Valentine's Day is coming up in a few days and your perfect mate is just waiting to be found on the internet. Or at least that’s what online dating sites want you to believe. This time of year, we're bombarded with advertisements for this not-actually-a-holiday holiday. Red and pink balloons line our grocery aisles and jewelry ads assault our ears on TV and on the radio.
Online dating sites also amp up their advertising around this time, hoping to profit off those who find themselves sans companionship during the month of love. According to a Nielsen analysis of ad expenditures by online dating sites, through the first three quarters of 2008 (the most recent data available) eHarmony spent $93 million on TV advertisements. The majority of advertisements ran on cable networks, where various online dating sites spent $117 million for ad time in 2007. Match.com and Chemistry.com were also big ad buyers, spending $45 million and $28 million respectively. That could buy a lot of cheap heart-shaped candy boxes.
Creepy side note: Now available to download for free on your iPhone is an app from Dating DNA called "Match Radar". It tracks other users' locations and notifies you when certain singles that meet your specified criteria are within 1/2 mile of your location. If nothing else, it's a good reminder that you need to read the privacy policy when you put your informaion out there.
--Erin
This picture is taken from this photostream and used with the permission of a Creative Commons license.
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