Your Quick Guide to the Best Internet Dating Sites
Yahoo Personals, Date.com and eHarmony are three leading providers of Online Dating Services.
This site compares these services and provides a summary of each to help you make a decision
as to which might be the best for you.
Online dating may seem a bit intimidating, but it can also lead to the match of your dreams.
One of the best aspects is being able to search for a match based on things like hobbies,
religion, education, age, looks, location or income. You sure can't get that by barhopping!
Meeting someone online is also very exciting. There is nothing quite like logging on to see
"You've Got Mail" from someone of interest. It can be addictively fun to say the least...
and often lead to much more.
These days, online dating is the only way to guarantee that you can meet the most people
and screen for the best match. The Internet is literally the largest meeting place in the world.
There are tens of thousands of people online, all looking for a special someone.
It is completely possible, even probable, that you could meet your next "someone" tonight.
Quick Summary:
A Quick Summary of the key advantages of these four Dating Services - (#1 being the best value):
Yahoo! Personals
- best value, large member base, cheapest price.One of the coolest features - Mutual Matching,
highlights people who not only meet your criteria, but who are also interested in finding someone
like you!
Date.com
- good value, online dating community dedicated to helping over 8 million members develop the
right relationship for them since 1997. Members can browse the site, post a profile, and include
a photograph for free! When the member's search identifies someone he or she would like to contact,
they can upgrade to a Gold membership and send email, instant message and chat online.
eHarmony
- they get their results primarily by screening the people before they are allowed to join through
a huge test with over 400 questions. It's a little bit of a pain to sign up, because of all the
questions, but you probably know the people that have signed up are serious about dating.
* This site provides the comparisons as a service to the Internet community. We do not endorse
any of the companies, products, or services mentioned. Each product or service is the trademark
of their respective company. All information is provided as opinions only.
Fast searches with plenty of matches including photos. Like some others, no registration is
required to search for matches. Large number of users, advanced search options, writing tips
from the pros, photo/audio/video posting tips.
Has been described as the online dating service designed "to developing happy relationships."
Reports there have been at least 50 marriages among singles who met online at Date.com just
in the past 12 months.
Eliminates 99.7% of people who are not right for you. Provides matches who are truly compatible
based on the 29 key dimensions that predict relationship success - crucial to long-term success
in relationships.
Comments
Said to have over 9 million members with profiles. Easy to fill out a profile and get started,
but less emphasis on close matching than some of the others. Yahoo Personals allows you to join,
post a profile, browse, and initiate communication for free. If you want to communicate further,
that's when they have you pay to join.
Like many other places on the internet, Date.com has chat rooms where you can hang out and meet
other people. The difference is that that at Date everyone is single and looking to hook up.
Signing up is fairly time consuming, but that is not necessarily a bad thing as it help for more
targeted searches. They claim their model eliminates 99.7% of people that are not right for you.
Pros
PRO: Unlimited browsing so you can "try before you buy". Yahoo's broad appeal means a large
database of singles. There are a number of search categories, so it's easy to tailor to include
or exclude specific areas that are important.
PRO: Online weekly magazine focused on social networking, 3 day free trial, custom voice and video
greetings can really make your profile stand out
PRO: Offers a much more in-depth compatibility match
Cons
CON: Because anyone can post a profile, all listed profiles are not necessarily active members.
Matching based on personality type is limited.
CON:Success stories are not being updated, all listed profiles are not necessarily active members
CON: Rates are slightly more than other dating sites, can only view Members that fall with in the
Matching Model (no random searching), there is no way to tell if a match can communicate with you
or not (meaning if the person is a subscriber)
# of members
over 4 million users
over 3 million users
over 2 million users
Key Benefits
Try the advanced searching & matching of New Yahoo! Personals Premier-FREE for 7 days!
Premier's advanced searching and matching can help you find a long-term relationship.
Get 7 days FREE!
Yahoo! Personals Premier Relationship Test,
Search for and be found by others seeking a long-term relationship,
See your Relationship Fit rating with other Premier users,
Give feedback on your matches to improve your future search results,
Straightforward to follow, your member home page has a lot of options yet it is all clearly set
out, making site navigation quick and easy. Their communities section "date.com's webzine" is
packed with fun, interesting articles, dates from hell, great date ideas and flirting tips.
Another tempting reason to join date.com would be for the fantastic events they organise.
Not a personals site in the traditional sense, eHarmony has nothing to do with browsing through
hundreds or thousands of photographs or reading brief profiles. eHarmony is based on an extensive
personality survey that is designed to not only match you with other members, but actually give
you a detailed personality profile that outlines various aspects of your own personality, covering
such details as how you react to stressful situations, what you seek from others, your most
deep-seated anxieties and how you perceive yourself and others.
