Love Blossoms on the Internet

Filed in archive Business on January 23, 2005

MIAMI HERALD -- Jan 20 -- Since Miami Beach-based Webdatestarted offering a free online dating service two years ago, some 2.8
million love-seekers have signed up. The company's traffic surged 800%
in 2004, compared to 17% for the online personals industry as a whole.
There are almost 850 online dating services worldwide. That edge will
need to be sharp if the company wants to compete in an increasingly
crowded and fragmented market. ''There are increasingly more sites
aimed at seniors -- it is definitely catching on with the older set --
and just about every other demographic you could think of,'' said Mark
Brooks, the publisher of Online Personals Watch. There is ''Date My
Pet'' for animal lovers; ''Senior Friend Finder,'' which is marketed
toward active elders; and ''DharmaMatch,'' which, according to its
website, is for people who want to ``fulfill their relationship needs
while fulfilling their spiritual needs.'' FULL ARTICLE @ MIAMI HERALD