DETROIT NEWS — May 7 — Warren has strong ties to evangelicals, who were overwhelmingly responsible for the early success of eHarmony. Although it attracted 2.7 million visitors in March, according to ComScore Media Metrix, the site lags far behind Yahoo Personals, which drew 5.9 million visitors, and Match.com, with 4 million. Warren grew up in Iowa. His father, who had ambitions to be a preacher, ended up owning several businesses, including a car dealership. Warren married his Pepperdine University sweetheart in 1959, and Marylyn Warren is now head of PR at eHarmony. They have three grown daughters. Warren received a divinity degree at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1959 and a doctorate in psychology at the University of Chicago in 1967, while working for a short period as a pastor. He began his private therapy practice in Pasadena, Calif., and taught at Fuller Theological Seminary as dean of the graduate school of psychology from 1975 to 1982. Frustrated by stagnation in academia and seeing the marital problems in his clients, he began writing. In 1993 he hit the jackpot for authors: an appearance on "Oprah." While eHarmony is cagey about how it makes matches, it makes clear that one factor doesn’t enter into the process: physical type. They don’t plan to expand into matchmaking for gay men or lesbians. EHarmony also rules out people who have been married more than twice or people who are severely depressed.
Mark Brooks: eHarmony is doing a good job of cornering the most serious (read profitable) segment of the online dating market.
