Matching

In online dating, are more matches better? Well, according to PhysOrg.com this may not be the case. A study done recently showed that:

people tend to anticipate that they’ll feel better about “shopping for a mate” when there is a large number of options. However, in actuality, people feel equally good when faced with few as opposed to many options.

Participants in the study predicted on average that they would be most satisfied with between 20 and 50 matches. What was found, was these same participants in actuality experience similar satisfaction with just 4 matches.

Eyealike is in the spot light again with news that it is in negotiations with some major online dating and social networking services to incorporate its facial recognition technology into their sites. None are mention so we can only speculate who they are talking about. The article does point out that this technology is best suited for the casual dating and speed dating sites since these types of service are more about physical attraction.

Dating services who are interested in this technology can expect a well documented and load tested product.

Eyealike's technology is also designed to integrate with a Web site's existing keyword and attribute-based search systems. Eyealike Faces is compatible with Windows and Linux servers and the company said it's optimized to work on Windows PCs and Macs as well as most smart phones

Pricing for companies to incorporate this product into their websites includes an annual license fee and additional charges may occur depending on other criteria like frequency of use.

For more information read "Online Dating's New Face" at Internetnews.com.

Related Story: Dating Search via Facial Recognition

The Chicago Tribune has a story about some of the research going on to find out how attraction works between people, both gay and straight. The author takes a look at 4 aspects of this. These aspects are DNA matching with the online dating site ScientificMatch.com (see our other story on them), how physical attraction and evolution works, if there is a love hormone and finally, how your brain effects love.

More and more dating sites are pushing how they have the science and research behind their match system. eHarmony, Chemistry and Perfectmatch are the big 3 who promote their matching system and the science along with their relationship experts. All of these sites post a summary review of how their matching systems work as quoted by the experts. None as of yet (that I am aware of) have actually gone in great details on how their system works and made the research public to back it up. We also need peer reviews of these matching systems from an independent source to begin to fully trust these matching systems. We talked about this in a story we previously did where Chemistry may be one of the first sites to start actually doing this.

Here's an idea that us Geeks should love, lets find your match based on comparing your DNA with others. The Record has an article about a new dating site called ScientificMatch.com that does just that.

How does it work? ScientificMatch.com helps you find a partner with physical chemistry. According to ScentificMatch.com physical chemistry is based on the immune system. When they analyze your DNA for matching purposes, they are just looking at these genes. The general idea here is we are attracted to people with different immune systems. Nature's primary goal for us is to produce healthy babies with strong immune systems. The best way this is achieved is when a couple has 2 different immune systems. More details about immune system matching can be found here. ScientificMatch.com has identified six specific benefits of physical chemistry (backed by peer-reviewed articles) that if you share with someone increases your chances of falling in love. With your match, some of the benefits of DNA matching is you will be attracted to their natural body fragrance, have a more satisfying sex life and be more fertile as a couple.

So what is involved in this process? You may think you just send in some DNA and in a week you get a bunch of matches back, not quite. First off, Scientificmatch.com basis their matching system not just on DNA, but on the core values and beliefs of a person. So once the DNA process is complete it seems you will have to fill in some additional profile information. Scientificmatch.com also does criminal background checks as well so they need some additional personal information over and beyond just your name and address. This dating service is not available in all areas of America so you have to input your Zip Code to find out if you can join.

When you have signed up, you will receive a DNA collection kit which includes a sterilized packet of cotton swabs. You rub the swabs in your check and then mail them back. It then gets sent to the labratory. ScentificMatch.com stresses that this is all done in complete privacy and only the DNA that deals with their matching system is looked at (your immune system). Once the results are in, your sample is destroyed. None of your DNA information is every posted and it takes up to 2 weeks to process your DNA.

All of this DNA matching comes at a price, $1,995.95 to be exact, for a life time membership. Right now they are having a 50% off special for the rest of the year so a membership will cost you only $995. It seems like a lot to me but I am sure DNA testing isn't cheap. Does it work? I don't know and I would be hard pressed to pay there membership fee to find out. The scientific evidence behind it seems sound but I am not sure if we understand enough about DNA to gather the type of information we need to make this type of matching possible.

The New York Times has had several interesting articles this past month related to online dating. This past week they published an article regarding the more popular match systems called Hitting It Off, Thanks to Algorithms of Love. The three main systems out there are from the dating sites eHarmony, Perfectmatch.com and Chemistry. The article goes on and talks about some of the published statistics behind the matching systems, their companies advertising battles and the problems with these systems not being peer reviewed.

The relatively new site, eHarmony Labs is now offering couples in a serious relationship of at least 3 months a web tool to perform a relationship check-up. Once the check-up is complete you will be offered relationship advice based on your answers.

The check-up consists of 60 questions and is designed to be taken consecutively by each person in the relationship. The questions will take approx 40 minutes to complete. After reviewing the test I found that eHarmony has taken this task as seriously as their profile matching system for singles. They ask in-depth and thought provoking questions that make you look at you and your partners relationship. Even if your relationship is not in trouble there is a good amount of information to learn about your partner from the check-up.

For more information or to take the "eHarmony Relationship Check-Up", head over to eHarmony Labs.