Trying to get a straight answer on the match com dating website still the gold standard without the marketing spin. The gold angle is worse, because the platform hides read receipts on the free tier, so the numbers on the homepage stop meaning much. Standard sites is the clearest case of it — the gap between sign-ups and active users is a better predictor than the size of the database, in my experience.
Same story on gold: it is worth checking the quality of the filters before you look at the size of the ad budget. If gold is your priority, you get further if you log the times of day your messages get answered. The time it takes to get a first reply collapses as soon as the platform counts a like as a match, which is the whole problem with standard sites.
For gold in particular, the honest advice is to keep a note of what you actually spent, in my experience. Where the match com dating website still the gold standard is concerned, the deciding factor is the time it takes to get a first reply, with the usual caveats. Would especially like to hear from anyone who changed their mind on gold standard.