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BBC Panorama explained why this is the case in a recent investigation. The basic problem comes down to money. Imagine you have a really good dating site and ev

BBC Panorama explained why this is the case in a recent investigation. The basic problem comes down to money. Imagine you have a really good dating site and everyone finds their perfect partner within a matter of a few emails and dates. Thereafter they no longer need the services of the dating website. Hence to make money from a dating website you need people to not find dates, find partners or marry. Because as soon as that happens they stop paying their subscription fees. Keep them suckered for as long as possible, as in years, offering glimpses of false hope. Personally I don't see why it has to be this way. If I was a benevolent dictator I would make sure there was a free dating website, make it mandatory for single people to be on there and force the cruft dating websites out of business. Ultimately dating is good for the wider economy, a hopeful date is a no expense spared event for those with expense to spare. Our politicians are forever pandering to families and family values as if they are the only people that need to be looked out for.

grahamburger 13y ago
This was the same argument given about why Google was foolish to start a search engine. A good search engine should keep you searching longer to show you more ads. In reality people flocked to the search engine precisely because it worked. If a dating site were very very good, it could advertise something like "We're so confident you'll find someone with X months that we only ask you to pay a one time fee to join instead of monthly."
- hajile 13y ago
  If I'm completely successful with my Google search, I'll be back with another search before too long; If I'm completely successful with my relationship, I will NEVER be back. That said, it's telling that Google has gone to such great lengths to add other features and services in order to present more adverts.
UnFleshedOne 13y ago
That assumes owners of (at least some) dating sites know how to make them suck less and choose not to in order to extend subscription times. I don't think that is necessarily the case.

grahamburger 13y ago

This was the same argument given about why Google was foolish to start a search engine. A good search engine should keep you searching longer to show you more ads. In reality people flocked to the search engine precisely because it worked. If a dating site were very very good, it could advertise something like "We're so confident you'll find someone with X months that we only ask you to pay a one time fee to join instead of monthly."

hajile 13y ago
If I'm completely successful with my Google search, I'll be back with another search before too long; If I'm completely successful with my relationship, I will NEVER be back. That said, it's telling that Google has gone to such great lengths to add other features and services in order to present more adverts.

UnFleshedOne 13y ago

That assumes owners of (at least some) dating sites know how to make them suck less and choose not to in order to extend subscription times. I don't think that is necessarily the case.