Saturday, 4 September 2010

Online Dating Heavyweights In US Take Aim At Lucrative Australian Market

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, isolated by geography seems the corporate world is no longer putting off plans to expand there because of the sheer distance from the rest of the world.
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 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 challengers such as Hookmeup Online are also continuing to challenge for market share.
Social media is a huge leverage tool for the dating sites who can create the biggest buzz. American run TodayDating.com is attracting plenty of interest and looks set to make its mark in 2010.
Current figures suggest there are 1.5 million registered online singles in Australia with growth projections topping the 2 million mark by 2020.

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