The festive period seems to highlight the downsides of single life for many people, as websites claim to have witnessed a sharp increase in the number of visitors between Christmas and New Year last year.

Atlas Institute, which conducts research for online advertising agency aQuantive, revealed that the number of people registering for dating sites rose steadily throughout January 2006, as did the quantity of people renewing memberships.

"The assumption is that it's related somehow to the self-reflective time of the new year," John Chandler-Pepelnjak, Atlas Institute's principal analyst, told the Associated Press.

"It might also be 'the someone-to-kiss-on-New-Year's-Eve phenomenon'," he continued.

"It's touchingly heartbreaking, but it is borne out in the data."

Jim Safka, chief executive of a dating website, confirmed that traffic and registrations increase immediately after Christmas and remain high until after Valentine's Day.

"For many people, a New Year's resolution for them is that they want to be in a relationship," he added.

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? Adfero Ltd