Online Dating Industry Growth Slows Down

(datelists.com - April 19, 2005) The rapid growth seen in previous years for the online dating industry is expected to slow way down this year, concerning some that a peak has been reached when it comes to online dating. In 2002, the online dating industry grew by 73%, a massive expansion that was surpassed the next year with growth in 2003 of 77%. In 2004, however, the growth began to slow down - the 2004 online dating market grew by only 19%. This year the online dating industry is only expected to grow by 9%, according to an online dating research report from Dublin Research and Markets. This small 9% growth translates to only $516 million in 2005.

The report also states that conversion rates in the online dating industry have increased about 25% in the last year, showing that dating sites are focusing more on increasing conversions of viewers into paying subscribers in order to make up for the decline in industry growth. Many dating sites are also paying more attention to serious daters rather than casual daters to increase their site revenue.

Serious daters are singles who participate in online dating with hopes of finding a long-term relationship or marriage. Serious daters convert 20% more often, are twice as likely to purchase long-term subscriptions and pay up to twice as much per month as casual daters.

Match.com and Yahoo! Personals, two online dating industry giants, are struggling to grow revenue while relationship-focused sites like eHarmony are gaining wider media and consumer attention. In order to increase financial success, many dating sites are beginning to model their approach after more relationship-focused online dating sites such as eHarmony. This industry growth decrease may motivate several online dating sites to reevaluate their approach to online dating.