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Internet dating sites are growing in popularity. A German friend was telling me that when young people get employed they have so little free time available, that he expects online dating sites to become the norm within a few years. I am not sure if I will agree or not with that prediction, however Internet dating is here to stay.

As with the rest of the web, things move on. Dating sites have multiplied and this led to the search for differentiation. In the US it seems that mainstream sites are losing ground while the ones devoted to niche groups are steadily gaining. I would attribute this to the following reasons:

• Mainstream sites attract people of all types ending with such a huge number of subscribers that matching becomes long and tedious. Search criteria surely do the job, but still it is easier to navigate a smaller more specialised site.
• Differentiation is very difficult when trying to appear equally appealing to everybody.
• Fatigue is also a factor. People like to try new sites and the new approaches that go with them.

Niche sites appear “catchy” by openly approaching customers via immediately recognisable factors, as for example sexual orientation, race or religion. And it seems to work, as certain people associate themselves with and put a lot of importance on some of those attributes. The result? Last year niche dating sites saw gains of up to 56%, while the larger five “general” dating sites did not progress at all.

Does that spell trouble for the mainstream sites? Possibly. It is evident that the Internet dating sector is becoming increasingly spread. In this trend you should add two more factors:

1. Due to the lag of widespread Internet access and use in some countries -compared to the US- only now do national dating sites start to show their muscle. Comfort of language use plays instrumental role and those that had no choice before, most likely favour local dating sites.
2. Casual dating sites become more popular.

Of course, the second trend existed in the mainstream sites from the start. It is hard to believe that every single person on a dating site is only interested in a serious relationship or marriage. The fact that we now see sites that start to appeal specifically to these tastes possibly has a negative effect on the new subscriptions of established sites.

Nevertheless, a site does not need to be baptised a “dating site” to work for dating. And in my opinion, social networking sites like Facebook or MySpace do exactly that. They cater to all tastes, including those that are interested in serious or casual relationships. In fact, with zero costs to join and immediate access to advanced IM communication tools and photo/video sharing, I believe that especially mainstream dating sites have got some really tough competition.

Link: TechCrunch