NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO -- Mar 17 -- With people cutting back you'd think the dating industry would be hurting. But it's not. Janis Spindel, a matchmaker in Manhattan, says she is busy. Depending on the client, her rates can zip right up to $250,000. Match.com had over 20% more members this Dec than last. "Now we have a recession, we're seeing double-digit growth in many of the leading companies", said Mark Brooks, a consultant to the online dating industry. If the economy was doing well the numbers would be flat, he thinks. When people are going through tough times they look to be with people who care about them, who will understand their concerns", said Dr. Michael Cunningham, a psychologist who has been studying relationships for decades.
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According to Google Adwords statistics, searches on 'dating' is falling FAST - VERY fast.. how can that be, when everyone is talking about growth?
Posted by: Jones Jitter | Mar 18, 2009 at 01:35 PM
Definitely not good news. It may be time to do another survey round to see if sites are still seeing year over year growth. There's ALWAYS a significant drop off after Valentines. The real question here is, are sites, in the aggregate, seeing less business than last year. I'll run another post on OPW shortly to find out.
Mark Brooks
Editor, OnlinePersonalsWatch.com
212-444-1636
Posted by: Mark Brooks | Mar 18, 2009 at 02:44 PM
Good idea!
According to the numbers I've seen - the searches in the UK has been cut in half within the last couple of months. It's the same thing in Denmark. I'm not sure about the US since we're not present in that market yet. It seems to drastic that it COULD be Google using a new technology to measure it - I don't know.. it seems very weird.
Let me know what you find out.
Posted by: Jones Jitter | Mar 18, 2009 at 03:17 PM
When people are going through tough times they look to be with people who care about them, who will understand their concerns.
Posted by: sam | Mar 19, 2009 at 03:25 AM
All I know is "dating" costs money. I have less money now than a year and a half ago.
Guess what ? I date LESS.
Posted by: JB | Mar 23, 2009 at 10:36 AM