Compete says DownToEarth, Match.com’s free dating site, is up to 188,000 members. DTE tells me they are not aggressively advertising the site, which is even more impressive.
Observations:
- At least 50% of the women don’t have photos.
- The majority of women in the Boston area I haven’t seen on other sites.
- I am tiring of seeing dating sites advertising other dating sites. These “webrings” are good for traffic but in terms of branding, this is the kind of marketing that makes those outside the industry scratch their head. This would never work in another sector.
- Adjusting search criteria is *much* easier than on Match. Old Y! Personals search is still the best by far though.
- Tension between Christians and Myspacers is interesting. Jesus saves, check out my cleavage.
- Some photos are empty, some are grey, what’s up with that?
I’m chatting with a few women from Are You Interested and PlentyOfFish who are on DTE, they see the site as just another opportunity to get their face out there. All generally express low expectations. They are burnt out, as am I. Of course those are my connections, but nobody is seems excited about a new site. It’s “here we go again”. In this case, churn is good, singles new to online dating may show up all bright-eyed, optimistic and excited about a new site.
