Niche Dating Sites Grow Steadily As Mainstream Ones Flail

TECH CRUNCH -- Apr 24 -- In the internet dating space, bigger is not always best. According to the latest U.S. numbers from Hitwise, the top niche dating sites are steadily gaining market share while their big mainstream counterparts stagnate. In March 2008, the top 5 overall sites held 7% less market share than they did in 2007 (Plentyoffish and Singlesnet were the only sites to buck this trend individually). Meanwhile, the top sites (Adam4Adam, Manhunt, Gay.com, BlackPeopleMeet, BlackSingles, BlackChristianPeopleMeet, ChristianMingle, JDate, and ChristianCafe.com) from the top five major niche dating categories made considerable gains. The biggest niche in terms of total traffic is casual dating, which consists of sites like Fling, AdultFriendFinder, and SexSearch. While the top 10 mainstream dating sites gained only 0.01% of total Internet traffic over the past year, the top three casual adult sites gained 0.07%. That's a hefty 56% increase in the traffic. (Authored by Mark Brooks)
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Comments

[David Evans]

Let's be clear, those are not casual dating sites, they are adult sites. There is a big difference. What about Mate1's traffic? It's still huge compared to the niche sites.

[Ross Williams]

Niche is definitely where it’s going - whilst most mainstream .com dating sites have seen a plateau in their home markets, we’ve grown over 400% in the last 6 months on the back of niche partnerships.

A lot of niche sites use a white label dating platform which gives them the critical mass of members to get started whilst still focussing their marketing on a niche audience.

Niche marketing is generally cheaper than general and the visitors are more likely to convert into members and pay as the brand is more relevent to them.

We recently launched a site for Bizarre magazine at SavageHearts.co.uk for the alternative network which converts at twice the general audience.

Great times ahead for those who get into niches,

Ross

[Mark Brooks]

Adult sites allow adult content and are focused on casual dating and are great places to explore and learn about whatever fetish you are curious about. Such sites include Fling.com, AdultFriendFinder.com, and SexSearch.com.

Casual dating sites focus on non-serious, non-long term dating. But, they don't allow adult content or at least they push the adult content deeper into the site. i.e. adult content is shared as vaulted content member to member. Such sites include Mate1.com and Lavalife.com.

Are these niches? Kinda sorta. They are focused on specific needs and wants. They are niches by lifestyle.

Should adult dating sites be ranked alongside mainstream dating sites? If they were, Fling and AdultFriendFinder would be #1 and #2. The mainstream sites argue that that wouldn't be fair, as adult dating sites have an element of content to them. Guys join the sites to view the raunchy content...but they also join to meet the sexy girls...and find the women who share their specific sexual desires.

Relationship counselors generally talk about sexual issues being one of, if not THE top reason that couples disagree...and fall out...and part. Sexual tension, and mismatches are a result of poor matching from the outset. 'Adult' and in some cases casual dating sites are the best sites for exploring sexuality, and finding matches based on sexual desires and preferences, and lifestyles.

Adult and casual dating is going mainstream. People are voting with their credit cards, an presence on them and eventually the media will start reporting on them, and including them in coverage. Adult dating sites deserve to be given coverage. That's why I cover them on OPW. The industry, press and public deserve to now how these sites rank, and how they are positioned against the rest of the industry.

[Markus]

Adult sites are not bigger than mainstream. Just because thousands of porn sites do popups for AFF and fling doesn't mean these sites are big.

[williamgeorge]

I just check a love compatibility website and it is one of the coolest one, it is totally a new thing.
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williamgeorge
http://www.hookup-tonite.com

[Build A Niche Store Today]

I think there will be more and more visibility for dating sites because they pay affiliates big money for referrals.

[Sammy Niche]

Can I spend a few words about online introduction services?

As of 2008 a new variant of the online dating model has emerged in the form of introduction sites, attracting a large number of users and significant investor interest.

As opposed to the traditional online dating model where members have to search and contact other members, introduction sites introduce members to other members whom they deem compatible, thus claiming to eliminate much of the mayhem of traditional online dating.

Although the two introduction services operate vastly different from each other and offer different features, both claim to be more effective than traditional online personals.

Most free dating websites such as plentyoffish, zoosk (charges after email response) and okcupid are dependent on advertising revenue, using tools such as Google Adsense, affiliate marketing. Since advertising revenues are modest compared to membership fees, free dating sites require a large number of page views to achieve profitability.

From a marketing standpoint, free dating sites have a lower advertising budget, and therefore rely almost entirely on word of mouth. This is something not easily attained since members of dating sites in general consider it their private matter, thus hindering free dating sites from becoming viral as compared to social networking sites.

There are some online dating services that claim to offer free registrations and search, but which are not truly free online dating service if they charge users to communicate. True free online dating services also offer free communication and generate revenue solely from advertising.