Advertising Driven Dating Sites

WEBPRO NEWS -- Mar 21 -- It's amazing how many startups plan on making money via advertising and haven't done this basic math. Sure PlentyofFish has gone nuclear. But he's a one-guy business who is in a highly engaged audience type (dating). He says he makes $10,000 a day or more from his Google ads. FULL ARTICLE @ WEBPRO NEWS

Mark Brooks: The average internet dating user in the U.S.A. expects to pay for an online dating service, these days. But that could change. If enough free dating services launch and somehow get to critical mass then users might revert to expecting dating sites to be free. Paid dating sites have to outperform existing and free dating services.  That means; removing dead/unresponsive profiles, cancelling affiliate accounts of any affiliates that practice date baiting, and finding more and better ways of dealing with scammers. 

Comments

[Julia Dorofeeva]

Dear Mark,

You're right that more and more Dating Sites are free to use. It's a hit of a season and many Dating Site administrators are planning to make the site free to access.

Results are amazing. Paid dating Sites need to provide something unique to keep the audience. Hence, there's still more trust to fee-based Dating Sites as quality dating services.

[Jon C. Coward]

The number of free dating sites is increasing because many paid dating sites actively rip off their members. Some are actively trying to fool people into paying by hiding the "rules of contact". You may be a paid member, and free to send emails to anyone ...but unknowingly that person can't read your emails unless they pay as well... the sender believes they are just being ignored and continues on to the next. Of course, none of this is ever told to the payer unless he reads what is hidden in the lengthy "terms of service". They learn this only after paying and joining. It's almost a scam. many books on operating dating sites list this method as a revenue generator.

[Jessie]

Most attractive women will NOT pay for a dating site. Even if they can afford it. Internet dating is just a way to expand possibilities, and not guaranteed. The same people are on the free and paid ones anyway, so why pay for Match or Yahoo when you can get into contact with the same dudes...

... now... maybe if my profile were only AVAILABLE to be seen by those who pre-met my "qualifications"... THEN such a service *might* be worth paying for...

... until then, I think ad-supported sites like plentyoffish.com are the future :-)

[Bill]

I think that the paid dating sites are going to be in trouble soon enough. Yeah, you think you are getting something better than the free sites, but a lot of free sites have the same features of the paid sites. There will be a change in momentum with the paid sites and they will have to think of becoming free or another strategy. In the beginning, they wouldnt even let you have a free trial, now they do because they see the competition rising with the 100% free dating sites!

[MyBackgroundPro.com]

Is he or she married or a convicted criminal. Do you wan't to know about who you meet online. Dating profiles are not always real. We can help.

[MyBackgroundPro.com]

Lost and Found: True Love
http://www.MyBackgroundPro.com

Thanks to background searches, it is easier than ever to reconnect with an old flame. High-school sweethearts Tony and Gina reconnected in 2005 after years of being separated thanks to background searches. It might be a former classmate hoping to see you at the next reunion. Lost and found romances are surprisingly successful, as long as both partners are not otherwise attached at the time they reconnect. Tony & Gina have since tied the knot and are living happily ever after.

MyBackgroundPro.com

[MyBackgroundPro.com]

Dinner, Movie - and a Background Check
http://www.MyBackgroundPro.com

Singles are taking an extra step to ensure the people they are meeting online aren't criminals or married. Kimberly was twice betrayed by men she met dating online. Both turned out to be married. So she started doing background checks on her dates. Kimberly now 33 is engaged to a man she met online. Yahoo Personals, Match.com and eHarmony have a mainstream for about 10 million daters each year. Singles now draw on the security that background searches provide to verify the identity and background of their dates.

Daters- find out about your dates before you go on them and bring them home to your families.

MyBackgroundPro.com

[ron, dating site]

But how would free dating sites survive with out their paid counterparts? I mean all free dating sites display ads of paid dating sites.

[Mary]

Free dating sites are becoming a very large part of the dating industry. I am not sure that paid dating sites will ever go away because people still think that they are getting something better with the paid site. Free dating sites can still have advertising because free sites also pay for advertising, so the ads on the sites will always be available!

[Web Personals Online]

Hi Mark,

I've definitely seen a drop in my conversions to the paid dating sites that I promote (Match, Friendfinder etc.)

You posed a possible reason why this is occurring. Maybe it is because more online daters are turning to the free sites. And I guess it's possible if free sites start to provide an equal/better user experience and invest as much money into developing their features as the paid sites do, they could overtake them someday.

I guess it all depends on whether the ad revenue generated via the 'free dating site model' (i.e. plentoffish) can become as significant as the 'membership model' (i.e. Match, Friendfinder etc.)

I just think the big online dating sites have huge development/advertising budgets that a one-man operation (like POF) will never be able to surpass.