Purchased by Penthouse for an estimated $500 million in December of 2007, it would be a mistake to call this site an “internet dating” site. Although having the word “friend” in the name of the site implies a somewhat innocent environment, this site is anything but that! Whatever your pleasure you’re likely to find it at the largest adult personals site in the world, and the intent of the site is clear; SEX. If you’re looking to get laid, in person or through the wonders of cyberspace, this is the site for you. However, those seeking relationships that encompass more than the physical are advised to avoid this site.

It is clear from searching the profiles that men outnumber the women by a very large margin. Adultfriendfinder is notorious for the amount of fake profiles including professionals in search of paying clients, and those less than savory individuals looking to part you from your money by tugging on your heartstrings and pocketbook.

Annoyingly, there is no opportunity to perform a search without creating a profile. The homepage has a simple search (Search our Hot Members) and when you fill in the fields and click “Search”, you are immediately taken to a page to create your FREE account. I’d like to be able to at least have a peek at who and what is available before giving the site an email address.

For some bizarre reason, when I created my profile, the site would not accept a “gmail” email address. No reason was given. I was simply requested to enter another email address. I really detest uninformative messages like that. A look at the Help section indicates that gmail should work, so what gives?

Profile creation is easy enough and one aspect of the process that I really liked was the “Instant Profile Writer”. If you’re the type that has trouble putting together a paragraph about your best points, this takes the guesswork out of it.

The site design is rather generic and utilitarian, with the option of customizing the colors.

The search function works well; however, it is severely limited with a free membership in an effort to encourage you to hand over your credit card. If you haven’t, you’ll only be able to search by age range and state/province. In addition, there’s no indication as to how many matches the search has found (perhaps this is different with paid membership?), and having to scroll through all the profiles quickly becomes tedious.

The Help section is extensive and the fact that there is a search function within the help section makes finding the answers to your questions rather easy.

There are technical issues with this site. Even though I had received an email indicating that my profile for a free membership was approved, I was unable to access certain functions, such as chat; “You may not broadcast until your profile has been approved by our review team.” Huh??

All in all, this site is clear confirmation that sex sells, sex is big business, and there are far more people than I ever thought possible that think nothing of putting their most intimate parts on public display. It’s going to cost you; fees are as follows; 1 Month $36.29, 3 months + 1 month free $71.54, 12 months + 6 months free $181.69.

Launched in 2002 after getting its start in phone based personals in 1987, Lavalife is one of the most established internet dating sites and has a particularly heavy presence in North America.
Lavalife offers subscribers three different communities in which to post their profile; Dating, Relationships and Intimate Encounters. Members may post a profile to one, two or all three without affecting the cost.
Pros

1. This site offers free memberships that include more than what is normal for a paid dating site. You do not need to be a paid subscriber in order to reply to emails or instant messages that have been sent to you.
2. “My account” information is easy to find and edit. The extensive account controls regarding communication from Lavalife allow users to regulate how often the site contacts them.
3. There is a separate site prime.lavalife.com that caters to men and women over 45. No offense to the “kids”, but sometimes the grownups want to play in a room all by themselves!
4. For those who want anytime, anywhere access a Lavalife2go subscription, in addition to your regular subscription, allows access via your mobile phone.
5. Easy to use tab layout gives you quick access to each community as well as the forums, the Entertainment Lounge (horoscopes, city guides and the Lavalife Party.

Cons

1. The biggest, annoyance with the site is the inability to turn of Instant Messaging. This is a major downfall as a constant barrage of IM’s can be very intrusive.
2. Though the idea of three separate communities is a good one, but don’t let it lull you into a false sense of security; it does not prevent “crossovers”. If you’ve placed profiles in the Dating and Relationship communities, you may still be contacted by someone from the Intimate Encounters community.
3. We can all understand that Lavalife is a business and as such it is out to make money. However, this site gives new meaning to “double dipping”. Revenue is generated through their subscription service, in addition to site advertisements, LOTS OF THEM. And they’re not just unobtrusive text ads, no, these are GREAT BIG BANNER ADS along the top, side and bottom of search results.
4. I found the overall look and feel of the site to be cluttered with too many different colors. Combine that with all the advertising and it comes to resemble an undercooked Western Omelet!
5. Cost; one month $29.99/month, three months $18.99/month, six months $14.99/month.