The Online Dating Game

SMART MONEY - Feb 8 - The online dating market is expected to reach $1.6 billion by 2013, up from $957M in 2008, according to Forrester Research. With online services reporting an increase in subscriptions, sites could raise their prices without losing customers, says Mark Brooks, principal consultant for Courtland Brooks. PlentyofFish.com and OKCupid.com let you troll for dates free of charge. Ignore dating-site boasts about their number of profiles. "The real measure is the number of people who have logged in," Brooks says. "A paid subscription isn't worth it unless monthly traffic is at least 10,000 unique visitors", he says. Complaints about dating services rose 62% from 2005 to 2008, according to the Better Business Bureau. Read consumer reviews about a site before signing up, says Jeannette Kopko, a spokeswoman for the BBB in Dallas. Scammers prey on online daters reeling them in with promises of love and then begging for cash to afford a plane ticket or other expenses. Sites have policies in place to weed out such users, reviewing profiles and communications for red flags, such as poor grammar, mismatched photos and details, and keywords including "wire money," Brooks says. Some also use monitoring services that recognize the scammer's computer preventing him or her from creating a new account after one gets flagged. FULL ARTICLE @ SMART MONEY

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