I have a picture posted that puts me in a great part of the search (Search with pictures selected*), I have engaging comments in my profile and, the best part, I have a headline that screams “Look at me!”.

Today I did receive more interest in my profile, sadly the lady is one country and several thousand miles form me.

Now, if I was pro-active and searching for members near me (which I did on occasion) I would have literally hundreds of women within a 300 km radius to choose from. Not bad considering the largest town close to me is of about 80,000 people.

The “Top Matches” email I received this morning contained 12 ladies that are very nice to the eyes (it seems that only profiles with pictures are emailed as “Top Matches”) but again thousands of miles from me. I did change my search results to include only women that are quite a bit closer to me, so this is an odd match email, I think.

I did manage to change the email notifications I receive, to receive all of them, and this morning I did receive a “Match by Mail” newsletter, unfortunately, despite the changes I made to my profile settings, these 12 matches are a long way from where I live, and in America too, (I am in Canada).

Any further reviews of Match Personals will be done with a different login.
Let’s see how long it takes for “RguyRtime” to be taken out of view of other members.

Today I am in the “Member Spotlight” which is a random picking of your profile that puts you on the homer page of Match.com and it’s partner websites. Think of this as a great reward for being vigilant in having a complete profile and a nice picture. The picture, of course, should be a upper body or a head and shoulders picture of only you. I will expect more profile visits and messages with this sudden added visibility of my profile. When you are picked for the “Member Spotlight” this is brought to your attention by a note under your “Edit Profile” and “Visibility Options”. Of course, you can opt out of being in the “Member Spotlight” but I wouldn’t do that. And, you can be a free member to receive this honor.

Today I also received a new email of “Member Matches” to my profile. Photos and links to profiles of more women that are very far away from me. The closest if about a 6 hour drive. I wish Match.com could do better on this, or is it a setting that I must change.

Yes, this matches can be a “Mutual” or a “Reverse” match as well as results from a “Saved Search”, I had selected none of these options so I received profiles and pictures of members that scored high on the “Match” to my profile. Changing these settings by going to the “Match By Mail” option in your “Account Settings” will make a good difference in the matches that are sent. You can also have these matches sent to you every day, 3 times a weeks, or weekly. A nice choice of delivery times, good for you Match.com.

This is the final day of my “Live Review” of Match.com. After today I will not be editing or changing my profile at all. Now it is up to you. Find me, search for “RguyRtime” and let’s see how long my profile remains available at Match.com. Any comments about Match.com will be from a different member account as I spot check up on the changes to Match.com.

Current Member Pricing at Match.com
As of July 6 2009 memberships cost ($CDN funds, prices will likely vary where you are):
6 month membership charged at $16.99 per month
6 month membership charged at $17.99 includes upgraded visibility throughout Match.com
3 month membership at $19.99 per month
1 month membership at $34.99 per month
NOTE: both 6 month memberships are charged in full when you sign up and include the 6 month “Love Guarantee” so if you don’t find love in 6 months you receive another 6 month membership free.
Also, each monthly membership renews at your current price automatically unless you contact Match.com and unsubscribe within a certain number if days before you are billed. No refunds.

Matchmobile is currently free and when you sign up you will be sent email matches, winks, messages and you can search all on your mobile phone. Carrier charges may apply. Pricing may change depending on time, location and current Match.com service rates.

Overall, still happy with the service, I will spring for a month’s membership to see what the full features look like and how they work, instead of just a free member’s look at Match.com. I suggest you do the same.

Special note: for the “Love Guarantee” you do need to have originally subscribed for 6 months.

My profile has been viewed 9 times so far.

It is true that as you continue to update your profile your account is “fresher” so you are listed higher in the search results but to make this work significantly for better you need to be a subscriber so your profile is listed ahead of all the other free members.

Remember, search for “RguyRtime” and contact me if this user doesn’t show up in a search. Be sure to not limit the search for anything other than a straight male, do a basic search or use the user name for an advanced search at Match.com

Note: This review covers day 1 & 2 of my ongoing review.

Match.com features, as well as online dating, mobile dating, a comprehensive compatibility match system, a successful online magazine called “Happen”, distinctive American, Canadian, British and Australian websites, as well as other localized versions of Match Personals worldwide.

The great thing about Match.com is that they’re quite easy to join. Sure they are plenty of profile questions to answer, and really, you should have at least 2 pictures of yourself, one the standard head and shoulders shot, one in activity somewhere, full body.

A few good ideas for the second (or more) photos:

1) standing tall, outside, maybe leaning against  a street light pole. Sittling in a chair by a window, use the natural light instead of the camera flash, if possible.

2) if you own pets or maybe a horse, that is a great photo opportunity for your profile. Only use your own animals.

3) Always remember, unless required for some arcane rule or law, use photos that have only you in them. I can’t tell you how many profile pictures I’ve come across and there’s two women ion them with no easy way which is the one with the profile and which is the friend/non-profile person.

My feature rich review

Joined June 30, 2009 – “RGuyRtime” in Canada: (Remember to search for this user, this is my “stale test user” that will only be logging in once a day until July 7, 2009, after that, please email me if you find “RGuyRtime” member still available to send flirts, even though I won’t be logging in and I won’t have access to the member account I set up for it. This is the stale member test, please do email me when you come across the profile of “RGuyRtime” it is important that I know when/if the member profile I have created is removed by Match.com personal.

1) Your login for existing and new a members can be what you signed up with or the MSN live passport Hotmail or LIVE email address you have. Much easier for sites to MSN, Match and other websites to track your surfing habits. I am sure the information is captured and encrypted, used only for marketing and site design planning stages. You can always ask them too.

2) I checked the “Yes, send me email… so I will attentive to post a short version of what is sent to me from Match.com and their partners.

3) Don’t check the box that says “Only show me members that have photos” to see the maximum results for your searches. Conversely, if you want to get a lot of traffic to your profile, check the box and be sure you have several photos of yourself ready to post. You will get more than 10x traffic to your profile. No kidding!

4) The rest of the basic profile was quite quick to finish, there is a percentage meter telling you how close you are to completing the basic profile which is needed for you to sign up.

5) Match does ask for a profile headline, which I really like. You can change your headline regularly and that counts as updating your profile which will get you higher rankings in the search results, as will logging in up to every 48 hours.

6) Additional features of interest:
- add match words to narrow down your search results. Match words are used to help find people that also match your match words in a simple search. Don’t pass this feature by without using it. You can change your match words at any time. Match words require approval, mostly, before being displayed.
- The Daily Five. Each day fine new matches, based on your profile, are offered for you to browse, and if you have a premium membership, make contact with them.
- Smart Search – use a keyword and search by sex and zip code.
- Mutual matches, the search results of people that have a lot in common with you based on your completed profile, and the Reverse Match, people that have been looking for someone like you based on your profile.

7) There is also a quick search and a user name search available.

The free features include posting your profile searching and sending winks to interesting members. Premium members can send and reply to email messages, to use the Instant Messenger, remove members from view (people they’d rather not see/meet can be blocked from your profile) and also see who has looked at your profile (but maybe not sent you a wink or a message).

9) Membership pricing as of June 30 2009:
$34.99 per month for month-to-month membership
$19.99 a month for a 3 month membership
16.99 a month for six month membership which includes the “Love Guarantee *If you don’t find love in 6 months you get an additional 6 month membership free* offer details on site, may end without notice)
$17.00 a month includes all premium features plus: Email Read Notification, First Impressions, Highlighted Profile

Email from Match.com number 1) Immediately after I completed my profile and  in my (registered) inbox are 12 matches for me already. (It should be noted that I did choose to accept email from Match.com to see what they send and how much. I’ll try to post something everytime I get mail from Match.com

July 1, 2009: My primary photo was approved and I received these rules about photos that are currently in effect:

For All Photos:
* No nudity or sheer/see-through clothing
* No copyrighted images (ie: drawings, photographs, or other illustrations)
* No identifying information (ie: license plates, email or web addresses, visible street address numbers, etc.)
* No illegal acts or violence
* No minors only (without an adult included in the photo)
We support the following image formats but convert all images to JPEG (.jpg) to be viewed by all browsers: .jpeg, .bmp, .gif, .tiff, .wmf, .png, .ico, .emf, and .exif.  The maximum file size accepted is 5MB.
To upload your photo:
1. Go to www.match.com
2. Sign in with your username and password
3. Click on the My Profile link at the top of the page
4. Click Edit Photos
5. Click Browse to locate and select the photo stored in your computer
6. Click upload photo
Or if you would prefer, feel free to email your photo to photos@match.com instead.  Make sure the address you send it from is the one you have registered with on Match.com, and include your first and last name, current username, and birth date.  We would be happy to assist by uploading it for you.  Please note that photos with borders will show the border on the site unless you crop the border out of the photo before submitting it.
Note: If you submitted more than one photo, we will send you a separate confirmation message for each one.

If this continues I may have to login and ask Match.com why this is happening. A followup for next week if this persists, I’d be interested to see what they say.

I have been a big fan of Match.com over the years and am still satisfied with the service and the features. I’d prefer to think I mixed something up about the profile email matches. We will see. Will I be changing my tune about Match.com?