假设你正在寻找真爱，再假设你正好喜欢讽刺小报《洋葱报》（The Onion）。你可能会在洋葱报的官网TheOnion.com的约会网站上发布自己的个人信息。这家媒体的标题往往惊世骇俗，比如什么《小猫咪整天就想着杀人》，再比如，《研究显示宝宝都是脑残》等。自然，你认为自己将和同样喜欢这个刊物的人交上朋友。可是，你的个人资料却被纳入了一个更大的数据库——里面一共有1,422,000个用户。结果系统把你和另一个寻求交友服务的单身人士配上对了，只不过对方是在另一个网站——Salon.com——上注册的。

    欢迎来到奇特的、互联互通的在线交友世界。这样的网站成百上千，其中很多都拥有极其特定的目标用户群。有些网站专门服务于热衷讽刺作品的人群，有些则专门针对僵尸爱好者、客观主义者、或者“鲻鱼头”生活方式者（mullet life-style，一种前额及两侧短发，脑后长发的发型所代表的生活方式，1960年代开始在影视作品中出现，风行至今——译注）。如果一个行业观察者认为这个飞速发展的行业正变得日益碎片化，他的观点不无道理。然而实际情况恰恰相反——事实上，这个行业正日益由越来越少的公司控制着越来越大的市场份额。

    比如，《洋葱报》和Salon的交友网站都是由一家叫FastCupid的公司运作的。而这家公司是交友网络公司（FriendFinder Network）的子公司。而交友网络曾名为“阁楼媒体集团”（ Penthouse Media Group），运作着4万多家网站（没错，就是那个色情媒体巨擘“阁楼”）。所以，突然之间你会发现，你自认为通过《洋葱报》登陆的小众交友社区实际上规模要大得多。而这并不表示你们的兴趣不会有交集。

    可以肯定的是，交友网络公司不会把下属各家品牌网站上的个人资料全部混合到一起（针对这个问题，该公司没有作出回应）。这样做是为了实现最优结果，因为来自单身基督徒交友网站BigChurch.com的用户可能就没法和来自所谓“世界最大捆绑虐恋（BDSM，一种对特殊性虐待的偏好——译注）社区” Bondage.com的用户处得来。很多成熟的在线交友网站都会避免这种乱点鸳鸯谱的做法，但在英国，这种做法却是常见，可以算是一种标准行为。而这只是该行业快速整合的一个后果而已。

    IBISWorld公司的一项研究表明，目前四大公司控制着总规模高达12.2亿美元的在线交友市场77%的份额。与五年前相比，这个增幅可谓惊人，并且很可能会继续攀升。随着美国的在线交友市场发展陷入停滞——去年收入仅增长3.5%——初创公司发现要想挤进这个市场正变得日益困难，而那些二线公司正努力争取能够继续盈利。

    Let's say you're looking for love. Let's also say you love the satirical newspaper The Onion. You might decide to make a profile on TheOnion.com dating site. Naturally, you assume that you'll be connected to other lovers of the publication known for headlines such as "Kitten Thinks of Nothing But Murder All Day" and "Study Reveals Babies Are Stupid." Instead, your profile is entered into a much larger database -- consisting of some 1,422,000 users -- and you're paired up with another single who signed for the same service, but through another site, Salon.com.

    Welcome to the weird, interconnected world of online dating. There are thousands of sites out there, many with an incredible degree of specificity in their target audience. There are sites for satire enthusiasts, of course, but also for zombie-lovers, objectivists, and people living the mullet life-style. An observer could be forgiven for thinking that the fast-growing industry is becoming increasingly fragmented. But the reality is exactly the opposite. A smaller and smaller number of companies are controlling a greater and greater share of the market.

    For instance, the personals sites for The Onion and Salon are both powered by a service called FastCupid. That company is a property of FriendFinder Network. FriendFinder Network, formerly called Penthouse Media Group, operates more than 40,000 sites. (Yes, it's that Penthouse.) Suddenly, the niche community you thought you were tapping into by signing up with The Onion Dating, turns out to be much larger. Which isn't to say your interests will not overlap.

    To be sure, FriendFinder likely does not mix together all the profiles of all its branded sites. (The company did not return calls for comment.) That's probably for the best, because people from one property, BigChurch.com for Christian singles for example, may not get along with those from another, say, Bondage.com, "the world's largest BDSM community." Many established online dating operators eschew the practice altogether, but it's fairly common, particularly in the U.K. where it's standard practice. And it's just one result of the fast consolidation in the industry.

    Today, four companies control 77% of the $1.22 billion online dating market, according to research from IBISWorld. That's up substantially from five years ago and is likely to climb higher. With the market for online dating stagnating in the U.S. -- revenue grew just 3.5% last year -- startups are finding it increasingly difficult to break into the space, and second-tier players are struggling to stay profitable.

    现在，巴里•迪勒的IAC公司掌控着41%的市场份额，这主要得归功于旗下两家网站Match.com和OkCupid.com。eHarmony公司紧随其后，份额达到了23.5%。排在第三位是Zoosk，份额为7.7%。最后是Spark Networks（拥有JDate、Christian Mingle、LDS Mingle等网站），份额为4.9%。

    每家公司的网站背后都是大体相似的神奇算法在发挥威力。IAC称其所有网站的后台技术并不完全相同，但每收购一家网站，它就会修改这些技术，把它发挥到极致。Spark Networks的很多网站也是这种情况。在JDate和ChristianMingle上，个人资料可能有所不同，但实际产品和流程却是相似的。

    尽管Spark Networks规定下属网站之间不可共用用户资料，但首席执行官格雷格•利伯曼称，他发现那些规模较小的山寨网站经常这么干。他说：“这类网站层出不穷。进入一家针对基督教徒的网站主页，居然能搜索出50种不同宗教信仰的用户资料。”和Spark Networks一样，IAC也不会混用下属各家网站的个人资料，为此它采用了一个名为“贴白标”（white labeling）的流程。不过它却为自己庞大的用户数据库开发了其他用途。创建了专为50岁以上的单身人士服务的新网站之后，它将其推介给下属网站SeniorPeopleMeet.com和SeniorsMeet.com的现有会员。

    就算是专为极小众的“鲻鱼头”人群约会服务的网站实际上也属于大型集团Passions Network。这个集团的成员网站还包括专为《宋飞正传》（Seinfeld）剧迷服务的FestivusPassions.com和专为美髯公服务的StachePassions.com。这家公司的绝大多数用户在加盟时都号称自己拥有几项痴迷的嗜好。尽管目前还享有细分市场所带来的竞争优势，但靠数据驱动的大型资料交换中心可能才是绝大多数在线交友企业的未来发展出路。《在线交友观察》（Online Personals Watch）的行业分析师兼编辑布鲁克斯称：“从战略上说，公司规模越大越好。如果你想知道在线交友网站的最佳运营模式是什么，从理论上说，答案就是：这家网站拥有全球所有单身人士的资料，用户可以在一天之内就找到自己的如意伴侣。”他还表示，一家大型的美国公司控制超过50%的市场份额将是“不可避免的”。理论上说，更大的用户人群意味着能结成更多佳偶，就算他们的背景可能不适合结合。相关资料也证明了这一点：“去问人们他们到底想要什么，这么干就是在浪费时间，因为他们确实不知道，”布鲁克斯说。（财富中文网）

    译者：清远

    Right now, Barry Diller's IAC (IACI) controls 41% of the market, thanks in large part to its properties Match.com and OkCupid.com. eHarmony is next, with 23.5% of the market. In third place is Zoosk at 7.7%, followed by Spark Networks (owner of JDate, Christian Mingle, LDS Mingle, and more) at 4.9%.

    Much of the same algorithmic magic is at work across each company's sites. IAC says its back-end engineering is not identical for all its properties, but that it does revise and tweak them with each new acquisition. It's a similar story with, Spark Networks' many properties. The profiles might be different on JDate and ChristianMingle, but the actual product and process are similar.

    While Spark Networks has a policy of not mixing profiles between sites, CEO Greg Liberman says he sees smaller, copycat sites try that often. "They pop up all the time," he says. "You go through a Christian front door, and then you can do a search for 50 different religions." Like Spark Networks, IAC also does not mix the profiles between its sites, a process known as "white labeling." It does find other uses for its massive user base, though. When it created the new site for singles ages 50 and up, OurTime.com, it populated it with existing members from its sitesSeniorPeopleMeet.com and SeniorsMeet.com.

    Even the super-specialized mullet dating website is part of a much larger group, the Passions Network. Member sites also include FestivusPassions.com for Seinfeld fans andStachePassions.com for the mustachioed. The majority of the company's users who join declare several passions.

    Despite the competitive advantage conferred by niche markets, big data-driven dating clearinghouses may be the way of the future for much of the online dating industry. "Strategically, bigger is best," says Brooks, industry analyst and editor of Online Personals Watch. "If you consider what would be the perfect model for an Internet dating site, in theory it would have all the people in the world who are single on it, and you could find your perfect match within a day's work." A single major U.S. service that controls more than 50% of market share is "inevitable," Brooks says. In theory at least, a bigger pool means more happy matches, even if they're from unlikely sources. Data confirms: "It's kind of a waste of time anyway asking people what they want anyway," Brooks says. "Because they don't really know."