Group 1:Jessie Aujla, Felisa Campusano, Mark Hill, Faaiza Zaidi

An Introduction to Online Dating
Online dating websites offer people the ability to contact and communicate with each other over the Internet with the goal of developing a romantic relationship. These websites provide largely unmoderated matchmaking services designed to allow clients to search for other people based on specific interests, traits, and so forth. As a result, members of dating websites are required to reveal some amounts of personal information if they hope to have any success.

Some online dating websites are free to use, while others charge a monthly fee. Some also provide free basic service, while charging for premium services such as webcasts or online phone services. Hundreds of dating sites exist today. Many, including the most popular ones, have broad bases of members that come from a variety of backgrounds. Other websites cater to specific interests or locations. Overall, the online dating industry has grown substantially over the years.

Business
The earliest dating websites came online in 1995, making online dating one of the longest running industries on the Internet. In its early years the marketplace was primarily controlled by a small group of websites, but by the year 2000 the practise of online dating became substantially more popular, leading to the emergence of hundreds of competing websites. By late 2004 online dating would be firmly established as a significant industry, and in late 2005 online dating became the second largest paid content industry online, bringing in a profit of over five hundred million dollars. At this point in time there were well over eight hundred online dating sites online, of all sizes and catering to all markets. However, a select few still dominated the market and were increasing their share. Yahoo Personals, match.com and eHarmony were the big three at this point, all owned by major corporations or conglomerates.

However by 2008, the market share of the major sites, while still dominant, had dropped slightly in favour of speciality dating sites. While smaller, broad based dating websites proved unable to gain market share against the major sites, niche market sites have experienced rapid growth over the past few years, resulting in huge jumps in popularity. Examples of these niche sites include religious specific sites like Christian Mingle and JDate (for Jewish people), sites dedicated strictly to gay and lesbian users, sites catering to specific ethnic groups, and so on.

Some smaller sites have also found success by offering free services. These websites make their profit from ads rather than a monthly subscription fee, offering an alternative to those looking to date online without an initial financial commitment.

Overall, the online dating business continues to grow rapidly today. One of the main reasons seems to be the increase in popularity of online dating with the Baby Boomer generation, a large percentage of which are still single. As the Internet as a whole continues to see more mainstream use among older generations, it seems only natural that online industries would benefit from this as well. So it appears that as a business online dating will remain profitable for the foreseeable future.

Technical
In the early years of online dating, the services offered were quite basic, little more than an online version of newspaper classified ads. However, as online dating has become more popular and websites find themselves with more competitors, additional services have been added over the years to keep websites relevant. The first such services to emerge were online text chats, and more recently webcam chats have become popular. Recently some smaller sites, in an effort to make themselves stand out, have begun to employ so called avatar based instant messaging, that is interacting through a virtual character rather than simply through text. While it is still too early to determine if this will be a popular trend or merely a novelty it does represent another way online dating sites are attempting to change the way people communicate with each other.

The databases used to match prospective couples together have also grown significantly, expanding from merely keeping track of similar interests to incorporating handwriting analysis and other unique ways of trying to successfully match people.

On the more administrative side of things, online dating websites have become vigilant about combating fraud in recent years. As any industry grows there will inevitably be an increase in an illegal side of the industry, and online dating is no exception. Legitimate sites have therefore significantly increased their security measures in recent years both to protect customers from the loss of personal data and to ensure their users they are not getting scammed out of their money.

Demographics
This bar graph below identifies the top 10 US dating sites in November (in blue) and December (in green) in 2006.The following graph was provided from compete.com and compared the general popularity of websites visited by online users. It is evident that Yahoo Personals during this time was popular amongst users and was ranked with the highest number of visits. The next highest number of visits was Singlesnet followed by Match.com and eHarmony.



The chart below determines the profiles of US internet users who use online dating websites according to emarketer.com. The data displays a percentage of respondents in each group from 2000-2008. According to chart, there are a greater percentage of males that tend to use online dating sites in comparison to females; however, it was noticed that the percentage seemed to have decreased over time. With regards to age, a greater percentage was observed in individuals aged 18-29. These percentages implied that young users were more likely to use online dating websites. In terms of ethnicity or race, it was found that in general the Hispanics and African Americans used the online dating sites more than Caucasians. Although the percentage throughout the years has decreased over time, there is still a large percentage of people using and joining dating websites.



Nowadays, online dating services generally require personal information before searching the database for other individuals using the criteria they set. Such criteria include age range, gender and location. Most sites allow members to upload photos of themselves and browse the photos of others. In addition, most dating sites may offer additional services, such as webcasts, online chat (such as instant messengers) telephone chat (also called VOIP), and message boards. Today, some sites provide free registration and membership; however there are some that may offer additional services which require a monthly fee.

Advantages
Convenient

With the increasing popularity of the internet, it is almost impossible to find access to it. Because of this, online dating sites provide a fast, easy, and convenient option to dating. Because of this option, there is no need to work up the nerve to pick up the phone and call someone. It is a fast, simple and stress free way of communication, in which you can break the ice before meeting or even just determine if you want to meet the other person without seeing or talking to eachother.

Inexpensive

The internet is becoming increasingly more accessible to people and we have found that for many of us it is a part of our everyday basic necessities. So this can be an inexpensive alternative to dating the old fashioned way, because you can meet people without having to buy them a drink or take them out to dinner. Although some sites require you to pay a monthly subscription, there are more and more online sites being introduced that provide a free service.

Privacy

Online dating sites provide you the option to not make available your personal information or put up your picture until you feel comfortable about releasing that information. This can be reassuring to people who do not feel comfortable about providing information to people that they meet right away.

Variety

Online dating gives you the option of meeting different kinds of people that you may have not ever met before. You could potentially meet your soul mate who lives half way across the world, or someone who lives on your street. The point is, online dating is increasing its appeal to people and with the increase in popularity, the more choice you have at your fingertips, literally. There are also sites that cater to your specific needs or wants, like various ethnocultural sites, matrimonial specific sites, or sites that cater to certain ideals you look for in a person such as the Big and Beautiful site. Whatever your preference or fixation, there is probably a site that will cater to you.

The Issue of Trust
One of the biggest negatives to online dating is the issue of trust. You do not know if someone is telling you the truth, because your interactions are not face to face. Because of the nature of the relationship, online daters need to be very careful. By not being able to see someone you have no clue if what they are telling you is the truth. Often they lie about major things like being single, their gender, and their, age right down to their hobbies and interests.For example, 1/5 online daters are married men. Putting all your trust is someone is the biggest obstacle people have to face when they decide to enter the world of online dating. It is a big leap of faith and it is practically impossible to know if your partner is telling you the truth because you do not have the benefit of actually seeing them.

False Intimacy
Online interactions create an atmosphere of false intimacy. A couple may feel that they know all about each other because of numerous online interactions. But when/if they meet in person their partner can be totally different. For those who are actually trying to find love, they can be severely disappointed if what they thought was a serious relationship was not even a relationship at all. The only way to prevent situations of false intimacy would be to approach these relationships with caution. Perhaps waiting until the first face to face meeting to see if feelings have not changed. Using the internet is an easy way to put your best face forward and no one would be any wiser. It is a known fact that many online daters create numerous different personalities and attempt to "date" more than one person at a time.

Sex Offenders
Another very serious issue is that sex offender are known to contact and find their victims online, these victims are usually young teenage girls. Online dating websites make it very easy to use false pretenses to lure young victims. This is made possible through minimal security and background checks. In order to sign up for many dating websites, all that is required from a user is: First Name, Last Name and email address. However, there is no way to verify this information so offenders using a fake name and fake email can easily make an account and pursue their victims.

Danger of Scams
There are also numerous scams surrounding online dating. One of these scams is identity theft. A scammer will gather information about their victim in an attempt to steal their identity. This can be done online, or when the couple meets for the first time. Also, some online dating services are known to have stolen credit card and other personal information from clients before disappearing. This is a problem because there are numerous online dating websites and they are frequently changing or vanishing.

Conclusion
As a business, online dating's growth over the past few years has been remarkable and there is nothing to indicate that these trends will reverse anytime soon. It appears that the industry will remain one that is highly profitable, although many websites will have to come up with new innovations if they hope to retain their share of the profit.

On a personal level online dating has become a perfectly viable alternative for those looking to begin a relationship. Matchmaking services have become robust enough to often match people effectively, and online dating also offers a low level of initial commitment that can be attractive to potential clients. However, it is important to keep in mind that online dating is not free from danger. Financial scams, sex offenders and other potential issues can arise if one does not be careful when taking advantage of the services online dating websites can offer.