Matchmakers Fight for the Hearts of the World's Singles

FINANCIAL TIMES -- Dec 21 -- After surging 77% in 2003, the online dating industry's revenues grew by only 7% last year to $516m (Jupiter). The fastest growth is coming singles 50+. While it took a while to catch on, eHarmony blossomed after the folksy Dr Warren took to the airwaves in a barrage of TV and radio advertisements. Match fought back and signed up Dr Phil. "Match has been moving into eHarmony's territory," said Nate Elliott, Jupiter Media analyst. Nate questions Dr Phil's scientific credentials but believes Match's more casual dating heritage may give it an edge when it comes to attracting men. Both companies are working feverishly to refine their sites. Dr Warren's researchers are promising more sophisticated love algorithms and Match plans to send customers potential mates, unsolicited, in the same way that Amazon.com recommends books. Match enjoys a clear advantage over eHarmony in the international market (18 languages). Jim Safka (CEO) has even met Japanese government officials who are worried about the country's low birthrate. FULL ARTICLE @ FT

Mark Brooks: Watch this space. I'll be interviewing Jim Safka, CEO of Match.com, about his new advertising program, VIP matchmaking services, and Match Talk, for later this week. Should be live by Friday. 

Comments

[Matt]

Battles between the big dating sites are beginning to resemble those between the biggest media organizations.

Quite amazing.

[Edward]

Maybe you can ask him why they (used to?) sell e-mail addresses to spammers. I created an email address unique to my signup at match, and that address has since been deluged with viagra/stock picks/you name it since. Perhaps he'd like to give me his email address so I can return the favor.

[Saïd Amin]

Hi Edward,

Perhaps this is due to spyware/adware from your browsing habits that has no relation to your registration to match.

Just a thought.

Peace.

[Julia Dorofeeva- dating Site vendor]

At the start of the Year people try to start a new life, singles try to get their sweetehearts and enjoy new ways of serching. Online Dating is one of them.

Dating Sites which understand that start this fignt and it's really serious. It's for the best as they'll have to provide better service for their customers to invide new. And the process is on: tips on Match.com and Dating analysts at Eharmony. What's next?

[Gary Hurst]

Is anyone else sick and tired of hearing Jupiter and others constantly try to quote revenue numbers from the dating industry? They haven’t come close to getting the annual figures right in years. And then they are so excited to tell us how revenues are slipping. Those of us in this biz. know the real figures, but these guys……give me a break! Please someone tell me how they come up with $516M in total rev.? Match is public by reporting well over $230M, Yahoo can’t be far behind them so conservatively let’s say, $175M, eHarmony (sources have told me) are well over $175M. So right there we are close to $600M. That doesn’t even include the public numbers from Spark – add another $80M+ or any of the other players, True, Perfectmatch, etc. Now take in non-US revenue and you could easily argue we’re well over $1.2B – more than double what these clowns are saying. I’d love to see the math these so called “analysts” are using.

[Saïd Amin]

There's also FriendFinder.com which i'm sure makes a respectable amount off their non adult oriented sites.

Peace.

[Jeff]

Match.com's problem is its lack of focus and trying to be all things to all people.

This is embodied by its previous ad campaign that touted "100,000 people found what they were looking for on Match.com". Whether that meant marriage, a saucy encounter, or a "tickle" was never delineated.

While Dr. Phil does not contribute to content on the site, his arguably tarnished Q score may help break through the TV ad clutter. However, Match's recent "Mind, Find, Bind" campaign is about as hard to remember as it is to understand.

eHarmony created the marriage niche and attracts a desireable demographic for whom the price of service is not much of an issue- success in their quest is. With quantifiable success (90 members on average get married every day *Harris Interactive Study), a staff of emminent Phd's driving their research, a world class 24 hour call center and a conservative business model, eHarmony will continue to thrive.

Match's founder years ago said that this enterprise focusing on marriage and relationships would sink like a lead zeppelin and now they're trying to play catch up without any of the solid research that the fuels the success essential in this niche.

I'm sure the irony is not lost on the "folksy" Dr. Warren.