and here,

Yea, they’re pretty ugly but they definitely stand out and get your attention.

Online dating site ads in the Boston transit system is nothing new.  In the last five years I’ve seen advertisements for a bunch of other dating sites, most noticeably AmericanSingles.com and True.com.  Not to mention the area specific Boston Date Network.  No doubt, these online dating companies are targeting the Boston area due to it’s incredibly high amount of college students and young professionals, as Boston IS the ultimate college town.

So here’s the thing, Plenty of Fish has been growing by leaps and bounds over the last several years from simple viral marketing with zero to little actual advertising.  So why the big advertising push now?

One thing comes to mind, the increasing competition in free online dating sites.  Ever since Markus became successful with his “free” advertising supported dating model, competitors and entrepreneurs alike have been following in his footsteps.  One such dating site that has been growing rapidly is OkCupid.com.

OkCupid is a similar dating site, except it has a much more aesthetic appeal to it, along with a number of other features that help it’s members to connect, meet and go on dates.

I have seen in many web forums and blogs discussions regarding which is the better free online dating sites.  It seems that a lot of people are recommending OkCupid over PlentyofFish.

Also, in a recent interview with the CEO of OkCupid, Sam Yagan, he stated that Boston is one of OkCupid’s best markets boasting the largest share of it’s member base.

If you want my opinion, it looks to me like Plenty of Fish is trying take OkCupid head on in this particular market and increase it’s market share with the 18-25 college crowd.  It will certainly be interesting to see how this all plays out and if the PlentyofFish ads will continue to run on the Boston transit system.

Plenty of Fish is an interesting dating site, as it is quite different from typical paid sites such as the likes of Match.com and eHarmoney.  PlentyofFish is a 100% free online dating site created by entrepreneur Markus Frind.  Now here’s the thing, the site is UGLY!  Yes, it is a simple dating site with an ugly layout that is supported by Adsense revenue.  However, despite it’s unprofessional look and appeal, it IS one of THE largest online dating sites in the world.

The sheer size of the member base of Plenty of Fish is probably it’s biggest advantage over any other online dating site.  It makes sense to me how one can use this to their advantage.  Quite simply, the larger the pool of fish, than the better your odds of catching one is.

Also, the whole “Free” thing is nice too.  You aren’t pressured into trying to attract dates at the end of the month before you have to renew your subscription fee at the end of the month.  On PlentyofFish you can take your time and attract and date people at your own pace.

Now some would argue that this is a disadvantage, because of it’s free nature, it attracts a high quantity of unsuitable mates to the dating pool.  For example, there have been problems in the past which included a lot of spammers and scammers.  Essentially, people setting up fake profiles in order to lure people to other paid dating sites.  This doesn’t seem to be much of a problem anymore though, as these fake profiles are caught and removed from the system pretty quickly.  However, even without all the fake spam account, you still get some people on the site with, lets say, less suitable social graces than is normally acceptable.  This would basically include a number of men who are essentially looking for a quick hook-up.

Fortunately though, using the sites email control tools, it is fairly easy to filter out the unacceptable candidate (see picture below).

This aspect of the site is especially important to the female members, as it allows them to keep certain men from filling up their inboxes with emails that she finds undesirable.  For instance, most women on the site will set a filter to block anyone who is seeking “Intimate Encounters .”  It’s these types of tools, if used properly that will help users have a better experience using PlentyofFish.com

Other advantages to the site is it’s simple and intuitive function.  Even though the design is ugly, it’s at least functional.  For example, the thumbnails of potential dates, are always displayed near the top of the screen, like this picture below:

This type of design makes it incredibly easy to browse other peoples profiles.  Conversely it also helps other people find your profile, giving it much more visibility than most online dating sites have.

Another great tool on Plenty of Fish is it’s “Add to Favorites” button.  This, in my opinion, is a great indicator of interest.  For example, if someone adds you to their Favorites, than it is probably safe to say that they are attracted to you in some way.  This gives you a green light to go ahead and initiate contact with that person, thus increasing your odds of receiving a reply from that person.  It’s also a great way to get someone’s attention without sending an email, basically a tool for those of us who are shy.

These are just a handful of the advantages to using the Plentyoffish.com online dating site, among others.  Certainly, there are disadvantages as well.  No doubt, there are quite a few critics of the site, however, I think if used intelligently this dating site really can be a great tool for attracting potential dates into your life.