Match.com to Friendster, the online dating game changes
Free so far, the upstart Friendster which is more about social networking, expects to start charging about a third of what the big matchmaking sites charge (approx. $25/month) for allowing people to connect with other people according to this New York Times story (registration required). This is a hot market for sure. According to Jupiter Research, online dating sites are expected to generate revenues of $400M, up from the $300M they're expected to take in this year.
Match.com does not necessarily benefit if its users pair off for good. Tim Sullivan, Match.com's president, said in an interview last week that although his subscribers typically dropped off after about five months — having either found a promising mate or no luck at all — many return for another try. In fact, he said, about 40 percent of the site's current subscribers are returnees.
But competition is such that Match.com and its rivals are under pressure to improve their services so that people will find dates quickly, even if it means they will lose those customers more quickly. One new feature of Match.com's revamped site is video messages, a capability that Yahoo added early this year that allows users to post personal statements on the site.
...Still, many customers of the big online dating services could be lured by a cheaper and entirely different dating company that has amassed 1.5 million members in a little more than three months, without any marketing. Friendster, a start-up company based in Sunnyvale, Calif., helps users meet friends of friends, by encouraging social networking.