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It sounds like you're looking for an online dating site that does some of the matchmaking legwork for you. That's probably why you're looking into eHarmony, Chemistry and Perfect Match! Well, before you delve into any of these sites, we took some time to build a comparison for you. After all, many of the writers on this site are in the online dating world as well. Let us do the digging so you can find someone you dig.

eHarmony.com

Cost: $60/month (estimated)
Accepts non-traditional clients (gay, lesbian, etc.): no
Compatibility test completion time: 1 to 2 hours
Allows users to search profiles: no
Rejects potential members? yes
Accepts "currently separated" members: no

eHarmony is the oldest of the "matchmaker" type online dating sites. They do all of the legwork for you. Once you complete their compatibility test, you wait for them to match you with potential dates. You're only eligible to receive a certain number of matches per week, so if you close-out all of your options early, you'll be waiting another week to see who else is in store for you. They only accept heterosexual couples and do not allow those who are not legally single (i.e. divorced, widowed or single) to become members. They are famous for their guided communication process, designed to let you get to know someone through their internal messaging system with a series of mutually answered questions.

To find out more about this dating site, read our review of eHarmony.

Chemistry.com

Cost: $50/month (estimated)
Accepts non-traditional clients (gay, lesbian, etc.):
Allows users to search profiles: no
Rejects potential members? no
Accepts "currently separated" members: yes

Chemistry.com is owned and operated by Match.com and there are a number of profiles that are on both sites. Touted as "more fun" than eHarmony, the site accepts members of all sexual orientations and also permits those who are "currently separated" to join the site.

To find out more about this dating site, read our review of Chemistry.

PerfectMatch.com

Cost: $60/month (estimated)
Accepts non-traditional clients (gay, lesbian, etc.): yes
Compatibility test completion time: 1 to 2 hours
Allows users to search profiles: yes
Rejects potential members? no
Accepts "currently separated" members: no

PerfectMatch.com has perhaps the greatest functionality of the three matchmaker-type sites that use compatibility profiles. They allow users to search by compatibility features, keywords and many other criteria that can be customized. They also deliver matches to your inbox as well. An ideal balance if you're looking for some help but prefer the functionality of a user-powered site where you call the shots.

To find out more about this dating site, read our review of Perfect Match.

eHarmony Australia is having a Free Communication Weekend starting this Thursday, December 31st, 2009 to Sunday, January 3rd, 2010. For some reason it is a day shorter than the North American event (see Story) but it still offers the same great value. All eHarmony members can review their matches and communicate with them for free during this 4 day event. No credit card is required.

The last eHarmony Australia free communication weekend was held at the beginning of October (see Story). By our count this is eHarmony Australia's 3rd event.

To find out why Australian singles have made this a popular online dating destination, read our eHarmony review.

Skout, a mobile phone dating service, recently did a survey of 1000 of its users. The survey participants had an even number of men and women in their 20s. Here are some of the results of the survey:

• 51% have met another single in the real world that they first contacted on their phone.
• 69% of all surveyed are comfortable in meeting up with someone they met online.
• 40% use the Skout service while out at restaurants, bars and clubs.
• 35% have used Skout at work.
• During the holidays 29% would prioritize spending time with their family while 71% would prefer going out on at least one date or hook-up.

It also looks like 20 percent of those surveyed on Skout have a significant other, with half knowing about their partners activities on these social dating sites. I don't know if this is a good statistic to advertise since it means one fifth of all Skout members are cheaters.

For more on the story, read The Washington Post. You can also find other dating sites which offer a mobile phone service here.

eHarmony is having a free communication weekend (FCW) starting Wednesday December 30th, 2009 and ending Sunday January 3rd, 2010. This is a special holiday event and it has been extended to 5 days (most FCW are 3 days long).

What does a free communication weekend mean? It allows members from eHarmony to be able to review their matches and communicate with them for free through the 4 stage communication process. All members can be contacted and I would expect eHarmony to be extra busy during this timeframe as most singles will be on vacation for the Holidays. If you join eHarmony during the first day (Wednesday) of the FCW, who knows, maybe you will have enough time to meet your match on New Years Eve.

The last free communication event occurred mid November, just over 4 weeks ago (see [story: eHarmony-is-Free-for-the-next-5-Days Story]). This is Free Communication Weekend number 22 for eHarmony here in the US.

Check out our review of eHarmony for more information on the dating site.

Singles interested in the Australian Free Communication Weekend, read this News Story.

Singles interested in the United Kingdom Free Communication Weekend, read this News Story.

I see eHarmony is getting more creative. I noticed this interactive Flash ad which prompts the reader to guess which man was matched with the woman. Dragging the man's profile photo to the blank box will reveal the answer.

While ultimately this is a guess on the participators part, the resulting message by eHarmony drives home the point that they don't use guesswork to determine matches. I thought this was a smart way to show potential members what is eHarmony's major selling feature, their matching algorithm.

eHarmony also has this ad which you need to guess one of their 29 dimensions of compatibility. By clicking on the letters in the correct order you can spell the dimension. This simple exercise engages the user before they even reach the dating site. If someone takes a few seconds for this puzzle, I bet most will continue once the reach eHarmony and fill out the profile.

To find out more about this dating service, you can read our in-depth eHarmony review.

It looks like the featured fans of eHarmony's Facebook page (see Story) may also be a part of eHarmony's new TV marketing campaign. These new ads are a different format than we have seen before from eHarmony. They will contain web cam interviews of actual couples who got married because they met on eHarmony. We have seen eHarmony couples in ads before, but those ads were very polished. These new ads with the low quality web cam footage make the "commercials convey a high degree of authenticity and immediacy". The lower quality of the web cam videos lends to the credibility that these are real couples with real stories about eHarmony. To see one of the commercials you can visit the eHarmony Facebook page here.

Lucas Donat, CEO of Donat Wald, is the guy who has come up with the concepts for this new marketing campaign. He has been responsible for eHarmony’s television commercials since 2002.

If you have an eHarmony success story and want to be considered for one of their new commercials, visit this page to submit your success story and to send the eHarmony team a short video of you and your partner.

For more information about the new ad campaign, read the eHarmony blog here. To find out about this internet dating service, check out our eHarmony review. To date we have 73 reviews of eHarmony from our readers.