Match

The Catalyst Group released a 48 page document (see below) which outlines the experiences of 16 online daters of which 8 used Match.com and 8 used eHarmony. As stated in the report, the intention of the document "is to highlight broad themes and provide insights as to how these sites are used".

Note: Unfortunately the source to the video and/or image which once was displayed here has since been removed by the authors for an unknown reason.

I found the report itself to be more of a comparison of how Match.com and eHarmony work. The bulk of the report tackles how each dating site handles the online dating process. They broke it up into 3 phases, which are Identifying Matches, Reviewing Profiles, and Communication. The authors did include some information about what the users did and did not like for each site but there was no real comparison as to which site approach which phase better, and why (or how they could improve).

eHarmony nor Match.com participated in any way with the study. After reading it through thoroughly, I found it is an excellent source of information for those of you who wish to know how Match.com and eHarmony work and how their approaches to online dating differ. As mentioned in the limitations, the study sample is very small and may not represent the views of the overall population. But, what were the researchers' conclusions? Near the beginning of the Match.com and eHarmony Usability Study of Online Dating they list some general perceptions. The researches were told by the participants of the study that online dating sites come up short on their claims about matching. Most users had little confidence in the technology and the process behind the matchmaking. Despite all this, people use dating sites because they do offer a pool of potential matches for them to access when the more traditional ways of finding a date (bars, family, friends, etc...) do not work.

In the end the researchers concluded that eHarmony was preferred by singles who needed/wanted to be led every step of the way in the online dating process. This was especially helpful for those singles that lack self confidence in communicating with their matches. On the other hand, Match.com was seen as a "good compromise between the restrictions of eHarmony and the wild west of free sites".

For more on the story, read the WSJ Blogs. To find out more about these 2 dating sites you could also read our eHarmony review and Match.com review.

The recipient of the Editor's Top Pick - Innovative Award is Match.com. In 2009 Match.com introduced a number of new features and it was also the year in which Match.com embraced the smartphone. MatchMobile has been around since 2005 (I believe) and allows the everyday cell phone to connect to Match.com, search for matches, view profiles, and send emails. Match.com decided to expand on this functionality and last March released an iPhone App. With its larger high quality screen and touch interface the iPhone made mobile dating easier to view and simpler to use (no typing on a 10 digit pad). iPhone users also were able to edit their profiles and use other features of Match.com which is not available on MatchMobile. The iPhone with its built in GPS also allowed Match.com to offer location based dating to its members. This opt-in feature allowed you to see if there are other Match.com members nearby in which you could communicate with. This is ideal for singles who enjoy the bar scene and want to find other singles in the vicinity. Later in the year the Palm Pixi and Palm Pre also saw the release of a similar Match.com dating application and in January 2010 an App for the Blackberry was released. An app for Andriod is also expected soon and once released Match.com will have a dating application for 90 percent of all smartphones. This gives them a huge jump on the competition.

Late in December of 2009 Match.com released a suite of matching tools called "My Match". These tools were designed to complement Match.com's existing search capabilities. In the suite members will be familiar with the "Daily 5" which Match first launch in December of 2008. The Daily 5 provides a quick and easy way for you to review qualified matches based on your profile information and preferences. The next tool is called "Mutual Match". It works by sifting through Match.com's database of members to identify those who not only match your criteria, but whose criteria also match you. The third dating tool is called "Singled Out". This feature allows Match.com when they find a member who really stands out as someone they think you'll have a connection with, to "single this match out" for your consideration. The last tool in the suite is called "Like At First Sight". This tool has an additional quiz component which concentrates on finding out what makes a good first impression to you. Based on your answers Match.com will introduce you to members which should have immediate appeal for you.

If you are interested in a dating service which continues to innovate and create a better overall online dating experience then Match.com is an ideal choice.

Read our review of Match.com for more information about this online dating service or visit Match.com directly.

This Year's Runner Up for this award is: OkCupid.

Match.com and Meetic have created an equal partnership together in Latin America where the two dating companies will be combining their resources. According to the CEO of Match.com, Greg Blatt:

By combining ParPerfeito's strength in the Brazilian market with Match.com's presence in the rest of Latin America, we believe we're best positioned to drive that expansion and create an asset of meaningful value. We're confident from our work together in Europe that further partnering with Meetic will be a productive experience.

The online dating market is less mature in Latin American than the larger North America and Europe markets. By making a combined push now both companies feel that they will come out ahead in this merging dating market. Match.com will control the new entity's operations and will pay Meetic $3 million in cash at the closing (March 15, 2010). I am not sure what Meetic's responsibility in all this is but, I will assume that they must be required to push traffic to the new venture. At the beginning of the fourth year of operations Match.com has reserved the right to buy Meetic's share of the entity at fair market value.

When we receive more news about this new entity (like the name of the website) we will be sure to pass it on.

For more on the story read the press release.

Match.com currently offers their dating application on the iPhone (see Story), the Palm Pixi (see Story) and the Palm Pre (see Story), or so I thought! While researching a story about the Google Android OS I see Match.com now offer a dating application for the Blackberry phone. As with the other Match.com smart phone applications you can browse for singles, send and receive emails and wink at members. Blackberry App users can also upload photos and edit their profiles. These smart phone apps for the most part allow you to do everything you can on the website. As far as I can tell the Blackberry Match.com dating application was released sometime late January, 2010.

We also just got news that Match.com is currently working on a dating application for Android phones. Once this app is completed in the coming months Match.com will have almost 90 percent of the world's smart phones covered with their dating application. When you combine this with their current matchMobile service (which has been around for a number of years now for regular cell phones) you can tell Match.com has taken a special interest in mobile dating.

For more on the story read Forbes. To find out more about mobile dating applications on Match.com, read out review of Match.com.

"My Match" is a suite of tools in which Match.com recently launched to help complement their existing search capabilities. This personalized matching channel is accessible from the tool menu at the top of most Match.com pages (may be called "Matches").

Here is the list of Matching Tools:

• Daily 5 - Daily introductions to people based on how likely you are to strike up a conversation together.
• Mutual Match - Daily introductions to a handful of people based on your stated preferences and their stated preferences.
• Singled Out - Introductions we only make when we believe there is an especially high likelihood that you will hit it off with the person.
• Like At First Sight - Introductions to people who we think you'll find immediately appealing based on your responses to a fun online quiz regarding first impressions.

We have seen the other features before this but, "Like At First Sight" is new and currently in Beta. "Like at First Sight" matches are based on a quiz you take. The quiz consists of 15 questions where you have to pick the best choice from 15 different answers (most questions). The difference here is all questions are answered by picking from images. For example the first question asks "Of these celebrities, I think she is most attractive:", from here you are presented with 15 different pictures of actors or actresses (depending on the gender you are interested in). The only questions which followed a different format was the one where you had to pick the voice which was most attractive to you. Other questions from the quiz include:

• The SHAPE of this face most resembles my dream woman:
• I find this hairstyle most attractive.
• Which of these figures always turns your head?

The" Like At First Sight" quiz definitely is designed to figure out what your ideal man or woman looks like. Once you complete the quiz you are then presented with a number of matches. I am curious to know how Match.com figures out some of the matches since questions about hair styles and the shape of your face are not included in ones profile. I wonder if Match.com has software to analyze profile pictures to produce these answers.

For more on the story, read the press release and to get further details on this dating service, read our review of Match.com.

 

Back in October Match.com UK selected, the ad agency, Mother, to run their new marketing campaign (see Story). This month Mother unveiled their first commercial for Match.com.

The new ad uses the Jack and Jill icons in a fun felt animation with a female narrator telling the viewers why they should use Match.com. At the end of the ad the new tag line is shown, "Start your love story at Match.com". I thought this is an excellent slogan, much better than Match.com's North American one of "Its Okay to Look". The ad also informed the viewer that a member of Match.com finds there match once every 10 minutes on the dating site.

For further details on the story, read Marketing Magazine and to find out more about this dating site, read our review of Match.com UK.