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Niche Online Dating Sites Seek Match

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By KRISTI L. GUSTAFSON Albany (N.Y.) Times Union

Published: October 18, 2007

ALBANY, N.Y. - You can customize your sneakers, your m&m's and your ring tone, so why not your love life?

You can personalize your partner search with niche online dating.

Singles 'want to narrow the pool of potential matches from the outset and cut down on the amount of time they spend reviewing the profiles of weird, odd or completely ill-suited candidates,' says Alison James, author of several relationship books, including 'Better Off Wed? Fling or Ring: How to Know Which Finger to Give Him.'

'If Match.com is the mega-grocery store of online dating, a boutique site would be like the candy shop, the fruit stand or the bakery. You can buy bread at the grocery store, but if that's all you're after, why not go to the place that specializes in it, so you can find the best loaf and find it fast?'

Several hundred niche dating sites exist. Here are a few:

AnimalAttraction.com

No, it's not that kind of site. It's for pet lovers? No, not those kind of pet lovers. Think of AnimalAttraction.com as an online dog park, but here you pick up people, not dog deposits.

Members: Nearly 100,000

Cost: Free

Antopia.com

For people with genital herpes and human papilloma virus (HPV). Sites like these have been compared to leper colonies, but it gives those afflicted a chance at love only found in prescription drug commercials.

Members: More than 71,000

Cost: $17

FarmersOnly.com

Who else understands the odd hours, few vacation days, clothes permeated with animal odors and an income dependent upon nature that is farm life? Why, other farmers, of course. Here farmers - and nonfarmers - can search for agricultural engineers and other 'down to earth singles,' say the site's founders.

Members: More than 75,000

Cost: $15.95 a month

Gk2Gk.com

'The Big Bang Theory' and 'Beauty and the Geek' make being a geek kinda cool. Plus, it's always handy to have someone around who understands compatibility issues, forward and backward.

Members: More than 40,000

Cost: $17.95 a month

GolfMates.com

Lots of golf terms include sexual innuendo - sweet spot, for instance - so pairing your duck hook with hooking up makes sense. Here, golfers can combine the game on the green with the dating game.

Members: More than 18,000

Cost: $19.99 a month

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