Personal ads were once seen as the last resort for single people who couldn't strike up a relationship in the traditional way. A simple “will you go out with me?” was just that step to far when ever that crunch moment came around, and personal ads were their saviour, a middle-man could do it for them. However with this came a stigma, that of desperation, and those who used personal ads were often privately ridiculed.

However times change. Professional career demands, higher divorce figures coupled with less pressure to get married in the first place, and many other variables have led to more single people, with less time to socialise. In some cases these people have grown out of their previous social circles and have had to make new ones, in other cases people have just forgotten how to socialise at all with the opposite sex. And then of course you still have the younger generation who need a little help to get things moving.

The stigma of desperation is no longer relevant and personal ads have become an alternative social network for many people. This ‘acceptance' has coincided with the Internet revolution and has seen a new market develop for web entrepreneurs – online dating.

The online dating business is massive, however the market has become saturated in recent years. Figures show that spending increased from $8 million to $117 million at the beginning of the decade, but has now levelled out at around $114 million.

To compete in this flooded market, competitors are looking at different ways of capturing new custom. At the beginning the mechanics of the online dating site were simple: alert member to other members who match based on physical indicators such as eye and hair colour, height etc. The mechanics have now advanced to deep profiling to cover all of the compatibility bases in the hope of building more successful and long term relationships.

Some dating sites have explored the exploitation of various niches to target more custom. Many of the big players have started to cater for couples and religious groups, or have jumped on the security bandwagon. Others have increased their use of technology, and have integrated video and audio into their web sites to allow members to visualise and talk to each other before arranging a date.

One thing is clear; the only stigma that now exists in these circles is with the web site owners and how much of the market share they have. The individual looking for love is no longer a seen as a sad or desperate individual but an important and sought after commodity. For the businesses concerned, now more than ever they need to stay up to ‘date'.