I've been on Lava for probably 3 years. Here are some of my observations:

1. There are MANY profiles of women that are "too good to be true." The photos are model-beautiful, and women like that would not need to be on an on-line site for any of the categorical reasons. Furthermore, a VERY high proportion of these are "new" profiles of women who sign up and then never again visit the site. Accordingly, I largely concur with the other male reviewers who believe that these are fake profiles.

2. Lava is rampant with profiles from Russians, Nigerians, and prostitutes (or at least fakes who "smile," get a response, and reply with a referral to their private e-mail or an XXX website). To Lava's credit, these phonies are immediately deleted. Most times, Lava has restored the credits that I've expended (if I ask, and if I haven't deleted the mail that I sent or received).

3. Far too many of the women's profiles are allowed to be posted "incomplete." This means no essay, no answer to questions about (especially) kids and education, and no selection of interests.

4. Men can automatically -- and I mean this -- add one "body size" to whatever the women claim they are. For example, "few extra pounds" means "queen or king-sized."

5. The women (and maybe the men, too) can get away without updating their essay for several years. I've seen several regulars who haven't updated (or even WRITTEN) an essay for 4 years, and one is approaching (get this) SEVEN years.

6. I once let my credits run down to 2, and I left them at that level for a long time because there was nobody palatable to write to. Lava kept producing pop-up appeals to "buy credits" ad nauseam.

In general, I agree that on-line dating was better in past years. My fortunes on Lava were promising early, but I hadn't had a date from there since a month after I joined. The other services are worse. Yes, they are all populated with creepy or married guys, but those of us who are sincere and single spend weeks or months lurking and studying profiles, hoping to identify someone remotely compatible, while many women can log on and exclaim, "Oh, look -- 200 e-mails!"

This is why I finally "abandoned all hope" and looked to the Latin American dating sites (TLC, and ecuadorsingles.com). Both are legitimate; the Latinas are looking for good husbands just as we are looking for good wives, and in less than 6 months I found a beautiful Ecuadorian sweetheart who will become my wife. If you look overseas, avoid the Philippines and Russia (stick to Latin America), and be prepared to submit the IMBRA verification (no felonies, domestic violence, etc.). I should have turned to the Latina route long ago, and maybe other men here should, too, if you're tired of beating your head against the impenetrable wall of U.S. on-line "dating."