Toronto Dating Scene » Free Dating Site

Plenty Of Fish Add More Paid Services

Toronto Dating — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 23:01:01 +0000

PlentyOfFish is looking for more revenue streams. In addition to becoming a ‘serious member’ (pay to get that badge on your dating profile), you can also pay now to see if/when a message you send has been read (or deleted). Watch for more paid add-ons from the free dating sites, I’d say.

Christian Dating For Free Goes Freemium – Sort Of

Toronto Dating — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 16:33:42 +0000

Christian Dating For Free has added a new revenue channel. If you don’t want to be inundated with ads (I assume this includes offers in your inbox) you can opt out of advertising for $5 per month. I’m not sure if this is simply a way to eek more revenue out of the site or if the cost of upkeep is really catching up to the revenue side. Time will tell. Either way, those that enjoy Christian Dating For Free now have an option of whether to see advertisements or not. This isn’t quite as extreme as the ‘freemium‘ model played by OkCupid.

OkCupid Free Dating Goes Freemium

Toronto Dating — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 14:27:57 +0000

I logged into OKCupid last night for the first time in a long time and I noticed they’ve really hyped the Freemium (basics are free but you pay for extras) aspect. They call it the ‘A-List’. I noticed it when I wanted to add a few criteria to my saved search — and again when I wanted to save multiple Saved Searches. See the full list in the graphic below.

Plenty of Fish Photos Look Like MySpace Photos

Toronto Dating — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:28:25 +0000

I finally came to this realization: A lot of profile photos on Plenty Of Fish are of the same variety as the typical MySpace profile photo. That, to me, means lower quality matches for the ‘serious’ dater. I rarely log in anymore. When comparing Plenty of Fish against most paid dating sites, there is definitely a quality difference. Does it work for some? For sure – that can’t be denied. However, if you’re serious about finding your match, don’t ignore the paid dating sites – you’ll find relief from the MySpace photos – and get better quality matches along with that.

PlentyOfFish Retargeting Ads: Everywhere

Toronto Dating — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:43:57 +0000

I started logging into PlentyOfFish again and ever since, on most sites I visit that have Google AdSense ads, I’m seeing:

PlentyOfFish User,

Did a hot girl message you at PlentyOfFish.com today? Check Now!!

Of course the banner ad looks like hell – because that’s how POF rolls. Pretty wild how effective this is to keep PlentyOfFish top-of-mind. For a site that is ad-revenue based I’m sure this is a solid strategy.

Update: Some stats regarding retargeting of ads:

- ‘nearly half of users return to a retail site immediately after being served a retargeting ad – generally within the hour.’
-’Retargeted ads are three times more likely to be clicked and retargeted users are four times more likely to convert’

Source: Ad Retargeting Gets Set For Prime Time

Free Video Speed Dating Via Skype

Toronto Dating — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:23:32 +0000

As featured by cnet news, you can partake in video speed dating via Skype, for free. The service, is Skyecandy (currently in beta). I have not yet tried this out, but this is yet another free option to find that special someone.

Match.com Gets Plugged: Nightline on ABC

Toronto Dating — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 01:20:33 +0000

Match.com (and PlentyOfFish) get plugged in this Nightline feature that talks about online dating in the tough economic times. Match.com, like many other online dating sites, say their traffic has increased due to the recession. Whether that’s really happening is up for debate (or maybe better put, what metrics they are really talking about is up for debate). Not all dating sites are experiencing this same jumps. PlentyOfFish’s small mention in this piece has resulted in ‘a few thousand extra signups’ apparently. The piece, below.

[via Online Dating Insider]

Plenty of Fish: Plenty of Arrogance?

Toronto Dating — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 06:02:30 +0000

News is filtering in from those who attended the Internet Dating Conference down in Miami. Apparently the Markus Frind (genius behind free Internet dating giant PlentyOfFish.com) workshop on Free Dating wasn’t exactly well received by the audience. Most questions were shrugged off with non-value responses (I suppose you can’t blame him – why give away your secrets; but then why agree to speak?). Between that and sneering at other dating sites, the audience wasn’t amused, apparently. Any other stories from iDate? Feel free to comment below.

PlentyOfFish Goes Down

Toronto Dating — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:24:09 +0000

Free dating site leader PlentyOfFish was down yesterday for a while… Soooo, does this mean it’s time to pull the PEER 1 promo video featuring the PlentyOfFish founder Markus?

eHarmony Free Communication Weekend: The Catch

Toronto Dating — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:34:59 +0000

eHarmony has ‘Free Communication Weekends’ every now and then. Basically non paying members can log into their account and start writing their matches free of charge. Great, right? Wrong. The thing is eHarmony won’t let you view any profile photos. So, yes, you can email to your hearts (?!) content but you can’t see who you are writing to. Fair enough, I suppose: If you’re too cheap to pay for the service why should you get it for free. However, they make such a big deal about the ‘Free Communication Weekend’ that you would figure you could see who you are writing to. This is also eHarmony’s tactic when they give you your free Personality Profile and free viewing of your matches (when you sign up). Yes, this is all true, however you can’t see any photos of your matches. eHarmony makes you pay to see the photos. Let’s be honest here: appearances matter, and appearance is what eHarmony rips out until you pay. Again, I understand that people should pay for a service and not simply leach on, but the issue I have is that eHarmony markets in such a manner that you figure if you can view your matches that you would be able to see the photos as well. Every ‘regular’ database-search type dating site lets you view at least one photo of the person before you slap down your credit card to pay to communicate. I figure that’s the least eHarmony can do. Anyway, apparently it’s a ‘Free Communication Weekend’ in Canada right now. Enjoy writing to all those people you have no idea what they look like.