REVIEW
Match.com review
Until recently, this pay-for site was the largest online dating agency, surpassed in February 2009 by Plentyoffish, according to Hitwise, which collects industry market data. But that's where the similarity between the two sites ends. Match.com is as polished and professional looking as dating sites come. Some might say corporate. Its homepage features professionally photographed models and it spent $47.6 million in advertising in the first nine months of 2008, according to Online Personals Watch, an industry trade magazine. Its advertising budget is dwarfed only by eHarmony, which spent $93.2 million in the same time period.
For the most part, Match's members are likely to be educated and professional. The average age of members is 34. Most profiles tend to be long enough and detailed enough to give an impression of a prospective partner. However, many Match users seem to have subscribed to a profile generator service that spits out slightly different generic profiles that include the following claims: "easy-going," "laid-back," "no drama," "no games," and, my favorite, "loves to laugh" (who doesn't?). The same random profile generator makes sure to inform potential dates of the member's devotion to local baseball and football teams, how relaxed he is in anything from a tux to a pair of jeans and how much he likes to take a walk along a beach. Women's profiles read much the same. Self-deprecating humor is a rarity on Match. Any kind of humor is a rarity on Match.
Still, it is a great site for average professionals to meet other average professionals. Like any dating website, it has its share of married people posing as singles, and profile inflaters who claim to be six inches taller than they are. But there is remarkable consistency to the overall quality of the people one meets for coffee on Match: frequently bland and almost always predictable. I've dated at least 30 men from Match and have yet to be surprised or creeped out.
From a technical standpoint, Match is simple and intuitive to use. As creativity is not a cornerstone of the company's ethos, it's no surprise that matching is done by users checking a series of very standard descriptors concerning their ideal mate from appearance and religious beliefs to personal habits. You can save these search criteria and reuse them. However, the checklist mentality also spills over into dates with Match members. Members are far more apt to talk in terms of "deal breakers" and to conduct what amounts to interviews for partners than more spontaneous and eclectic online dating sites such as OKCupid.
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