ROME — Italian cougars are using online dating sites all the more frequently to find younger partners. 

  With the passing of summer and the onset of autumn, more time is being spent on the Internet. For this reason, now that the summer holidays are over, the number of Cougars, charismatic and independent women searching for younger men, has increased. There are already 420,000 subscribers to such websites throughout Italy, 54 percent of whom are women. 

  At the centre of attention of both national and international gossip, the figure of the Cougar woman continues to conquer the market in all sectors - from travel to meetings, from clothes to fitness, and Cougars are starting to be targeted all the more by Italian firms, partly because of their economic advantage (the income of a Cougar is on average 35 percent above the national average) and their tendency to spend money freely. 

  Regarding their location in Italy, the top five cities for the number of subscribers are Milan (37,000), Rome (28,000), Turin (19,000), Naples (15,000) and Florence (12,000). 

  This Cougar “revolution” is also very much appreciated by men, who “don’t always want to be the one to break the ice”. This new concept is one in which the traditional roles of courtship are reversed, and it is the woman who makes the first move.