A Dublin - Research and Markets report shows that the growth of the online dating industry is slowing down after experiencing record growth of 73% in 2002 and 77% in 2003. Growth of the online dating industry slowed to only 19% in 2004 and is expected to drop to 9% growth this year. According to the report:

“With fewer users browsing online personals, dating sites have focused on increasing conversions of viewers into paying subscribers in order to keep growing. Industry-wide conversion rates have increased approximately 25% in the last year. Many dating sites are also looking to serious daters, those users hoping to find long-term relationships or marriage, to increase revenues.”

In addition, the report found that serious daters present an attractive opportunity for personals sites, these users convert 20% more often, are twice as likely to purchase long-term subscriptions and pay up to twice as much per month as casual daters.