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The online dating industry: The Hindustan Times
New Delhi, Dec 04: It starts with a crush progresses to a date, meanwhile gifts, flowers and sundry material metaphors of affection are exchanged. It`s then time for some relationship advice, after which maybe marriage and other things follow. Such huge is the online dating industry starting with a basic technology driven modified bulletin board to flowers, gifts and other exotica sites to advice sites and marriage planners.
New Delhi, Dec 04: It starts with a crush progresses to a date, meanwhile gifts, flowers and sundry material metaphors of affection are exchanged. It's then time for some relationship advice, after which maybe marriage and other things follow. Such huge is the online dating industry starting with a basic technology driven modified bulletin board to flowers, gifts and other exotica sites to advice sites and marriage planners.
Consider this Crush and dating sites eCrush, Crushlink, SecretAdmirer. Match.com Dating advice AskMen & Consultagirl Relationship Help Soulmates Flowers 1-800-Flowers Fashions FashionMail & Luxlook Greeting Cards Sparks Marriage planners the-wedding-planner.com, my-paradise-wedding.com
Such huge is the scope of the online dating industry. According to NUI around 44 per cent of Americans believe that individuals have a better chance of meeting a partner online than in a single's bar. A further eight per cent of Americans report that individuals have as much chance of meeting someone via the Net, as they doing of meeting them in a single's bar.
Over 30 per cent of Americans think that a relationship initiated online has a better chance of success than one initiated in a bar, while eight per cent feel that it has an equal chance of success. AsiaBizTech reports that nearly 13 per cent of Japanese teenagers have visited online dating sites.
According to comScore Media Metrix, more than 45 million Americans visited online dating sites in May 2003, up from about 35 million in December 2002. The Online Publishers Association projected that spending on Internet dating sites this year would be $100 million or more per quarter, compared to less than $10 million a quarter at the beginning of 2001. The New York Times is forecasting a $400 million market for online personals in 2004. Although an estimated 40 million people in the US access online personals sites each month, only a fraction of those pay for personals content. Most dating sites offer both free and paid services. The OPA/comScore Networks report claims that individuals who pay for personals content are likely to spend both more time and more money online. Whereas the average Internet user spent 6,143 minutes online and $83 in e-commerce purchases during the first quarter of 2003, the average personals content purchaser racked up 13,895 minutes and $238.72 online. (Source TJ's technology weblog) Online dating has become the major driver in content business. Consider the sites leading in annual subscription in 2002-03 Yahoo.com was the leading Web destination by consumer content revenue in 2002, followed by Match.com, an online dating site, followed by Real .com Classmates.com and WSJ.com.
According to marketreseach.com "This little-researched market is a now a $917 million (online line and offline) business in the U.S., as online dating services have skyrocketed in popularity since 2001. The Web has revolutionized this business and has brought affordable and convenient matchmaking to the masses. One more year of strong online dating service growth is expected, then a slowdown in 2004, as the novelty wears off. " Online dating is a serious business. The industry brings in more revenue than any other category of legitimate paid Web content - more than digital music or business and investing advice. Revenues for online dating should hit $313 million this year, up from $228 million in 2002, according to Jupiter Research.
According to Business 2.0 the online dating industry is expected to double in size every two years for the next 6+ years(Includes International Markets). Since it is an online industry, initial startup costs are minimal. The current barriers to entry are a lack of users and a lack of capital for advertising.
Gordon Smith, an Online Dating Consultant based in London says "Today there are dating services for every possible taste and level of commitment. In the future I believe that some forms of dating may die out. For example, the premium rate phone services, and newspaper weekly columns are unlikely to survive unless they are teamed up with online services. I do expect this to happen. Similarly, the low-end traditional services are under threat from online services, and could easily be swamped by them."
Consider this Crush and dating sites eCrush, Crushlink, SecretAdmirer. Match.com Dating advice AskMen & Consultagirl Relationship Help Soulmates Flowers 1-800-Flowers Fashions FashionMail & Luxlook Greeting Cards Sparks Marriage planners the-wedding-planner.com, my-paradise-wedding.com
Such huge is the scope of the online dating industry. According to NUI around 44 per cent of Americans believe that individuals have a better chance of meeting a partner online than in a single's bar. A further eight per cent of Americans report that individuals have as much chance of meeting someone via the Net, as they doing of meeting them in a single's bar.
Over 30 per cent of Americans think that a relationship initiated online has a better chance of success than one initiated in a bar, while eight per cent feel that it has an equal chance of success. AsiaBizTech reports that nearly 13 per cent of Japanese teenagers have visited online dating sites.
According to comScore Media Metrix, more than 45 million Americans visited online dating sites in May 2003, up from about 35 million in December 2002. The Online Publishers Association projected that spending on Internet dating sites this year would be $100 million or more per quarter, compared to less than $10 million a quarter at the beginning of 2001. The New York Times is forecasting a $400 million market for online personals in 2004. Although an estimated 40 million people in the US access online personals sites each month, only a fraction of those pay for personals content. Most dating sites offer both free and paid services. The OPA/comScore Networks report claims that individuals who pay for personals content are likely to spend both more time and more money online. Whereas the average Internet user spent 6,143 minutes online and $83 in e-commerce purchases during the first quarter of 2003, the average personals content purchaser racked up 13,895 minutes and $238.72 online. (Source TJ's technology weblog) Online dating has become the major driver in content business. Consider the sites leading in annual subscription in 2002-03 Yahoo.com was the leading Web destination by consumer content revenue in 2002, followed by Match.com, an online dating site, followed by Real .com Classmates.com and WSJ.com.
According to marketreseach.com "This little-researched market is a now a $917 million (online line and offline) business in the U.S., as online dating services have skyrocketed in popularity since 2001. The Web has revolutionized this business and has brought affordable and convenient matchmaking to the masses. One more year of strong online dating service growth is expected, then a slowdown in 2004, as the novelty wears off. " Online dating is a serious business. The industry brings in more revenue than any other category of legitimate paid Web content - more than digital music or business and investing advice. Revenues for online dating should hit $313 million this year, up from $228 million in 2002, according to Jupiter Research.
According to Business 2.0 the online dating industry is expected to double in size every two years for the next 6+ years(Includes International Markets). Since it is an online industry, initial startup costs are minimal. The current barriers to entry are a lack of users and a lack of capital for advertising.
Gordon Smith, an Online Dating Consultant based in London says "Today there are dating services for every possible taste and level of commitment. In the future I believe that some forms of dating may die out. For example, the premium rate phone services, and newspaper weekly columns are unlikely to survive unless they are teamed up with online services. I do expect this to happen. Similarly, the low-end traditional services are under threat from online services, and could easily be swamped by them."