| The overarching strategy of Internet dating services is so simple, it’s scary: Provide compelling content — almost all from end-users — and require those clients to respond with an e-mail. Allow users to join and post personal ads for free, then charge a modest subscription fee in order to communicate with other members.
Match.com president Cindy Hennessy said the model is the most basic use of existing Internet technology, and the best kept secret on the Web. “In the end that is what (the Internet) is all about- — acting on information presented with an e-mail, and there is almost always nearly instant feedback.”
Numbers prove interest is there aplenty. “Year to date, we saw our business double over last year, with 100,000 new registrants each week,” Hennessy said.
This year, 4.1 million new registrants signed up with Match.com, a unit of Ticketmaster Online-Citysearch Inc., pushing the company’s overall database to 10 million members, 2 million of which maintain active profiles on the site. Hennessy declined to release figures, but claimed the operation is “very profitable.”
Insiders say Internet dating’s potential is just being tapped. About 50 percent of the population is single — never married, divorced or widowed — but only 2 percent of Internet users actually use an online dating service, said Hennessy. |
