Dating Services

Well, eHarmony finally launched its dating website for same-sex matches yesterday, called Compatible Partners (a day before they were required too). This was part of a settlement agreement with the New Jersey Attorney General that involved a discrimination case against the company.

Compatible Partners Snap Shot

The actual Compatible Partners works pretty much the same as eHarmony and, that might be a problem. Compatible Partners uses the same Patented Compatibility Matching System. As stated on the homepage:

The Company's patented Compatibility Matching System was developed on the basis of research involving married heterosexual couples. The Company has not conducted similar research on same-sex relationships.

While I have not finished our review yet, I can tell you the Compatible Partners questionnaire is pretty much the same as the one on eHarmony. One would tend to think that what makes a heterosexual relationship a success would differ somewhat from a gay relationship. eHarmony does run eHarmony labs which is where the research is done for their matching system. It has a $3 million a year budget. I wonder if they currently have set aside any of these funds for researching what makes a successful gay relationship?

At least what Compatible Partners does bring to the table is a gay and lesbian dating site for establishing long term relationships that is not driven by sex, as a lot of other popular same-sex dating sites seem to be.

If you are looking for a same-sex relationship, visit eHarmony's new dating site CompatiblePartners.net. For a limited time they are offering a free 6 month membership (for the first 10,000 registered members).

Update: Our new review of Compatible Partners is now online.

Three of the major dating sites offer a guarantee. Here is a comparison of them in alphabetical order.

Match.com

The first one to offer any type of guarantee was Match.com way back in the summer of 2006. It was initially called the "Make Love Happen Guarantee" but has been shorten to "Match.com Guarantee". The way it works is, when you purchase a 6 month membership and if you don't find someone special in that time period, Match.com will give you an additional 6 months for free. To be eligible for the guarantee, during your subscription you must create a truthful profile with a primary photo that is visible at all times. You must also respond to or initiate email communication with at least 5 unique Match.com members for each month of your membership. This email must be sent through the Match.com service and does not include winks or instant messaging.

To find out if you are eligible for the guarantee extension you can check it out anytime on the Guarantee Program Progress Page located in your Account Settings on Match.com. To receive your guarantee you must visit the progress page during the last 7 days of your 6 month subscription. You would then answer the questions related to your eligibility status. If you qualify you can then accept your additional 6 months for free. If you did not qualify, a message will be displayed telling you why.

To find out more on this dating site and their guarantee, read our Match.com review.

I am surprised at the Economist. They posted this article on Thursday about how Online-dating websites prosper in the recession. While this may have been true 5 months ago, it is not the case anymore. They should of really done more fact checking. Take a look at a few traffic monitoring sites like Compete.com and they show most dating sites in February actually stayed flat or lost 5 percent or more of their visitors, when compared to January. February is suppose to be a dating sites most busy month. Granted traffic monitoring sites are not 100 percent accurate but they do give you a rough idea when you take several of them in consideration.

The Economist should also realize that traffic alone does not determine a website success. Revenue and Net Income ultimately determines if any business will survive. Not once is this information mentioned. They talk about OkCupid and how their registered active users is up but no where do they mention how online advertising has dried up in the last few months, OkCupid's primary source of revenue. eHarmony is also mentioned but, traffic patterns do not support this. Plus, there is a huge goof in the article:

eHarmony, a wholesome marriage-oriented site with more than 20m paying subscribers.

eHarmony has had 20 million people register on the site since they launched in 2000, this is both free and paid members. In 2008 we had estimated eHarmony only has about 90,000 paid members at anyone time (see this page for more details).

Another thing the Economist should of considered is, none of the major dating sites have had a press release lately touting the continued growth during the recession. This is another sign things may not be as good as back in November-December 2008, when we saw press releases from dating sites like Match.com, eHarmony and Perfectmatch. This was when they talked about the recession and the increased growth they received.

For more information on the dating sites mentioned in this post, read our eHarmony review and our OkCupid review.

The unofficial eHarmony Blog noticed that eHarmony just launched The Divorced Mom's Guide to Dating. It expands on the popular free eHarmony Advice website to include topics and articles related to experiences and issues divorced Mom's may face when trying to date again. Currently on the site, popular articles include, How to Never Date Another Version of Your Ex and What to Tell Your Kids About Your Dating Life.

I just have one question, what are divorced Dad's suppose to do? Maybe eHarmony should of called the new resource site The Divorced Parent's Guide to Dating. Since, for the most part, the advice on the site is just as applicable if you are a Mom or a Dad.

if you are a single or divorced Mom or Dad visit a Divorced Mom's Guide to Dating (divorcedmoms.eharmony.com). If you are interested in finding out more about the eHarmony dating site, read our eHarmony review.

Match.com has done a number of smart moves lately to keep members using their dating site. On Tuesday, Match.com launched a free application on the Apple App Store for the iPhone and the iTouch. Members now can use most of the features available on the website, on their iPhone. This includes, viewing and editing of your profile (including taking a picture), viewing other members profiles and, sending and receiving messages. New to Match.com as well is the built-in location-based technology available through the iPhone and iTouch. This is an opt-in feature that gives members the ability to see other members near their current location on a graphic map. This feature uses the iPhone's built in GPS and the iTouch's wireless internet connection IP address location.

Match.com has another service which is similar to the iPhone App called MatchMobile. It was launched in 2007 and is designed to allow members to access Match.com with most cell phones. This product uses a mobile web interface and has similar features as the Match iPhone Application, except without the location based technology. Match.com also charges $4.99 for 6 months use of MatchMobile. Since the iPhone App is free, I wonder if MatchMobile will soon be offered for free as well?

Over the last year a few dating sites have created location based dating and they must be cringing now with the news that Match.com has stepped up to the plate relatively early to offer this type of service.

Check out the press release for more information and read our Match.com review for an overview of this dating site.

Starting tomorrow, Thursday, March 26 and until Sunday, March 29, 2009, eHarmony is planning a Free Communication Weekend. This means trial members of eHarmony will not only be able to review their matches for free but communicate with them as well. The Guided Communication process is included in the free weekend but FastTrack communication is not. The major difference between the two types is, FastTrack allows email communication right away, while Guided Communication has four stages of questions and answers before you can communicate with directly with email.

This is Free Communication Weekend number 16 for eHarmony. Usually these free weekends go from Friday to Monday but, eHarmony has switched things up a bit and has this free weekend starting Thursday and ending Sunday. They also usually do free communication weekends only on holidays, so the news of this one came as a bit of surprise.

Read our eHarmony review for more information on this matchmaking dating site. Remember, eHarmony is very popular because of their detailed profile and automated matching system. If you are looking for a dating site that allows you to search for your own matches, then eHarmony may not be the service for you.