Love Blossoms on the Internet

MIAMI HERALD -- Jan 20 -- Since Miami Beach-based Webdate started offering a free online dating service two years ago, some 2.8 million love-seekers have signed up. The company's traffic surged 800% in 2004, compared to 17% for the online personals industry as a whole. with 8,000 to 10,000 new users signing up daily, Webdate has the fastest-growing black book in the industry.  There are almost 850 online dating services worldwide. Giving away service has put Webdate on the charts with the likes of Match.com and Yahoo Personals.  On Jan. 19 for example, the firm announced it would expand its mobile dating service by March to cover 80% of all data-ready cell phones.  "Webdate MobileT" allows clients to use their handsets to search for potential dates, download profiles and initiate text messages and anonymous phone calls.  "You don't have to be in front of your computer to be online dating anymore," Smilowitz said. Since its launch in December, some 40,000 users have subscribed to the mobile service at $2.99 per month.  At his new South Beach office, Smilowitz spins his monitor around to show off another high-tech feature: live video chat.  On the screen is the small image of a user in Indonesia, busy typing away at her computer.  "We've all heard the horror stories about chatting with someone online and they have a great picture, but then you meet them and you realize it wasn't them at all, or that the picture they were using is 20 years old," said Smilowitz, 30. "With this, people get the chance to hear the other person's voice and see their face from the comfort and safety of their own home."  But the market is getting more crowded and fragmented.  ''There are increasingly more sites aimed at seniors -- it is definitely catching on with the older set -- and just about every other demographic you could think of,'' said Mark Brooks, the publisher of Online Personals Watch.