Online Dating Heavyweights In U.S Take Aim At Lucrative Australian Market

Released on: February 25, 2010, 8:54 am
Author: Matt Fuller
Industry: Media

American online dating corporations have hit the Australian online dating market with full force. The emergence has sparked wide spread interest amongst consumers and singles with massive media coverage in a move that has set the scene for all out war amongst the opposing local and international dating companies.

Australia has gone against international economic trends in recent years fairing better than virtually any other country during the recession. Annalists are questioning if Australia was in fact ever in a recession. The strong Aussie dollar, an impressive inflation rate of around 2% combined with increasing retail sales at the check outs has forced the hand of the U.S dating giants to set up shop down under.

The online dating scene in Australia is dominated by only a handful of dating companies. While the search engines are seemingly saturated with online personals the majority are dating reviews that are affiliated to the dominant sites.

eHarmony have opened their doors to the Australian singles market and is making steady ground according to the latest hit analysis. The eHarmony brand is one of the biggest in America and combined with their financial muscle they are likely to gain a strong hold in Australia too.

With an active database of 17 million users, eHarmony looks well placed to derail the Fairfax-owned rsvp site stronghold which currently enjoys no major competitors. The eHarmony concept is based on a subscription model with an annual turnover of $200 million dollars. eHarmony is using prime time TV commercials for exposure and is in partnership with the neverblueads affiliate network.

Match.com, probably the world's most recognized online dating brand has also commenced its marketing blitz on Australian television. New local competitors such as www.hookmeup.com.au are also continuing to challenge for market share.

Social media including Tweets and rss (real simple information) feeds are a huge leverage tool to get the word out for the dating sites who can create the biggest buzz. American run www.todaysdating.com is attracting plenty of interest and looks poised to make its mark in 2010.

A recent case study carried out by 'mystery daters' compared the eHarmony and match.com experiences. Findings revealed eHarmony's matching algorithms were the preferred dating site for singles who were looking to be taken by the hand to let eHarmony choose the dates for them. The IAC/InterActiveCorp-owned match.com dating site experience was rated as somewhat more of a generic online dating site offering members a large pool of members to browse.

The online dating market is currently undergoing a new phase with a fresh influx of interest in Australia and is gathering momentum. There appears to be a fascination of sorts given that targeted internet traffic is setting new benchmarks day after day.

Former Australian current affair queen Naomi Robson, ex host of Today Tonight, has just launched an online dating chat web show focusing on sex, love,relationships and everything in between. 46 year old Robson's - Naomi Show - has been 3 years in production and can be viewed online Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays.

Current figures suggest there are 1.5 million registered online singles in Australia with growth projections topping the 2 million mark by 2020.

This news item is presented by the American singles chat rooms community. The website also provides relationships advice for singles and couples.

Contact Details: http://www.hookmeup.com.au | P0 Box 1104 Caloundra QLD Australia | matt@hookmeup.com.au