the functions and features of the normal Match.com dating site. I'm surprised they didn't modify the Match.com partner dating site theme more to make it fit better with the look and feel of Russell Grant Horoscopes.

There are two things I have questions about. Why is the dating link labelled Free Dating, when it is not? You can create a free membership but you not allowed to communicate with members until you pay for a subscription. While there is nothing wrong in paying for a dating service subscription, this is misleading people. The other thing I wondered about is why there is a link at the top of the page that says "Log In to your DatingAgency.com profile". This is even visible when you have logged into Match.com. The link goes to another Russell Grant dating site. I have a feeling this is probably the original dating site before Match.com's partnership. I'm surprised Match.com allowed these two things to happen. It looks unprofessional and is misleading, 2 things Match.com usually does not do.

USA Today had an article about singles finding love and marriage through online dating after the age 45. The article focuses mostly on older singles who have not married before. In 1990 only 0.4% of woman and 0.6% of men married for the first time between the age of 45 to 49. According to the U.S. Census, In 2006 on average men married for the first time at 27.5 years of age and woman at 25.5.

Recently dating sites have started to track this demographic of later life first marriages. Match.com reports an increase of 10% of new members since 2005 who are over the age of 45 and never have married. Currently this demographic makes up 14% of their members. Yahoo! Personals also has seen a increase of 33% in this demographic for 2006 and 2007.

Online dating has made it easier for these singles to meet. According to Craig Wax of Match.com:

As people get older, they tend to find themselves in fairly established patterns, so the ability to meet new people goes down over time. They've got to do something new if they want to meet different people.

By doing a new activity, it allows these singles to easily reach out beyond their circle of friends, family and co-workers and meet someone new. If you want to find love, online dating is your obvious choice since these services offer an environment that is geared towards matching compatible singles.

For more information about the dating services mention here, visit our Match Review (match.com) and our Yahoo! Personals Review (Personals.Yahoo.com).

I found a news piece that contains some predictions that the number of singles who will pay to use online dating sites may have reach its limit. They mention several statistics to support this including one from ComScore which saw unique visitors to all dating sites fall in the month of March, even though Internet traffic grew by 6%. The author also pointed out that Match.com subscriber growth slowed and only increased by 1% in 2007 where as it increased by 25% in 2006. There was also several other points mention to support his theory.

My view on things is that the glory days of online dating in North America where the main online dating sites posted double digit subscriber growth numbers is probably over. There are so many options available now in the United States for singles to join. They have the choice now to join numerous social networks and free or paid dating sites to find a match. The thing is, It is very difficult for anyone to figure out what the best choice is for them when even a high school kid can buy a cheap but fully functional dating script, install it on a web server and make it appear that the dating web site offers everything a single needs (except other members).

I don't think it is all bad news though. Of the roughly 90 million singles in the United States, only 3 million are actively using an online dating service. 87 million customers is still a huge target market. Dating Companies now, are also expanding into Europe and Asia where online dating is just starting to catch on.

According to Reuters, Match.com has partnered with two more companies to exclusively offer their internet visitors an online dating service. The first partnership is with the Latin America web portal called Terra. This web portal serves 7 countries and is considered the largest in the region.

The second multimillion dollar partnership is with NineMSN in Australia. This web portal owned by Microsoft and PBL Media receives almost 8 million visitors a month. Match.com also powers the dating service for MSN here in the United States.

This is a smart move by Match.com as internet dating becomes more crowded here at home. It's difficult to start a new business in a foreign country and attract visitors quickly. It is a lot easier and smarter to find a web site with a large amount of traffic in your demographic and partner with them to offer your service. Match.com has the software and knowledge of what works with online dating while the other companies offer their traffic and website. Match.com has been quite successful in the international arena. In the first quarter of this year their international subscribers grew by 8%.

Read our Match Review (match.com) or our Match.com UK Review to find out more information about this service.