Article Subject: Online Dating Startups Drive Matchmaking Makeover

Article Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/13/online-dating-startups-social-matchmaking_n_822650.html?ir=Business

Article Rating: 4.0 (out of 5)

Website: none

Dr. Dato’s Brief:

This is a detailed post and highlights some of the important trends in the online dating industry. It’s probably the reason why huffingtonpost.com caught the eyes of AOL who eventually purchased them.

Several points have been made, but since I keep my post short and concise, I will only list a few of the very relevant points.

The worldwide dating industry is estimated to be worth $4 billion a year with a handful of the top sites occupying a bulk of the space ie. match.com and eharmony which pulls in hundreds of millions of dollars each year. The writer has pointed out that there hasn’t been any significant changes in these sites in the last four years to keep abreast of the ever changing pace of technology and users needs. It’s possible that the same business model has been working well for these sites.

However, there have been new players on the market who have utilized facebook very well like zoosk to become a strong player in the market. The thinking is that as more people become more accustomed to the foray of new technology such as the smartphones, ipad there needs to be a new mindset with regards to ‘dating’. The old ways of dating may change completely.

A relevant point mentioned for newcomers to the online dating industry is the cost of starting a website and getting the acquired member base on the site. This could potentially rule out many of the new-comers and only allow a handful of dating sites to succeed.

could the future of online dating be on the mobile platform?