FriendFinder was founded in 1996 by Andrew Conru. Passion.com is for those interested in "spicy" romantic liaisons. AdultFriendFinder.com, the most popular site of all with more than 1 million new registrations a month, caters to people interested in finding a more intimate but not necessarily romantic partner. Other communitires include OutPersonals, Senior FriendFinder, Bigchurch, Amigos and AsiaFriendFinder. "On some of our sites, more than 40% of all those who have registered remain on our active file," said Dr. Conru. "We are rapidly moving into the mobile phone arena, upgrading payment systems to make it easier for people to purchase our premium products directly through their mobile phone carriers, and we are launching more sites that meet the needs of specific groups." FULL ARTICLE @ MARKET WIRE

Mark Brooks: Sexsearch (7 million registrants since 2003) is FriendFinder's top competitor and is biting at AdultFriendFinder, Passion.com's and Outpersonals heels. It's newer, glossier, and more straight to the point. It's amazing how large this adult dating 'niche' is, and how rarely it gets covered in the press...because it's still viewed as porn by most of the press and analysts. Yes, it's risque, but it's still internet dating: the antithesis of eHarmony. I noticed that Hitwise is now including AdultFriendFinder in their Australian rankings.