A match made in cyberspace

MIAMI — Never underestimate the allure of a cheap date.

Since Miami-based Webdate started offering a free online dating service two years ago, some 2.8 million love-seekers have signed up. The company’s traffic surged 800 percent in 2004, compared to 17 percent for the industry as a whole.

And with 8,000 to 10,000 new users signing up daily, Webdate has the fastest-growing black book in the industry.

First adopted by the technologically adventurous and socially averse, Internet dating in recent years has blossomed into a mainstream multimillion-dollar industry.

There are almost 850 online dating services worldwide and, according to Juno Research, U.S. sites alone raked in $473 million in 2004 — and are expected to make $516 million this year.

Giving away service has put Webdate on the charts with the likes of Match.com and Yahoo Personals but hasn’t been particularly profitable.

Webdate founder Abraham Smilowitz now plans to charge for services and hopes a variety of broadband and mobile tricks will keep customers faithful.

Last month, for example, the company announced it would expand its mobile dating service by March to cover 80 percent of all data-ready cell phones.

“Webdate MobileT” allows clients to use their handsets to search for potential dates, download profiles and initiate text messages and anonymous phone calls.

“You don’t have to be in front of your computer to be online dating anymore,” Smilowitz said. “My vision is that our integrated mobile option will give us a big push.”

Since its launch in December, some 40,000 users have subscribed to the mobile service at $2.99 per month.

At his new office, Smilowitz spins his monitor around to show off another high-tech feature: live video chat.

On the screen is the small image of a user in Indonesia, busy typing away at her computer.

“We’ve all heard the horror stories about chatting with someone online and they have a great picture, but then you meet them and you realize it wasn’t them at all, or that the picture they were using is 20 years old,” said Smilowitz, 30. “With this, people get the chance to hear the other person’s voice and see their face from the comfort and safety of their own home.”

While other sites have developed complex questionnaires and algorithms to try to match people, Smilowitz said Webdate’s technology enables customers to get more of a “feeling” about each other. “The idea that you can quantify love with a compatibility test or a mathematical equation is clearly bogus,” he said.

While analysts have been impressed with Webdate’s adoption of new technology, some question whether the bells and whistles will keep the site growing once customers have to pay.

“Offering something for free and then trying to flip the switch to a pay model is always tricky,” said Nate Elliott, an analyst at New York-based Juno Research.

Elliott also said he’s skeptical that video chat and mobile technology are truly a draw.

“From our research I can tell you there is almost no interest in that direction,” he said. “Webcams are a two-way street. You have to be willing to put the camera on yourself and most consumers don’t want to do that.”