okcupid and plentyoffish are much much better options.
And Yahoo Personals and Match.com definitely aren't the only ones. I've heard of other paid dating sites doing the same. Of course these are only rumors which is why it never gets very far in court but it's enough for me to never want to spend my money on paid sites. The incentives to move into fraud in paid dating are very very strong.
Methinks the free sites doth protest too much. I've used Plentyoffish, Okcupid, and Match.com. Only Match.com was a fraud-free experience. Sure, a paywall induces a motivation for 1st-party fraud, but it drastically reduces the motivation for 3rd-party fraud. Someone who solves both will become a rich individual.
For the record, I met my beautiful girlfriend of two years on Match, so count me as biased. :)
I recieved a chat request from a women 30 minutes after I signed up, while I was editing my profile. She looked like a model and her profile picture was her in a bikini. It took her 5-10 minutes to respond to my IMs, which were mostly me asking her if she was a legit and "her" saying "yes, I'm real." uh huh.
okcupid and plentyoffish are much much better options.
And Yahoo Personals and Match.com definitely aren't the only ones. I've heard of other paid dating sites doing the same. Of course these are only rumors which is why it never gets very far in court but it's enough for me to never want to spend my money on paid sites. The incentives to move into fraud in paid dating are very very strong.