I confined my search to local guys - and I went and met the ones that seemed remotely interesting for coffee in public. I didn't see the point in a long distance anything and that instinct was further reinforced by a man I made friends with on the same site who was a professor in Ohio. He had met the "love of his life" on the west coast of the US somewhere on the same dating site - they chatted/telephoned more or less constantly for a year and he was about to propose when he decided he absolutely had to go and meet her, and when he got there, there was no chemistry whatsoever. I think she had sent him a somewhat flattering photo and she didn't look quite as nice as he expected (but not night and day or anything), but just no chemistry. He was a pretty small guy and probably exaggerated his height - those are the premises in online dating.

But how sad to waste so much time. Better to find local people and meet up reasonably soon. People (women, especially) live out fantasy lives online and tell people what they wish they were instead of what they really are, and they really thrive on the attention - better to find out with less time invested.