Can JDate com Pull Enough Weight?

For several years, JDate com (www.jdate.com) was one of the best sites for Jewish singles to place their online profiles and meet others of a similar background and outlook. But this site is one that has recently seen a falling off of subscribers, causing a reduction in profits for the site owner, Spark Networks, in the first two quarters of 2009. Spark owns an array of relationship websites, including www.americansingles.com, www.christianmingle.com, and many other sites for ethnic and social groups. But it’s the Jewish dating site www.jdate.com (situated in the United States, the UK, France and Israel), along with www.jewishmingle.com, that carry most of the weight when it comes to the financial health of the company.

The reason for the reduction of profits from www.jdate.com and the other Jewish personals dating sites might stem partly from the economic downturn that has affected much of the world in recent months. Yet that can’t be the whole story, since all of the other networks, including www.americansingles.com, www.catholicmingle.com, and so on, turned a slight profit. So perhaps there was a flaw inherent in the Jewish dating internet sites themselves that contributed to their losing subscribers and, therefore, income for the company.

This appears to have been the problem. Even though JDate com was used by so many, it had been criticized as being too “clunky.” So if people needed to start cutting corners because of the slow economy, they might have been more inclined to cut membership on a site that didn’t operate as easily as others did. Spark Networks seems to think that was the case, at least, since the company produced a “face lift” for the site just in time for the summer of 2009. The improvements include a more modern design and better profile pages, enhanced search features, the JBlog for members, and a new video section.

Adam Berger, CEO of Spark Networks, notes that even if the other dating sites turn a small profit, the Jewish singles dating sites still bring in the “lion’s share” of profits for the company. Naturally, it’s important that the other sites continue to turn a profit and contribute to the overall health of the business, but it’s still most important that the Jewish sites be returned to profitability. Spark clearly hopes that this upturn will begin with the recent redesign of the JDate com site.

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