Online Dating Services Now a Billion Dollar Industry

 

Online Dating Services Now a Billion Dollar Industry

 

Online dating services now have a subscriber population estimated to be over 1 billion. That’s an industry of over $1 billion USD per year with growth rates steady at 10% per year. North America alone has over 1,400 online dating sites, where they are the third largest industry.

 

PACCAR Financial - Online Services
PACCAR Financial – Online Services (Photo credit: TruckPR)

 

Yet the online dating phenomenon is not restricted to the Americas or Europe, as Asians have embraced this love technology wholeheartedly. Japan has 1,600 online dating sites, even more than the US. India has 15 million subscribers, and that figure is expected to grow despite the economic crisis.

 

Perhaps the most significant growth factor has to do with the fact that more and more elderly people are dating online. 60 percent of women over the age of 65 and 30 percent of men of the same age group are expected to find dates on the web this year.

 

 

Top Online Dating Service Websites

Top Online Dating Service Websites

The top three online dating services of the year are most likely to be same top 3 as last year, as new polls are showing. Match.com, Yahoo! Personals and eHarmony are in the lead again for top honors as well as top revenue generation.

Here's another potential eHarmony date. Why do...
Here’s another potential eHarmony date. Why do you suppose he’s smiling? (Photo credit: David Reber’s Hammer Photography)

However, these top sites are now facing stiff competition from niche sites like JDate for Jewish singles, Christian Club for Christian singles, and Shaadi for Indian singles. Targeted sites like those are ever popular, and one can find a site that matches any discriminating love interest.

Even popular social networking sites like FaceBook and MySpace have organized themselves to cater to love seekers using single sub groups. But the biggest growth in the industry is coming from the most surprising spot in the world: India. India has two of the top 10 sites worldwide with Shaadi and Love From India garnering more then 15 million seekers per year.