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Our Favorite Dating Sites |
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Top Dating Categories |
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German Friend Finder: Full Review |
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Pro Rating :
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User Ratings :
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Avg. Rating :
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About German Friend Finder |
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URL
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Year Started
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1996
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Location
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United States of America
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Languages
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English
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Short Description
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If you believe the stereotypes, the Germans are pretty much the most efficient people on the planet. But take one look at and those preconceptions are gonna blow out the window. This German dating site is so dense, so complicated and so strangely run I'm still not quite sure what I've seen. Actually, is based in the good old U.S. of A. by Friend Finder Inc., an enormous match-making website conglomerate that operates 15 online communities worldwide. Perhaps that explains why is not just for people looking to find a German friend or even marriage partner. Sure, there are plenty of Deutchlanders from the Fatherland to the States logging on to search for their Achtung Baby, along with a German-language option, proving is serious about its German-ness. But there are also a surprising number of sexual world travelers (men seeking couples, women seeking couples, even couples seeking couples) who appear more interested in alternative uses of der weinerschnitzel. 's widely varied membership can participate in all the usual dating website activities - chat, an interactive magazine (message boards that also encourage members to post their own poetry), instant messaging, searches of varying depth and speed, different forms of on-site email, two-way matching and more - provided they can make sense of the enormously complicated pricing plan.
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Number of Members
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238,000
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Overall Rating
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German Friend Finder has lots of great features and is a fun online dating site.
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German Friend Finder Categories & Features |
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Lifestyles
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All
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Relationships
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All
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Ethnicities
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Caucasian
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Other Categories
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All
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Finding Your Match
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Automated Matching
Online indicator
Photo Gallery
Search (Advanced)
Search by location
Search (Quick)
Smart Matching
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Contacting Members
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All
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German Friend Finder Dating Service Review |
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The Company
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is managed by Friend Finder Inc., a large, Palo Alto, CA-based company that operates 15 unique web communities.
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Site Navigation
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's complicated design makes navigation confusing.
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Site Response Speed
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Fast
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Sign-Up Process
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Immediately sign-up for a membership with no credit card required and a brief and simple profile quiz. After receiving a password and logging in, you are urged to upgrade to a paid membership. Once you wade through all that info (and there is a LOT) you are free to browse .
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Breadth of Services
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Friendship, dating and relationship matching for Germans and people interested in German dating worldwide. Although many profiles have little to do with German-ness and a lot to do with kinky-ness.
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User Base
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Heterosexual and homosexual, singles and couples, young and old from all around the world are served at , especially those in the US, Canada and Germany.
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User Experience
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Logging on and setting up my profile was easy, but everything about the site is so complicated I was almost overwhelmed. 's myriad of pricing plans were complicated, trying to view profiles was complicated (free members can see the list of profiles, but are blocked from viewing individual profiles in detail). It seemed like whatever I tried to do, I was taken back to that page urging me to upgrade to a paid membership.
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Customer Service
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Via E-mail or snail mail for standard members. Paid members receive telephone tech support and faster response times for email support. More complete contact information, including several phone numbers, provided in Corporate/Press Room section.
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Customer Service Hours
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FAQ help section
Email support via webpage
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Registration Options
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Free registration
Fast activation
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Additional Services
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Automatic renewal
Blocking options
Hide profile option
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Long Description
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If you think Germans are the most efficient people on the planet, is gonna blow those preconceptions right out the window. This German dating site is so dense, so complicated and so strangely run I'm still not quite sure what I've seen. Actually, is based in the good old U.S. of A. by Friend Finder Inc., an enormous match-making website conglomerate that operates 15 online communities worldwide. Perhaps that explains why is not just for people looking to find a German friend or even marriage partner. Sure, there are plenty of Deutchlanders from the Fatherland to the States logging on to search for their Achtung Baby, along with a German-language option, proving is serious about its German-ness. But there are also a surprising number of sexual world travelers (men seeking couples, women seeking couples, even couples seeking couples) who appear more interested in alternative uses of der wienerschnitzel.
Fast to signup at
Signing up for is fast and easy. The profile is simple and no credit card is required. Once you receive your password and login, you will find yourself on a page detailing the many complicated pricing plans. If you do not sign up for one of these plans, you will get to know this page well. Because any time you try to get a closer look at the specifics of a profile or send a message, you will wind up back on this very same page. Yes, may offer a free membership. But they really, really, REALLY want to sell you a paid one.
Three types of membership
This means you need to make sense of 's enormously complicated three-tiered pricing plan (Gold, Silver and Standard memberships), which entitles members to different levels of service depending on how many deutschmarks - or dollars - they're willing to fork over. If that's not enough, there are additional fees to allow paid members to receive email from free members and to highlight profiles for periods of one, three, six or twelve months. This is where really gets nutty. The site seems to operate on the three-tiered class system, where those who pay a lot get the best of everything (including a higher-level of customer service!), those who pay a little get some of most things and those who don't pay can look, but they can't really get much else. Free members' access to email (you can only answer one in a 24-hour period), the number of profiles they can view and even the type of searches they can conduct are all limited. And does not currently offer any sort of free trial where the site's full array of features can be enjoyed for a limited amount of time.
Find German dates all over the world via
Sticking to my non-paying guns, I was able to check out 's most interesting FREE feature, a comprehensive geographic breakdown of all the site's members, by continent, country, state and city, including links to members in each category. I learned 's widely varied membership can participate in all the usual dating website activities - chat, an interactive magazine (message boards that also encourage members to post their own poetry), instant messaging, searches of varying depth and speed, different forms of on-site email, two-way matching and more. also offers an IQ test, restaurant reviews, nicecards and a photo ranking system.
has a solid user base of Germans and their admirers
Clearly, has a lot to offer, as well as a lot of Germans, people who love Germans and people who have at least heard of Germany enjoying the many features. The site claims membership of over 200,000. Hundreds of men and women were online during my visit and the list of profiles I was able to peruse showed a wide range of ages and sexual lifestyles - although strangely, a lot didn't seem to have much to do with being German.
Looking for Germans? Check out this site
All in all, provided an intriguing but mostly confusing experience for me. If you're German, looking for a German date or just looking for some alternative-style fun, I still suggest checking it out for yourself. But if you actually want to make contact with someone, you should be prepared to pay.
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German Friend Finder Pros & Cons |
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Pros
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is the only site I've seen that's specific to Germans
Large, worldwide membership
All lifestyles represented, including heterosexual, homosexual, singles seeking couples and couples seeking other couples
Run by a large, experienced company
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Cons
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is an incredibly complicated site, difficult to find what you're looking for
seems unfocused - Is it really for Germans? Or people interested in Germans? Hard to tell.
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German Friend Finder Plans Offered |
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Pricing
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Silver Membership: $19.94 for 1 month; $33.94 for 3 months and $99.94 for 12 months.
Gold Membership: $29.94 for 1 month; $59.94 for 3 months and $134.94 for 12 months.
$19.90 for 1 month to allow standard members to view your full profile or contact you.
View full profiles, contact members and enjoy extended search options.
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Site Freebies
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Unlimited standard membership
Standard database search
Unlimited chat and magazine (message board) access
Emails viewable for 30 days
Cupid service - matching with new members - 5 matches max
Listed on members online list
Email tech support within 2 days
Limited viewing of member profiles
Limited on-site emails
Personality test
Upload/change photo
Personal hot list of favorite members
Upload video greeting
Chat
Instant messaging
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