Online dating groeit in VS stug door

“Online dating seems like one of those things everyone did when the Web was new, then dropped after a while. In fact, the percentage of Internet users in the US who visit online dating sites is down, but online dating revenues are up.”

Toch interessant. In een tijd van dalende advertentieomzetten, bibberende uitgevers en sanerende mediabedrijven is de voorspelling voor de omzetten van online dating nog steeds gunstig. Piper Jaffray schat in, dat de opbrengsten van online dating in de VS zullen oplopen van 1,18 miljard in 2008 naar 1,65 miljard dollar in 2012. ‘The company said growth would be steady, if not massive,’ schrijft eMarketer vrijdag. Maar, als het aantal gebruikers daalt, waarom gaan de inkomste dan omhoog? Door slimme marketing:

‘Monthly fees can be $30 or more, depending on the service. Dating sites are counting on the fact that a small percentage of Internet users are serious enough about dating to pay for services of this sort instead of meeting through social networks (or, you know, life). Niche dating sites specialize in targeting specific types of daters, and the range of these services is now as diverse as Internet users themselves,’ schrijft eMarketer.