Hacker News Reader

Comment by sssparkkk | Hacker News Reader

The problem here is that these sites are able to continue to operate because:

1. The people that register don't search the web for reviews, but instead are simply persuaded by trustworthy-looking TV/newspaper-ads. 2. Negative word-of-mouth in this business is not strong enough: people seldom like to tell their friends they're on a datingsite. Let alone telling the about one that has succeeded in ripping them off financially. 3. Affiliate marketing ensures that sites with the highest commissions (the ones that are able to charge/ripoff their users the most) will be recommended the most on various review/overview-sites.

So, the question is: what can be done about this?

View on HN

Is the obvious idea also obviously wrong somehow? Make a site(s) that addresses the needs of those who get scammed in a reasonable way.

I realize it is difficult (chicken and egg, subtleties about dating/sex habits of males and females), but someone ought to be able to do it.

Beyond the difficulties that you've mentioned you've got established competition who has plenty of ill gotten cash to spend plastering the web/world with ads. And as someone already mentioned people who have been scammed by a dating site are likely to keep that to themselves. Competition who will sing their own praises from the rooftops combined with quiet victims is a bad combination to have to compete with.

Often those peoples' needs are to have no-strings-attached-sex with rich, young, beautiful women.

There is a lot more demand than supply in that direction, so scams predominate.

Curious as to why they have to be rich if the primary goal is no-strings-attached sex? If the assumed hope is that one could mooch off this rich, young, beautiful women a little before engaging in the no-strings-attached sex and taking one's leave, I'd say that would bring supply down to about zero.

Attractive females in the 18-25 bracket are pursued by men in the 18-death age bracket, far more than 18-25 year old men are pursued by women in the 18-death age bracket.

This leads to scarcity, and men use "rich", "high-status", "famous", etc. to differentiate themselves.

Male competition for breeding rights is the bedrock of human civilization (and probably for animals too)

Indeed, but I was referring to the part of the comment that describes the women as needing to be rich (and young and beautiful).

You're straining my credibility with this "rich" bit. I have neither personal, anecdotal nor psychological research evidence to believ wealth comes within an order of magnitude of young or beautiful in its effects on attractiveness.

For those men who are honest with themselves about their desire to have nsa sex wit young beautiful women there's seekingarrangement.com

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1258234 for previous discussion of that

Reply on news.ycombinator.com