MERCURY NEWS - Feb 12 - For every online nightmare there's a story of a couple who met and married. Between 21M and 24M people visit dating sites each month in the U.S., said Mark Brooks, an industry consultant who runs OnlinePersonalsWatch.com. With the advent of dating sites that cater to married people looking for affairs, such as AshleyMadison.com, the number of hitched users trolling those services intended for singles has diminished from ~30% to 10% or less, Brooks estimated. "And some sites are now using fraud reduction companies such as iovation to keep online scammers away", he said. "The Internet dating services are flawed because they lack service," Brooks said. "The matchmaker services are severely flawed because they lack choice." Paul Falzone, a Boston-based matchmaker, is trying to bridge the divide. Falzone's company, which owns The Right One and Together Dating Service, bought an online dating site a couple of years ago. In October, Falzone renamed the entire enterprise eLove, and he plans to launch a select service for the Web site after Valentine's Day that lets clients visit a local matchmaker for background checks and photographs — and then head online. Kate Bilenki, director of love for the free dating site Plentyoffish.com, said most people she knows in their 20s or 30s wouldn't consider going to a traditional matchmaker. FULL ARTICLE @ MERCURY NEWS
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