One major dating site has announced to be sponsoring the newest ITV2 reality television show, bringing interactive elements to viewers in a new experience.

Match.com has joined forces with Girlfri3nds, the dating reality show that chronicles three women looking for love in the UK. Going forward, the online dating service will sponsor the show both online and during broadcasts, with the dating site also offering social media and digital activity as well.

Match UK and Ireland’s relationships and marketing director, Katie Sheppard, spoke out on the new sponsorship deal, calling it a ‘great way’ to bring to life a new dating show format. The hopes are that allowing viewers at home a direct connection with the Girlfri3nds stars through the match.com website, more Brits will gain a better understanding of what kinds of things to watch out for – or avoid – when it comes to looking for a modern relationship in the UK.

The show itself will be much like a televised dating service, as the Emma Wills-hosted programme will kick off with three women getting to choose from a group of one hundred men. Sourced from every corner of the UK, the men will ‘pitch’ themselves to their possible new love interests in the hopes that they will be singled out for a bit of love and attention.

Engagement and interactivity is first and foremost on the mind of ITV Commercial’s head of partnerships, James Penfold, who added that partnering with match.com in such an innovative manner will further these goals quite nicely. Mr Penfold called the adult dating site ‘a perfect partner’ for Girlfri3nds, adding that Kate Taylor, resident relationship expert for match.com, will live tweet dating advice during every episode of the television show.

Of course, whether or not the show will be any good is anyone’s guess – but you can always watch it to find out.

This week was about massive differences between Western and Eastern dating sites – and the cultural gulf that truly yawns between these two spheres.

It looks like the authorities in Iran are so fearful of the abysmal marriage rate in the Middle Eastern country, that they are actually laying the groundwork in preparation for the first-ever Iranian dating site. In a country that is notorious for its internet censorship and blocking of social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, the fact that Iranian authorities are so keen to bolster the failing marriage rate by allowing spouse-finding websites is a great cultural leap forward for the country, which has been criticised for its strict clampdown on personal freedoms.

Mohammad Abbasi, sports and youth minister for the country, said that as long as the ministry for culture and Islamic guidance – the department of the Iranian government that decides which websites are permitted within the country – agrees to such a dating site, Mr Abbasi’s ministry will work hand in hand to implement such a website for Iranians of marriageable age.

Meanwhile, back in the UK, one of the more tasteless niche dating sites, Shag a Gamer, has decided to launch a series of YouTube videos with an eye towards giving virgins a leg up when it comes to dating. More than one out of every three gamers have yet to engage in any sort of sexual activity, according to the no-strings-attached casual dating site, which prompted the site to come forward with ‘tips’ for socially awkward gamers.

The actual YouTube videos are horrid, starring ‘gamer babes’ that speak in double entendre, innuendo, and punctuate their words by occasionally slapping their bottoms. Gems such as ‘sometimes I need someone to overload my buffer’ and ‘fill my bandwidth’ are bandied about, proving once again that crass commercialism is alive and well in the UK – and anywhere else the Shag a Gamer service rears its ugly head.

Lads, here’s a tip – if you’ve got a scruffy neckbeard and have empty crisps packets falling from your pockets, or if you still live at home with mum and dad, no amount of ‘gamer babe’ advice will help you find a date.

There were two interesting news items this week: one showcases a major dating milestone reached by Brits while another has the French turning dating on its ear.

Online dating has been revealed to be big business here at home, according to a recent survey: it turns out that more than £9.6 million was spent on dating websites than it was last year, leading to almost one out of every three people meeting each other through an online dating service. The £9.6 million represented a 6 per cent growth from 2010′s figures, leading to last year’s total turnover at £168.5 million, mostly due to aggressive advert campaigns.

The UK is one of the strongest markets in the entire eurozone as far as strength and diversity of dating websites. In fact, there are around 50 sites hosted in the country which boast more than 100,000 members, a serious milestone for anyone keeping track of such figures.

However, our neighbours across the Channel have once more found a way to confound our efforts, thanks to a new dating site that gives women the ability to shop for new men like they would for a new set of clothes. Called Adopte-un-mec, which translates roughly as ‘adopt a bloke,” the French dating site recently opened up a new storefront in Paris where there are men posing in shop windows.

It’s a groundbreaking new system to say the least, and it’s one that puts the power back into the hands of women who no longer have to wit to be chatted up before going on a date. Not only that, but any bloke who sets themselves up looking like a piece of merchandise in a shop window is bound to at least have a rather good sense of humour and isn’t afraid to make fun of himself – and let’s be honest, nothing conveys sexy like a good joke, right girls?

There’s no dearth of internet dating sites out there right now, as the desire for love and companionship – or even just a shag now and again – doesn’t change much. If anything, research shows that online dating actually gets more popular when the economy takes  a turn, with the prevailing wisdom being that people need to find some safety, comfort, and stability when times get tough.

Lucky for you, there’s plenty of niche sites out there if you’re looking for something special. Old seeking young, poor seeking rich – the list goes on and on it seems – but there are a few stand-outs that have been grabbing the headlines over the past week.

First we have the advent of dating sites catering to those looking for extramarital affairs. Yes, it seems absolutely mad that there are enough people looking to discreetly cheat on their spouses that whole websites have been set up specifically for that goal in mind, but apparently it’s big business; not only that, but some social researchers say that a little infidelity might actually be good for you.

If that’s a bit too much for you to handle, there are other, more benign sites being launched every day as well. One such dating site dedicated to older, single parents finding love after their children have left the nest is nearing its launch date, founded by two brothers who were inspired by their 60 year old mum, whom they love dearly and want to see happy as she enters her retirement years.

It’s a bit of a wide trough between older single parents finding love and unhappy marrieds looking for a little something on the side, but there you have it: the dating industry has something for nearly everyone, no matter what it is the’re looking for. Hopefully there will be more positive stories like the lonely mum finding love and companionship and less about wrecked households and ruined marriages, but one really can’t know what the future holds.

Still, it can’t hurt to maybe try a bit harder with your spouse if things are a bit rocky, only if you don’t want them spending the mortgage payment on membership fees for some rather dingy dating site out there!

While this may sound like some strange marketing ploy on the part of all those dating sites that are specifically for discreet marrieds looking for some action on the side, apparently there’s such a thing as ‘good infidelity’ now. Brits are apparently much too puritanical when it comes to cheating, according to Catherine Hakim, a social scientist who advocates a more fluid and forgiving point of view when it comes to dating people you don’t happen to be married to at the time.

Ms Hakim adopts the radical position that Brits need to instead adopt a more French model of long-term relationships. Apparently fidelity can lead to feeling stifled in a relationship, and she strongly recommends a little bit of the old extramarital dating to keep things fresh.

It would be interesting to point out that the social scientist has just come out with a new book. It’s almost as if she’s adopting a radical, contrary viewpoint in order to ensconce herself firmly in the public eye just as her new dating handbook hits bookshelves everywhere – but who would stoop so low as to commercialise British marriage and relationships just to make shedloads of cash on book sales?

It’s always easier to simply run and bury your head in the sand by dating someone on the side if you’re stuck in a miserable loveless marriage. The harder – and better – thing to do is instead try your best to fix things instead of just engaging in some meaningless affair.

New research has shown that dating services and online dating sites have become rather popular over the past few years, though it’s unclear what’s driving the nation’s singles to seek romance as the eurozone crisis deepens and unemployment rises here at home. It could be that a sluggish economy leaves people more time to devote to their private lives, or it could simply make better financial sense to seek a partner to shoulder their part of the burden of living costs.

Around one out of four women surveyed recently by a major dating site said that the state of the economy left them stressed, leading them to look for a long-term relationship in order to find a measure of financial stability. Not exactly a romantic notion, but anecdotal evidence gathered by the same dating site says that its website seemed to become much more busy whenever the stock market drops precipitously.

Of course, there’s a slightly more sinister side to this as well: websites dedicated to facilitating affairs between married couples are also doing quite well as the world economy continues to slide. Economic woes are one of the biggest problems married couples can deal with, after all, so it makes sense if the general lack of financial stability drives a formerly happy couple into the arms of strangers to seek solace – apparently some of these websites are less expensive than couples therapy.

The serial lover, 41 year old David Kean, is being sought after for several offences committed against women he met on a popular dating website. One of his latest victims, a 41 year old woman from Derby, came back from visiting her parents on Christmas Eve last year, only to find both her television and a large quantity of cash stolen, her garage door damaged, and her erstwhile boyfriend mysteriously gone.

A spokesman from Derbyshire Police has issued a warning against Kean’s shenanigans, stating that the man is likely to be using a variety of dating sites in order to make contact with new victims. The man has used several aliases, such as David Jamieson, David Marshall, David Kayne, David Ross, and David Donald, indicating that he’s industrious if a bit unimaginative.

Keep an eye out for this one, ladies; Kean’s not the kind of man you want to take home to meet mum and dad. He’s a classic manipulator, worming his way into your heart before making off with your valuables, so be careful when it comes down to using online resources to find new dates.

Still, it’s only a matter of time before this fine, upstanding citizen makes a mistake and is caught. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, after all, so if you see a dating profile that looks a bit fishy, keep an eye on it, warn off your friends, and it can’t hurt to tip off the authorities, just in case.

Tuition fees are set to hit an eye-watering £9,000 from this autumn, leaving many students even more hard-pressed to find ways to fund their education. Well, desperate times call for desperate measures, and the sudden popularity of sugar daddy dating websites has been exhibiting wild growth as of late.

One major dating site specialising in sugar daddy arrangements recently released figures demonstrating how Exeter boasts some of the highest number of university students joining the website. Founded by Brandon Wade in 2006, the site matches younger women with older, wealthy men looking for female companionship – women receive compensation for their time in the form of cash or luxurious gifts.

Around 35 per cent of the 50,000 members of the website are students, according to Mr Wade’s estimations, which equates to 20 young women to every sugar daddy. Newly joined students are singled out on their profiles, leading to three times the responses than others, indicating that the site seems to be working as intended.

However, is using a dating website to subsidise your education strictly safe? Critics say that the site is little more than a ‘virtual brothel,’ but Mr Wade responds that prostitution is not permitted on the website, adding that love was ‘invented by poor people’ and that people are just ‘jealous’ that they’re not young and pretty enough to fetch a high price in the open market.

What a romantic.

A free smartphone app for gay men looking for sexual partners in their area went down after customers began to flood to the service, causing it to completely collapse under its own weight in East London. Concerned casual dating site technicians were able to return the service to an operational condition in just 24 hours, but the fact remains that as soon as the Olympic teams set foot in London, the downtime began – indicating that either shedloads of Olympians were looking to meet a fellow athlete or to get to know the local populace more intimately.

The app, which has a global user base numbering in the millions, was launched in 2009 and has grown to be quite popular with gay Londoners. There are 350,000 registered users in the capital alone, with Brits using it to find new friends, buddies, or dates.

The app’s founder, Joel Simkhai, apologised to users personally from his Los Angeles officers after the incident, stating that he was just as frustrated to be locked out of the service since he uses it himself in his everyday personal life and that not having access made him feel quite disconnected. However, Mr Simkhai praised the company’s tech team for working ‘around the clock’ in order to bring the service back online as quickly as they managed to do.

Many people picture gamers as this amorphous group of unwashed young men sporting scraggly neckbeards and living in their parents’ cellars, surrounded by empty crisps packets and bursting into flames if they come outside during the day. However, even the most socially awkward gamers have urges they cannot sate simply from arguing on the internet, which has led to the curious attempt by some entrepreneurs to launch dating services specifically for gamers.

These websites, which are patterned after the less-crusty demographic of normal people who aren’t afraid of a bit of soap and a shave – and who don’t slip into apoplexic rage whenever someone mentions casual gaming on mobile phones – have been an abysmal failure by-and-large because gamers have been using them not to forge the sorts of social connections that could lead to love and long-lasting relationships but have instead used them to find a shag. Dating site purveyors have gotten the message, and now a new ‘Shag a Gamer’ service has been launched in order to cater to the no-strings-attached sex crowd – even though imagining two sets of spaghetti-stained clothes strewn across the floor is frightening to most – and the new service has already seen ‘hundreds of defectors,’ according to site founders.

Dating experts say that the ultimate test of whether the new site will be successful is, of course, whether enough members of the opposite sex sign up as well. Most gamers skew towards the heterosexual male demographic, after all, and it takes a particularly special woman to find the smell of flop-sweat and desperation alluring, despite how high a gamer’s kills-to-deaths ratio is on League of Legends.