U.S Surfers say dating sites "too expensive" - BBC
 

According to a report on the BBC website, fewer U.S surfers are signing up to dating sites blaming the high cost of subscriptions. However, European subscriptions grew by 43% in 2005

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I would have to agree.

well, 20 usd for UK is like nothing :D

Well then start up a cheap ass dating site & undermine the rest of us.

Call me when you're done.

btw, eharmony claimed to have started 30k relationship that ended in marriages in 2005.

they charge 50bux a month

They should just use myspace or a similar service then.

I wish I had his conversion ratios :(

It pretty well is too much for what they are offering. MySpace or something like it wills seriously dent dating soon.

to be fair, myspace has a different demographic than the big dating sites.

too high but they still buy, shocker

Myspace is still finding it's feet..sure they are growing everyday. Soon I see them taking over the online date market....AFF and Lava fill an adult need. but as far as friendship...myspace is there i think

Yeah, I agree, people will still go to AFF to see naked profiles and sign up hoping to get with those people.

Free Idea of the day (Feel free to use it): How about a PAY AS YOU GO type dating site? Pay per action.

If you think about it, this may result in MORE revenue per customer since 1) you're getting more customers to sign up 2) actions accumulate with familiarity/confidence in the system.

If anyone wants Webmasterlabor.Com to help them BUILD such a site using an existing Pay As You go sponsor, hit me up :)

Sure they are, but who says you can't have a dating site that is ad supported like myspace? www.plentyoffish.com gets bigger and bigger all the time. :upsidedow

There will be adult myspaces that blow up soon. It's inevitable. We put one online and threw traffic at it for a week and it's been growing for 6 months since with no effort.

Much different demo. People 25+ for the most part don't want to deal with he Myspace crap.

You should all check out World Dating Partners.

http://world-dating-partners.com

They are bringing amazing conversion rates, no set up fees, fantastic retention and the best pay outs around.

You can contact me directly if you have any questions about them.

Watch for them to launch into the adult business in a big way at Internext in August.

These guys ROCK!

:2 cents:

The truth is that some "dating" sites do little to help people.

A successful dating site is a "Catch 22" in the short-run.

A successful dating site will hook people up and lose them as customers, therefore needing to create a much larger push for new membership.

An unsuccessful dating site will not hook people up well and customers will leave and not easily come back.

The good thing about the singles market is that it's cyclical.

All people are single at some point in their life.

A truly good dating site will realize that a customer has a longer lifespan than the 12 to 18 months they spend on your dating site.

:D o Rly

i should talk to u

MySpace's search function is awful ... for dating or for just searching profiles on almost any criteria. Unless they fix that mess, dating sites have nothing to worry about

there is a an almost adult myspace...hahahahahaha

"x" peeps

That article failed to mention one of the biggest problems with most Dating Sites...

Dude, all I did was agree. I THINK (in other words my opinion) they are over priced.

You don't have to take it so personal. It wasn't meant that way.

Hell, I drvie traffic to these things myself. Not bad on conversions either. But I think they would convert more if they were lower priced.

You mean the failure of dating site affiliates to complete their sentences?

I completely agree with you and I also think that if we...

sorry you didn't got it (I bet you did tho)

fake profiles....

there got it now?

Not to mention half the ads are fake... I stopped by AFF this weekend, jesus, half the profile on there are phil flash girls. sad

The fake profiles are going to kill a lot of these sites.

Maybe the conversions would be better, but that doesn't mean you'd make more money. Everyone says too expensive, but they buy anyways.

for those who think myspace will have a dent on adult dating sites...i think comparing myspace and adult dating sites is apples and oranges,peeps on myspace are not nessarily looking for erotic encounters,adult dating sites are only for that...

people will say most stuff is too expensive but still pay for it

I think that's why Lavalife is popular since it's doesn't use a flat fee that rebills monthly and instead charges per email, and only the first email with a new girl costs you, the rest are free.

article on msnbc.com today about the decline of online dating...

http://redtape.msnbc.com/2006/02/the_demise_of_o.html

they are especially when everyone is a fake

Great MSNBC article! I do think that the dating model is still in its early middle stages and there's still room for innovations (technical, marketing, and communication technologies) to address the issues of trust and effectiveness.