SAN FRANCISCO -- February 12, 2007 - New data from singles across the country suggests that those looking for love online should be more forthcoming about personal circumstances and habits. A look at more than 1.4 million singles on Oodle.com, the leading search engine for local classifieds, shows that a majority of singles do not initially reveal significant information, such as whether they smoke, or if they have children, perhaps for fear of appearing undesirable to other singles. Yet, an in-depth survey of more than 600 single adults by Engage.com suggests that the majority of singles favor honesty and openness in pursuing relationships on the Web. Engage.com is the Internet's first online relationship site where singles connect naturally by inviting friends and family to Play Matchmaker™ by introducing them online.
According to Oodle.com data, more than 60 percent of singles do not reveal whether they have or desire to have children, and over 55 percent of all users do not specify whether they smoke, two areas that many singles consider when searching for Mr. or Mrs. Right. If their reluctance is due to fear of putting off prospective dates, however, they could be mistaken. Eighty-eight percent of Engage.com survey respondents who specify a preference say they are open to the idea of dating people with children, and 63 percent would consider dating smokers
In any event, singles are put off by deception when dating online. Seventy-six percent of respondents to the Engage.com survey believe it's not all right to misrepresent oneself or lie when dating online. Whether its 'little white lies' about height or weight, or gross misrepresentation of one's marital status, the survey suggests that singles take honesty seriously when selecting whom to date online.
"Disclosing personal facts, specifically those that are often regarded as 'red flags,' can be a difficult choice, but a majority of online daters seem to feel that it pays to tell the truth," said Joelle Kaufman, Vice President of The Experience at Engage.com. "Online dating has seen a tremendous swing toward honestly. This trend is helping singles find lasting love."
Additional Interesting Findings Uncovered in Engage.com and Oodle surveys
Top Cities for Singles by Religious Preference
Top Cities for Singles based on Ethnicity
For additional survey results, visit http://www.oodle.com/canoodle.
About Engage.comFounded by Suneet Wadhwa (co-founder of Snapfish.com) and entrepreneur Karen Wallace, and co-developed and endorsed by noted relationship expert Dr. Robert Epstein, former Editor in Chief of Psychology Today, Engage.com (www.engage.com) is the world's first online relationship community where singles connect naturally through their friends to find love. There's no scientific testing required to meet someone. Love evolves on Engage in collaboration with your friends, the people who know and love you the best. Engage, a San Francisco Bay Area company is backed by Advanced Technology Ventures, Revolution Ventures and The Founders Fund (partners Peter Thiel and Ken Howery, co-founders of PayPal).
About Oodle, IncOodle is the leading search engine for local classifieds. Oodle helps consumers find, what they want in every major classifieds category: personals, cars, real estate, apartments, jobs, merchandise, pets, and tickets. Launched in April 2005, Oodle (www.oodle.com) provides the largest and freshest index of local, national, and international classifieds with more than 20 million active listings from more than 75,000 sources in the US and the UK.
Oodle sends classifieds publishers and their advertisers millions of qualified leads every month. The company also powers the Oodle Network, a collection of websites that incorporate Oodles market leading search capabilities. To be included in the Oodle index or to learn more about the Oodle Partner Network and the Oodle API, please contact partner@oodle.com.
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