PerfectMatch.com overview, Online Dating sites review

PerfectMatch.com overview

PerfectMatch.com
Discover the Perfect Match Difference!

PerfectMatch.com overview:
 Dr. Pepper Schwartz, the USA's premier dating and relationship expert, is behind the psychological technology that forms the Duet® Total Compatibility System. This system forms the basis of PerfectMatch.com and not just matches one or two aspects but the "whole" you - your personality, lifestyle, values and preferences.
Another hip feature of PerfectMatch.com is its video dating profiles. The only thing you have to do is attend one of their free dating events where a professional production crew will shoot, edit and produce your 2-5 minute matchmaking video - for free! Your video dating profile will be available on PerfectMatch.com as well as on the Dating On Demand service in your local area!
Further, PerfectMatch.com combines characteristic features of dating agencies, such as providing you with possible matches, and characteristics from “normal” dating sites, such as enabling you to search their database for potential partners yourself.

Matching procedure of PerfectMatch.com:
Steps to success:

• Complete the Duet Total Compatibility Test and get your free personality profile.
• Review your highly-compatible matches
• Pick the payment plan that best suits you when you're ready to communicate.

Quantity of proposed partners:

• The more info you give the more proposed matches you get.
• You can see a lot of info about the person even with the free option.

Free services:

• Duet® Compatibility Profile
• Receive Perfect Matches
• Events, Sweepstakes, Special Offers

Special features:

• Dating On Demand with TV personals channel
• Send icebreakers
• See who's interested in you
• Access to "Ask Dr. Schwartz"

PlentyOfFish POF.com overview, Online Dating sites review

PlentyOfFish 

PlentyOfFish - POF.com overview

POF.com


Markus is the name of the popular guy who created PlentyOfFish, the largest free online dating site in English.
It started out as a simple personals site and now it even offers a chemistry test in order to conquer the matchmaking industry as well.
In our opinion, the problem with this is that you end up mixing very different kinds of people: the ones looking for a hook up tonight and the ones looking for something serious or even someone to marry.
PlentyOfFish POF.com earns its money via advertisements with display banners, so this is something you should be willing to accept if you decide to give pof.com a try.
If you are ok with that, you'll find there millions of singles prepared to chat with you and maybe even meet you in person one day.
Costs:
In addition to the free services provided by pof.com, there are also paid memberships and paid features.

SeniorPeopleMeet.com overview, Online Dating sites review

SeniorPeopleMeet.com

SeniorPeopleMeet.com overview

The #1 Dating Community for Seniors

SeniorPeopleMeet.com Overview:
Senior People Meet has been online since 2002 and has been a popular choice for older singles in their 50,60s and beyond.  There have been some complaints from users that the site is a scam and that it’s difficult to tell who is a free member versus a paid member.  Interest has also been raised about whether a lot of profiles are active or inactive and caution users not to give out to much personal information.
Before users can start a free search, a full profile must be completed along with uploading of a photo.  Paid memberships offer access to the best of the site’s features and privileges and come in one, six or 12 month payment plan increments

SeniorPeopleMeet.com registration is free.

Free Features:

• Users have access to their profile and their inbox

Free Features:

• Users have access to their profile and their inbox
• Winks are allowed on free registration.
• Users can see what others have viewed their profile
• Random “I’m interested/not interested” user search
• Keyword search
• Video upload and photo upload
• Audio upload using a telephone number

Restrictions:

Flirts are the only means of communication on free membership.  In order to send messages, users must pay for membership.
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Membership Levels and Fees:

• $10 a month for 12 months ($119.95 total)
• $9.95 a month for 6 months ($59.70)
• $14.95 per month
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  Paid Membership Features:

• Unlimited flirts and personal messages
• Live chat rooms
• View member videos
• Chat with instant messenger

Search by Member Options:

Yes, unlimited searches are available based on keyword, location, or advanced demographic/physical information.

Regions:

Although the website caters to the United States,
many countries are included within searching distance including India, Australia, the U.K., China, Japan, and even Iraq and Iran. 

Summary:

Senior People Meet is created for senior singles, those ages 55 and over who are still vibrant, full of life and ready to find love.  Users can register for free and create a detailed profile with audio and video, or can search the database by location or by keyword.

OkCupid.com overview, Online Dating sites review

OKCupid.com overview

OKCupid
The best dating site on Earth

OkCupid is a mix between a personals ads site and an online matchmaking website, which uses extensive questionnaires and quizzes to find suitable matches for its users.

The feature that makes OkCupid stand out from all other matchmaking sites is that you are able to message other users for free.

You begin by answering a series of questionnaires and quizzes concerning your likes, dislikes, preferences, turn offs etc. The more you answer, the more likely your best match will be found for you. Once you have finished answering all of the questions, you are able to search through profiles of other users.

The search filters are extensive. You can search for girls, guys, straight, gay, bi, age, location, if they have uploaded a photo, log on date, join date, keywords, ethnicity, height, if they smoke or drink, religion, education, job, income, children, pets, languages and even diet.

However, if you prefer, you can let OkCupid do the work and find a match for you by using one of their matching services. One of them is called  “quickmatch”. Quickmatch searches for a suitable match based upon your answers to the questionnaires. It uses and displays three figures when it finds a match. They are:

• Match % is the number of questions that you and the other user had the same answer on the questionnaires as well as taking into account the “importance” answer which you assigned when answering the question.
• Friend % is the number of questions you and the other user answered the same but the “importance” is ignored.
• Enemy % is the number of questions you and the other disagreed on.

Overall, the free messaging service is great, but the matchmaking questions and quizzes take way too long to answer. And they try to be all over the place instead of specializing either as online personals site or matchmaking site which, in our opinion, makes it more difficult to offer a good service at both.

Date.com overview, Online Dating sites review

Date.com

date.com overview

Do not let love pass you. 

Date.com is a great dating site for busy professionals who don’t normally have the time to seek out serious relationships. The website makes it easy for users to meet and get acquainted.
The whole process is user friendly and after signing up you can create a profile, upload a photo, search for other members to introduce your self or contact other members that have shown interest. Convenient search options are available and you also have the option of downloading a specialized toolbar that can assist you. If you are looking for dating advice and articles, you have access to an online magazine. A user can add favorites, chat in real time, or just check to see who is online.
Date.com Membership is worldwide, although the main focus is on the US. Date.com also shares the same membership network as Match.com

Date.com Free Features:

• Create a profile, including uploading a picture
• Search for potential dates, using a range of criteria
• Read profiles
• Flirt by showing interest
• Read online magazine and take part in quizzes

Restrictions:

• No email or messaging available to free members
• No access to chat rooms

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Date.com Paid Membership Features:

• Email other members
• Instant messaging
• Audio/Video messaging
• Highest ranking in searches
• Chat rooms
• Post extra pictures
  
  

Search by Member Options:

Wide range of search options available (depending on membership level), including:

• age
• relationship type
• location
• photo
• membership status
• smoker/non smoker
• interests

Regions:

• Worldwide.
• English, Spanish, Portuguese and German language sites available

Zoosk.com overview, Online Dating sites review

Zoosk.com overview

Zoosk.com
Online Dating at its best

Zoosk.com started out in the US as a Facebook application. Today you can use Zoosk independently of Facebook.
Within a few months 50 million “zooskers” were registered worldwide. No other dating site has ever done this!
We don't like the idea of having to buy "Zoosk coins" in order to make your profile more visible. Apart from that, the service is definitely worth trying.

Typical "typos" of Zoosk.com:
www.Zoosk, wwwZoosk.com, www.Zooskcom, ww.Zoosk.com, Zooks, www.Zooks.com, Zeusk, www.Zeusk.com, Zoost, www.Zoost.com, zusk, www.zusk.com, zösk, www.zösk.com

Initial registration only requires an email address and a password.  After verifying the proper password, users can start exploring Zoosk by creating a profile.  This involves:

1. Entering personality, body and demographical information
2. Location information
3. A character description, with categories of “your story”, “your perfect match” and “your ideal first date”
4. Photographs
5. Likes (books, music and movies)
6. Asking others for testimonials
7. Using icebreaker topics to start a conversation

Although Zoosk consists of mainly paid members, users do have the option of browsing other profiles free of charge.  Options include sending messages, winking, sending gifts and adding friendship.  Profiles are detailed and contain photos.  The graphics of the website are distinctively social media style, and resemble Facebook’s friendly, colorful and plump lettering.  The site seems socially appealing to hip dating professionals.

 Free Features:

• Community access, including news reports on members (Facebook style) and full profile searching
• Registered users can access various features of the service using “virtual currency”
• Free download of the Zoosk personal messenger
• Winking enabled
• Direct link from personal ad to Facebook page
• Limited communication with members after profile completion

Restrictions:

Utilizes only limited communication and only works until you run out of virtual currency.  You can buy virtual currency using “zoosk coins” or play for some extra coins by taking part in the “Daily Zoosk Raffle”, which takes place every 24 hours.

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Paid Membership Features:

• Respond to emails and winks
• Chat with friends
• Premium profile placement (returns more often on search listings)
• Users can find out who viewed their profile (not available on Facebook)

Search by Member Options:

Yes, available to all registered users:

Regions:

Zoosk has a global community that spans 40 different countries and 20 different languages.  For a full listing of countries and states, try a location search.

eHarmony.com overview, Online Dating sites review

eHarmony.com

eHarmony.com overview

#1 TRUSTED ONLINE DATING SITE FOR SINGLES
 
eHarmony was launched in the US in 2000, as an alternative online dating site for singles looking for a long-term relationship. In the USA eHarmony.com has developed into the most trusted relationship website.
They proudly announce that eHarmony.com is responsible for nearly 5% of all new U.S. marriages.
eHarmony’s Compatibility Matching System is based on a rigorous scientific approach to relationships and they have developed models of compatibility particularly adapted for different demographic populations.
eHarmony.com matches you with like-minded singles based on key dimensions of compatibility, such as humour, intelligence and passion.
There's a quite long and detailed questionnaire to fill out in order for the system to work well, but the benefits can be tremendous!
Another important aspect about eHarmony, is that you can’t search profiles. They’ll rather send you compatible matches (as they say, „eHarmony: a relationship site, not a dating site“)

It is not possible to browse or search profiles on eHarmony. Once matches have been found, you are guided through the following communication process:

1. Read your match’s ‘About me’ information
2. Send first questions (chosen from a list)
3. Exchange 10 ‘must haves’ and 10 ‘can’t stands’
4. Send second questions (free choice)
5. Open communication

After communication commences, you can decide whether to exchange personal contact details or fast track the process straight to direct open communication.

Free Features:

• Personal report from their Compatibility Matching System (worth $40)
• Initial matches provided
• Further Matches supplied via email

Restrictions:

• No contact available with free service. There are occasional free contact offers.

Paid Membership Features:

• Contact enabled between members
  
  

Search by Member Options:

• No search facility available on this website

Regions:

• United States
• Canada
• Australia
• UK

Match.com overview, Online Dating sites review

Match.com overview

Match.com
Start your love story

Match.com is the best known dating site throughout the world. The portal was first established in the United States in 1995 and soon became the no. 1 dating site, with over 60 million people joining in their search for someone special since then.

The site hardly contains any fake personals as photos and texts are frequently and carefully controlled. Profiles that do not play by the rules or haven’t logged in for the past six months are removed. The price level is somewhat high, but in return Match.com offers access to over 60 million personals on six continents and in 18 languages.

One last point: if you are concerned about security when you take the step from online dating to meeting someone, you can now relax a bit more since Match.com started to screen users against a national sex offenders registry.
In our opinion, everything at Match.com is in place so that you can have the best experience getting to know your matches.

Depending on your membership level (free or paid subscription member), you may be able to use the following functions:

• Create a profile, inclusive of photo uploading
• Search for pot ential dates, using a wide variety of criteria including match words (like keywords)
• Browse profiles
• Yes/No/Maybe function. If you click ‘yes’ then the other person receives an email telling them you’re interested
• Silent profiles allow you to browse without other people knowing you’ve visited their profile
• Receive emails of newly ‘matched’ profiles

Free Features:

• Create a profile, including uploading a picture
• Search for a potential date while using a wide variety of criteria
• Read profiles
• Show interest in another person

Restrictions:

• Not able to send or read emails
• Not able to see who is interested in you

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Paid Membership Features:

• Email other members
• Read emails from other members
• Highest ranking in searches
• See who has viewed your profile, who is interested and who has saved you to favorites

Search by Member Options:

Wide range of search options available, including:

• distance
• age
• online
• education
• star sign

Regions: Worldwide

DatingDirect.com overview, Online Dating sites review

DatingDirect.com overview

Online dating sites review, DatingDirect.com overview:

DatingDirect.com ''Sometimes to get what you want ... you’ve got to be direct ''
DatingDirect was launched in 1999 and it boasts 3.5 million members world wide.
DatingDirect matches singles looking for dates and relationships, providing members with the tools needed to chat and meet.
It’s a fun place where you’ll be provided with lots of spontaneous ways to get to know your dates (i.e. instant messenger for real-time, one-to-one chats or mobile applications).
DatingDirect.com is full of real British men and women with great life experiences to share, meaning you won't find yourself stuck for conversation.

Membership Levels :  Free  |   Premium

 

According to membership level, some of the key features of datingdirect.com are:

• Create a profile, including uploading a picture and video intro
• Search for potential dates, using a wide variety of criteria
• Read profiles
• Mobile phone functionality available
• Create ‘My Test’ and invite other members to answer your questions, e.g “What’s your favorite film?” “Would you be a space tourist?”
• Receive emails of new profiles
• Emails
• Video calls
• Instant Messenger
• Read dating tips and articles

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Free Membership Levels. Yes

Free Features:

• Create a profile, including uploading a picture and video intro
• Standard searching
• Read profiles
• Show interest in another person
• See who is online

Restrictions:

• Can’t send or read emails
• Can’t view video intros
• Profile viewing is time limited
• No access to Instant Messenger or Chat

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Premium Membership Features:

• Highest ranking in searches
• Premier search
• Unlimited profile viewing, including videos
• Send and receive/read emails
• Access to Instant Messenger and chat
• View additional photos

Search by Member Options:

Datingdirect.com’s premier search has a range of search options, including:

• distance
• age
• online
• education
• interests

Regions:

• UK
• Europe
• Worldwide

Online Dating User problems

Online Dating User problems

 There can be a variety of problems when utilizing online dating sites.

• Some sites expect members to subscribe "blind," meaning that users have little or no ability to search or preview the available profiles before they pay the subscription fee.

• A majority of dating sites state profiles as online for months or even years since the last time the person has logged in, thereby making it seem as though there are more available members than there actually are. In addition, a site will often advertise the number of "registered members" while having only a fraction of that many active users.

• For paying members, it is often unclear whether a potential contact has a full subscription and whether he or she will be able to reply. Some sites prevent a potential contact from even reading a paying member's messages unless the contact has also paid to subscribe. There are still, however, a few established free dating sites that allow non-paid-up users to reply to messages.

• Some sites require that both the sender and recipient of messages be subscribers before any off-site communication or contact can be arranged, and will filter messages to remove email addresses, telephone numbers, web addresses and surnames. Subscribers who attempt to circumvent this restriction may lose their membership and be removed from the site.

• Some profiles may not represent actual daters, but are "bait profiles" that have been placed there by the site owners to attract new paying members. Both Yahoo Personals and Match.com have received several complaints about this tactic. Some users spam sites with "fake" profiles that are in reality advertisements to other services, such as prostitution, multi-level marketing, or other personals websites.

• Even when members' profiles are "real", there is still an inherent lack of trust with other members. Married people seeking affairs will often pose as singles. In addition, many members misrepresent themselves by telling flattering 'white lies' about their height, weight and age, or by using old and misleading photos. Members can, of course, ask for an up-to-date photograph before arranging a meeting, but disappointments are common. Matrimonials Sites are a variant of online dating sites, and these are geared towards meeting people for the purpose of getting married. Gross misrepresentation is less likely on these sites than on casual dating sites. Casual dating sites are often geared more towards short term (potentially sexual) relationships.

• Online predators find online dating sites especially attractive, because such sites give them an unending supply of new targets of opportunity for Internet fraud. A recent study, led by Dr. Paige Padgett from the University of Texas Health Science Center, found that there was a false degree of safety assumed by women looking for love on the internet, exposing them to stalking, fraud, and sexual violence. Some online dating sites conduct background checks on their members in an attempt to avoid problems of this nature.

• Most members are enticed to join dating websites with free or low-priced "trial" memberships advertised on many other websites. On sites which require credit card information to join at all, these trial memberships may automatically become full memberships at the end of the trial period and charge the full monthly fee, without any additional action from the member, regardless of whether the member has actually used the services or not.

• Some members have expressed complaints about the billing practices of certain dating sites. In some cases, trial memberships that were canceled within the trial period were automatically re-billed even after canceling. To avoid these potential problems, some users have advised using a virtual credit card number which is offered by several credit card companies.

• On any given dating site, the sex ratio is commonly unbalanced. A website may have 2 women for every man, but they may be in the 35+ range, while the men are generally under 35. Unfortunately, little is known about the sex ratio controlled for age. eHarmony's membership is about 58% female and 42% male, whereas the ratio at Match.com is about the reverse of that. When you get into the specialty niche websites where the primary demographic is male, you typically get a very unbalanced ratio of male to female or female to male. Niche sites cater to people with special interests, such as sports fans, racing and automotive fans, medical or other professionals, people with political or religious preferences (e.g. Hindu, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, etc.), people with medical conditions (e.g. HIV+, obese), or those living in rural farm communities.

• There is some evidence that there may be a difference on how women online rate male attractiveness as opposed to how men rate female attractiveness. The distribution of ratings given by men of female attractiveness appears to look like a standard bell curve (normal distribution), while ratings of men given by women is highly skewed with 80% of the men rated as below average. This shows women are genuinely more picky than men when it comes to online dating. It could also potentially arise from women assessing other profile characteristics besides appearance, like their occupation for example.

• Disreputable sites such as True.com and Quechup may harvest users' personal information and contacts for use in e-mail spam.

• Consolidation within the online dating industry has led to different newspapers and magazines now advertising the same website data base under different names. In the UK, for example, Time Out ('London Dating'), The Times ('Encounters'), The Daily Telegraph ('Kindred Spirits'), all offer differently named portals to the same service—meaning that a person who subscribes through more than one publication has unwittingly paid more than once for access to just one site.

• In December 2010, a New York State Law called the "Internet Dating Safety Act" (S5180-A) went into effect that requires online dating sites with customers in New York State to warn users not to disclose personal information to people they do not know.

Online dating business problems

Pay dating business model

In an editorial post titled "Why you should never pay for online dating", a founder of free dating site OkCupid criticized pay-dating as exploiting users and as "fundamentally broken", and noting that "pay sites have a unique [financial] incentive to profit from their customers' disappointment". The post analyzed the business model used for pay dating and noted that it gave rise to "strange incentives [because] the only way they don't make money is to show subscribers to other subscribers." (emphasis in original)

Instead it creates an incentive to show profiles of lapsed and non-paying members (described as "ghosts" in the analysis) in the hope that site visitors will wish to contact these profiles and will subscribe to do so, or that once contacted by new or existing users some of these "ghosts" will wish to respond and will re-subscribe in order to do so. This causes a low response rate, which in turn encourages respondents to become desperate and formulaic, reducing their chances of meeting people.

Virtual dating review

Virtual dating

Virtual dating combines online dating with online gaming. Virtual dating involves the use of avatars for people to interact in a virtual venue that resembles a real life dating environment. For example, individuals can meet and chat in a romantic virtual cafe in Paris or on a Caribbean resort. They can explore together, play games and take relationship quizzes to get a better, deeper understanding of each other. While online dating sites allows members to search on attributes such as education and income, virtual dating allows users to explore compatibility, sense of humor and rapport. Virtual dating sites include Weopia and Omnidate.

According to Scientific American, virtual dating is "the next step in online dating" (Feb/March 2007, p. 35)

A Time Magazine article entitled "Internet Dating 2.0" was published on January 19, 2007 citing current and upcoming technologies and explains how people can now connect in a virtual dating environment. Time describes how websites are allowing people to meet for an avatar based, graphically enabled virtual date without leaving their homes.

Researchers at MIT and Harvard have found that "people who had had a chance to interact with each other (by computer only) on a virtual tour of a museum subsequently had more successful face-to-face meetings than people who had viewed only profiles."

These three dimensional experience has reported more registrations from women than men. One explanation for this phenomenon is that virtual dating allows women to have complete control over who they select and how they interact. Virtual dating also eliminates large amounts of emails in women's inboxes and allows women to enjoy a friendly dating option.

Video dating

Video dating is a form of virtual dating that allows all users to use live dating services with actual reality that stimulates a real dating experience. Sites offering video dating allow 3-5 minute webcam interviews with online matches.

Online dating assistants

Not a long time ago, various websites were available on the Internet with access to valuable tips on how to find a partner, and especially focused on how to find women. Dating Internet services have expanded and are now offering many more services to make it easier for people to find a partner.

Last June, 2010, The Washington Post published an article on a new service Internet dating companies are offering: online dating assistants. Dating companies offer the services of ghostwriters to help busy people find dates through Internet.

The services start by helping customers build their profile, a practice already offered by several online dating sites. However, the service continues with picking out potential matches, the writer then sends introductory e-mails to the possible matches and continues messaging back and forth until they can confirm the date. Although the service was used at first mainly by men, this has changed with more ladies using this service as well.

This kind of service has been considered as misrepresentation and, thus ethically questionable, by those against it.