Online Dating

Wow, I'm not sure how I missed this (and when it exactly happened) but Lavalife has switched from a credit base membership system to a subscription based membership. So instead of buying credits to send an email or instant message, etc. you now have unlimited use of these features for a low monthly price. Lavalife was the only large dating service I know of that had used the credit type system.

I'll update the Lavalife Review soon to include this new information.

In New Jersey the Senate Budget Committee advanced a proposal to require online dating services to tell customers whether criminal background screenings are carried out on members. Other states have considered this but none have passed any laws. The main reason no laws have been passed is it could mislead people into feeling secure when background screening only shows who has been a criminal and not someone who may be a criminal.

The only dating service at the moment that I am aware of that performs criminal background checks is True.com. While this does obviously point to people who are more likely to commit crimes, it could lead people to feel perfectly safe and therefore let down their guard. This is a tool that helps you be safe but, you should still be just as careful as when going on any other date. Read our article 10 Tips on having a fun and safe first date. for some useful tips on being safe when dating online.

There are also independent services available online that allow you to perform criminal background checks. SafeDate and Check Your Dates Past are such sites and for a small fee will do a criminal background check for you on anyone. So if you have any doubt or worries about someone you are communicating online with, these services maybe worthwhile for you.

Read the full news article here on the Safer Dating Bill.

A few days late but some of you may have noticed that PerfectMatch.com has started advertising in the land of television. They now join the ranks of eHarmony and Match.com with national TV commercials and is now directly competing with them. The first commercial for 2007 is a narrative explaining how PerfectMatch matching system works. It actually is very informative and I am sure will help boost PerfectMatch's already surging member numbers.

If you wish to see the TV Commercial visit PerfectMatch.com and click on perfectmatch tv on the bottom menu of their web site.

I just read an interesting article regarding Match.com. They are one of the largest dating services on the internet, and this success is due partly to their marketing towards singles between the ages of 45 and 59 (Baby Boomers). These singles make up over 1.7 million members of Match.com's 15 million total membership, this is a 350% increase over the last 6 years. Another interesting thing to note is 7 out of 10 of these members are divorcees.

For more information, see the full article here.

Spark Networks, owners of AmericanSingles.com, Date.ca and JDate.com have released their 2006 4th quarter financials. There is some interesting numbers here for singles thinking about joining one of these dating sites. For the year end (Dec 31, 2006) American Singles had 80,519 paying subscribers and JDate had 74,775 paying subscribers. All of Sparks business ventures combined had a total of 217,276 paying subscribers, an increase of 10% when compared to last year. Of course none of these numbers include the members who use the site with a free membership.

I was surprised by JDate's numbers, they must be the largest Dating Site for Jewish singles out there.

Spark Networks also had another milestone on February 14th, 2007. It was their one year anniversary of its AMEX Listing. Look for them under the ticker "LOV". For more information on Spark Networks financial results check out this page.

Happy Anniversary to Date.com. They turned 10 last Wednesday and have much to be proud of. Since their launch 10 years ago Date.com has had over 10 million members join their dating service. Over the years they have been constantly in the fore front with new innovations to make online dating easier, more fun and successful for singles.

Date.com is one of the oldest and largest dating site on the internet today. Read our review here or check out their press release on the anniversary.