YNOT EUROPE – According to a recent analysis from Metaflake, speed-dating and pub-crawling are out when it comes to finding a potential life-match or bedmate. In increasing numbers, today’s savvy singles are turning to online dating venues.

It’s no mystery dating sites are moneymakers, but some are more lucrative than others. The online dating game in the UK seems to be leading the pack. More than 9 million people log on to at least one of more than 1,500 cyber-matchmaking services looking for love and/or sex.

Site owners say they’re raking in the dough from British users. The monthly revenues so far this year reportedly have jumped 6 percent: an upswing of about £170 million.

“In the UK there is a longer tradition of using online dating, and people are willing to spend more,” Metaflake’s chief executive, Henning Wiechers, told The Guardian.

In 2000, more than 100,000 Britons used the internet to find a partner. In 2012, the figure surpassed 9.1 million. Two-thirds of these people belong to mainstream dating sites like Match and eHarmony. The other 2.8 million seek encounters of the erotic kind on websites including Shagaholic and SexInTheUK.

“From our prospective, we can definitely see an increase of business in Europe,” said Moreno Aguiari, vice president of global sales for Dating Factory. “Companies realize that a medium- to long-term business plan incorporating dating sites pays off. Companies also realize that by focusing on a particular niche they get better results than going widespread without having a particular market or niche to go after.”

In a recent pan-European study, the UK scored the highest concentration of single people. It may be no coincidence that the most diverse crop of dating sites — offering everything from cougars to uniforms — also caters to UK residents. Europe is home to about 5,000 dating portals; 1,500 of those are UK-based.

“The British are very open-minded,” said Wiechers.

Richard Tosado, chief executive officer for Janix Inc. (parent company of Sex Date Network), said the transition to online dating was inevitable.

“With the proliferation of global high-speed internet access, there has been a growing potential for new clients in the cyber world,” he remarked. “The UK led the way for Europeans seeking online dating who not only gained access to a newly accessible global community, but also discovered the potential within their own community.”

Current estimates indicate the UK online dating market could expand by another 5 percent before the end of 2012. Still, despite the popularity of dating sites, some companies struggle for profit because the marketplace is extremely crowded.

“The UK is a very competitive market, and companies have to reinvest all their earnings into advertising to fight for their market position,” Wiechers noted.

Tosado provided a perspective from inside the adult dating game.

“Many new start-ups with no real marketing or online experience invested heavily in the industry to take advantage of a perceived financial boom,” he said. “The market became heavily saturated with free sites and pay sites. The boom in the industry has taken a turn downward with the recession, which dropped disposable income of the middle and lower classes.

“However, despite the drop in income, consumers are enamored by technology that has evolved from stationary access to access anywhere, anytime with the introduction of portable smart devices which are forever changing the cyber landscape. New, innovative technologies are turning the tide upward for social-network online dating.

“The recession and innovative technologies changed the landscape, and survival of the fittest is what has changed this industry,” he concluded.

Dating Factory CEO Tanya Fathers agreed, but also said room remains for new players to enter the field.

“Despite being highly competitive, the UK market still has a potential for online dating companies to expand into niches,” she said. “One market that everyone overlooks is disabled dating. Dating Factory is the leading provider of online dating for disabled people, and the UK is our top market. We’ve also found excellent success with interesting niches like nudists and vegetarians.”

Anna Zhuravlova, affiliate manager for the UpForIt Network, said mobile dating may represent the biggest boon for dating websites worldwide going forward.

“This year we’ve managed to increase our presence in the UK market, and not only with our main brands — UpForIt and Shagaholic — but also with niche sites like GetAnAffair and MILFberry, which are gaining more popularity in dating society each month,” she revealed. “But our greatest joy this year is the mobile version of UpForIt, which is doing extremely well in the UK and other English-speaking countries. It went through a big transformation that allowed us to adjust it to each widely used mobile device, and sales took off. People who are dating tend to be more mobile, so next year we are planning to rock European mobile dating space.”

According to Metaflake’s Weichers, mobile capabilities like location-based search woo 18- to 30-year-old users who seek spontaneous encounters.

Metaflake’s study revealed 30 percent of new relationships are born on the internet. Romantics shouldn’t get too excited, though. Weichers also estimated that 25 percent of those looking to make a match already are in a relationship — particularly men.

Erika Icon contributed to this report.