PlentyofFish, the leader and by far the largest free dating site has announced that it plans to add a pay option.  Promoted as being the “premier online dating website for finding love”, PlentyofFish has become the largest and most successful free online dating site, boasting over 10 million members.

One statement that stands up at the bottom of the PlentyofFish is “…it’s 100% FREE – there are no charges, ever“.  The company founder and CEO, Markus Frind has stated on many occassions that the success of PlentyofFish comes largely from the fact that it is free.  He resisted charging members, criticized other dating sites for doing the same and has built a business model built entirely around advertising programs such as Google Adsense.

PlentyofFish will now sell “Serious Member” badges that will appear on a members’ profile page for 3, 6 or 12 months.  These “Serious Members” will be marked as such in the search results and messages from these members will be highlighted.  In his blog post, Frind says:

On paid dating sites most buys are impulse and in the signup process.  Paid sites monetize on Impulse, PlentyofFish is going to monetize on user intent.  I believe we have far more members that are serious than paid sites.

How should this be interpreted?

Given the tough economic times, it is amazing to see PlentyofFish step away from the 100% free dating site motto that has made it the success.  It has a pretty crappy user interface, doesn’t look that visually appealing, and offers users just an adequate user experience.  What has made PlentyofFish a succes?  It has been free!  The people who visited the site did so because it was free.  PERIOD!

Justifying it as a monetization based on user intent or impulse is a cover.  Markus Frind has realized that at 10 million users, if only 10 percent of them opt for the feature at even $1.00 a pop, it’s another $1 million in his pocket.

Yes, PlentyofFish has given many people hours of entertainment for free.  However, once Markus Frind and PlentyofFish takes a taste out of that “apple”, there is no going back.  Eventually you will see more and more “paid services” on PlentyofFish which will mean more and more members will look elsewhere for the best alternative.  Time will tell if PlentyofFish has made a wise decision in going with a paid option.

One thing is certain, PlentyofFish is no longer “100% FREE”, – PlentyofFish has to change its marketing material.