ONLINE
DATING NEWS #009
ONLINE DATING INDUSTRY TO
GROW BY ONLY 9% THIS YEAR
(April 13, 2005 - onlinedatingnewsletter.com) In
previous years, online dating services saw massive
double-digit percentage gains in business. That, however,
will change this year. The online dating industry grew
by 73% in 2002 and 77% in 2003. In 2004, however, those
high numbers began to drop - the 2004 online dating
market grew by only 19%. According to an online dating
research report from Dublin Research and Markets, the
online dating industry will grow by just 9%, to $516
million, in 2005.
Because of the decline in industry growth, dating sites
have focused on increasing conversions of viewers into
paying subscribers in order to keep growing. The report
states that conversion rates in the online dating industry
have increased about 25% in the last year. Many dating
sites are also paying more attention to serious daters
rather than casual daters to increase their site revenue.
Serious daters are those people who go online hoping to
find long-term relationships or marriage. Serious daters
convert 20% more often, are twice as likely to purchase
long-term subscriptions and pay up to twice as much per
month as casual daters.
While online dating leaders Match.com and Yahoo! Personals
are struggling to grow revenues, relationship-focused eHarmony
has drawn increased attention from consumers, the media,
and venture capitalists. It is this relationship focus
that many dating sites are turning toward in order to increase
their financial success.
