Online dating sites see growing business among 60-plus age group

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| Wednesday, September 29, 2004 | (No comments posted.)

NEW YORK (AP) -- Sensuous, intellectual woman, 5'3, adventurous, pretty and open, seeks a life partner who is sexy, highly intelligent and cheerful.

How old is this woman? In her early 60s.

That's the profile Mary Bellis Waller, now 64, posted on two Internet dating sites during her search for a companion.

Waller was a pioneer of online dating among people her age, and thousands of others age 60 and older also are turning to the Internet to find romance. They're bringing in some unexpected revenue for online dating sites, which expect business to grow as many baby boomers find themselves single again.

"You don't have to be a beauty queen or a young babe to find interesting people on the Net. People think that their romantic lives are over because of age, but it has nothing to do with it," said Waller, a psychotherapist in Milwaukee who logged onto chatrooms and then Match.com after her second husband died in 1996. She's now in a serious relationship with an executive-turned-farmer, but said she met dozens of other interesting men over the Web.

Imatchup.com, an online dating site whose members total 2.5 million, said the number of its users 55 and older is rising as much as 30 percent faster than its total population. The online site now will be featuring more seniors in ad campaigns starting this fall, according to Stephanie Schwab, marketing director.

Match.com vice president Trish McDermott said, "online dating is as popular for seniors as it is for other age groups."

In August, more than 16 percent of those active on the top five dating sites, including Yahoo! Personals and Match.com, were 55 and older, and more than 5 percent were 65 and older, according to Nielsen/NetRatings Inc., an Internet research firm. That's up from 15 percent in the 55-plus category and 4.8 percent in the over-65 group a year earlier.

Observers say one of the main obstacles in online dating for people 60 and older was overcoming their technophobia, but that seems to be fading as more people use computers and the Internet. Of the nearly 148 million people active online in August, nearly 20 percent were older than 55 and more than 7 percent were older than 65, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.

"Seniors are the fastest-growing online demographic overall," said Kaizad Gotla, an analyst at Nielsen/NetRatings. "It has been a challenge in the past, but they are becoming more comfortable adopting to the Internet. It really has become a necessity."

Still, there are disappointments -- as there are in dating at any age.

Megan Appleton, 72, of Philadelphia, who has been separated for 20 years, said she had a date with a man she met online, but he never called her again. She doesn't think she will try again. "I would rather play bridge with my friends," she said.

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