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Online Dating Trends in 2018-2019: Sites & Stats

By Oleg Kobets

Do you know what’s going on with an internet dating? What are the best dating sites in 2017-2018? What are the trends in modern online dating and what should we expect in 2019? Let’s review some interesting statistics and facts that we revealed.

As in any other industry we clearly see that the audience is divided into 2 opposing groups. The 1st group are those that succeeded in online dating, found their soulmate, friend etc… And the 2nd group are those that failed and gave up dating online. Therefore, literally every single site has both positive and negative reviews.

Now, let’s check some indisputable facts.

Facts About Modern Society

1. Population is growing. Of course, some countries have negative population growth, but in general there are more and more people in the world (2000 - 6.1 bln, 2018 - 7.5 bln).
2. People spend more time online. We live in the age of internet and smartphones. The average time spent online is 24 hours a week in 2018. And it includes little kids and people in golden years. So, in fact the number is close to 40+ hours/week.
3. Career comes to the fore. It’s no secret that nowadays people think about their job and wealth first. As a result, the average age of the 1st marriage increased significantly. For example, according to Wikipedia it’s a 33.4 years for Germany, 36 for Sweden, 31 in Canada.

Hence, the online dating sites and apps are extremely popular! Now let’s see “what exactly do people look for?”

Niche Dating

2017 and 2018 where the years when singles were searching for a specific dating sites. Let’s call them niche dating websites. Here is the Google Trends Diagram... The most trending were Gay Dating Sites. Since the society becomes more liberal and tolerant the LGBTQ community is free and confident nowadays. Also, Asian Dating Sites were quite popular. Plenty of Western men were seeking for an Asian girlfriend / wife. The 3rd place with almost the same result is Christian Dating Sites. Of course, it’s not easy to find a true believer with the same values and faith strength. Therefore, this is a very convenient way for search. Furthermore, Senior Dating Sites are getting more and more audience. For now, it’s just the 4th place, but it is quite trendy. And the 5th place is European Dating Sites. But it doesn’t mean that only Europeans use them. In addition to citizens of UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria there are many members from the USA, Canada and Australia. Above all, considering these trends large sites like eHarmony, Match started opening their sub-projects and affiliate sites with the specific services. For example, they make their localized website versions for those that look for local dating. Also, they create projects that serve Jewish community, Christian singles, Well-educated singles etc.

Dating Apps Vs Sites

One more thing we need to discuss is Dating Applications. Let’s see the diagram of people's interest for the past 5 years: Dating site vs Dating App... As we can see that people still look for dating sites a little bit more than for a dating app. Although, considering the trend most likely in 2019-2020 the volume of dating app queries will surpass the sites. And again, let’s take a look at large websites. Almost each big site has its own mobile application. It’s no wonder, since people want to be online, they spend more time online with their smartphone. They want to have an instant access to their accounts and messages not to miss a thing. So, indeed the online dating gets more and more members every year. It is more convenient in 2018-2019 and it provides more services. Due to the fact that the dating agencies have to compete with each other, the end user gets more services with higher quality for a lower price. Moreover, the members now can choose among the niche websites to get a very specific type of services. And of course, the progressive mobile apps provide 24/7/365 access to the member’s account and important messages.