INTERNETNEWS.COM — Aug 27 — On Monday, eHarmony officially and seamlessly switched the databases that house more than 17 million users from Microsoft’s SQL Server to Oracle’s 10g. FULL ARTICLE @ INTERNETNEWS.COM
Category: eHarmony
eHarmony Turns Seven
PRESS RELEASE — Aug 22 — eHarmony is celebrating its 7-year anniversary with 17 million registered users. In the last six months, its subscriber base grew by more than 30% year-over-year. On any given day, more than 90 eHarmony members marry as a result of being matched on the site. And studies conducted in 2003 and 2005 showed that singles who were matched by eHarmony and later married are significantly happier than couples who met by other means.
The full article was originally published at PR Newswire, but is no longer available.
Solo Operator Of Plentyoffish Big Fish In Big Pond
FINANCIAL POST — July 20 — Markus Frind runs one of North America's most popular dating Web sites, taking in millions of dollars a year, and he does by himself from his 900-square-foot apartment. Plentyoffish.com runs itself. A free service, it was the 82nd most-visited site in the United States last month, according to Hitwise. It ranks third in U.S., ahead of Match.com and eHarmony. Because plentyoffish.com generates more than 400 million page views per month in Canada alone, he wants to switch to banner ads to expose more users to more ads, and make more money.
The full article was originally published at Financial Post, but is no longer available.
eHarmony Uses Jajah For Voice
FORTUNE — July 16 — Finding love in the 21st century has come full circle, modern would-be lovers soon could be waiting by the phone once again. eHarmony is expected to announce a new service that lets its members connect via phone – without actually giving out their home, work or cell number. Using Jajah's VOIP, technology, eHarmony's service enables potential partners to speak on the phone for $5.95/month for unlimited calls among its members.
The full article was originally published at CNN Money, but is no longer available.
TIME Calls Time Out On eHarmony
TIME MAGAZINE — July 14 — TIME Magazine named eHarmony.com one of five Internet sites to avoid because of its power to cause utter despair. eHarmony claims a more "scientific" approach with personality questionnaires. On typical dating sites, you are less likely to take it personally. But if you revealed yourself and the site delivers terrible recommendations — or rejects you as unmatchable — what do you tell yourself then? The company's advice to stick with it for months, runs up costs. The site also discriminates against gays.
The full article was originally published at Time, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: eHarmony is getting a hammering? Is it fair? I think they have a right to choose what market to focus on. myPartnerPerfect recently launched to serve the gay serious dating market. PlentyofFish has been quietly working away on some new personality profiling tests.
eHarmony Lawsuit Stirs Passions on Both Sides
EDGE BOSTON — June 21 — It all started with a lesbian in San Francisco, Linda Carlson, who tried to post a personal ad on eHarmony, which was rejected. Her recent lawsuit has gotten bloggers, pundits and gay rights groups weighing in. eHarmony, a straight dating site, has long rattled the LGBT community by refusing to match gays. Dale Carpenter, Julius E. Davis professor of law at the University of Minnesota Law School, believes that the lawsuit has a chance of success based on the California anti-discrimination law. eHarmony claims its tests don't accomodate gay psychology and the site caters to straight Christians.
The full article was originally published at Edge Boston, but is no longer available.
eHarmony Uses Tealeaf Software
INFORMATION WEEK — June 15 — eHarmony has started using TeaLeaf’s Web monitoring software in an effort to improve the customer experience. eHarmony uses TeaLeaf to detect reliability and access problems, and the product team has begun using it to watch how people navigate the site to better tweak offerings. eHarmony saw that it was losing some potential customers during the four-step checkout process to purchasing a subscription, so it shortened it. The marketing team has started using TeaLeaf to determine the success of campaigns, and customer care reps can peruse specific user sessions to get to the bottom of a customer complaint.
Disharmony, The New Tolerance
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE — June 7 — Last week, a lesbian filed suit against eHarmony.com for not serving individuals "based solely on their sexual orientation." When I asked why Carlson didn't simply go to another dating service, her lawyer evoked the image of Rosa Parks, noting that "nearly every step in civil rights law, you could have said the same thing…There is a big difference between the sites that allow the customers to self-select who they are looking for" and a site that makes the decision "to exclude a minority group." But the answer isn't to make eHarmony be what it is not, but to let others create something like eHarmony for gays and lesbians. Mark Brooks, spokesman for the gay online matchmaking service myPartnerPerfect.com, said of eHarmony: "I think they're having a bit of an unfair time of it. I think it's their right to have a niche focus, but they've not quite said the right thing, and their underlying tone has riled people up."
The full article was originally published at TownHall, but is no longer available.
myPartnerPerfect Opens New Door to Gay Love
PRESS RELEASE — June 8 –While hundreds of couples fill countless television spots with stories of how eHarmony helped them find each other, thousands of men and women have been turned away from the process because the long-term relationship that they were seeking was with someone of the same sex. Enter Patrick and myPartnerPerfect.com. "It was actually partially because of the discriminating policy of eHarmony that I founded myPartnerPerfect. For far too long the industry has neglected the gay community and their pursuit for life-partners….a large segment of the gay community is looking for something that can last a lifetime." Patrick has worked in the field of human sexuality since 1997 developing and cultivating relationships for the LGBT community. He has a B.A. in Psychology, an M.A. in Human Sexuality Studies and a PhD in Clinical Psychology. While at Saint John's University, Patrick conducted internationally recognized research on Human Mating Preferences.
The full article was originally published at E-MediaWire, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: Media can call me at 212-444-1636 to arrange interviews with Patrick.
eHarmony Sued For Discrimination
BAY AREA REPORTER — June 7 — Carlson claimed that when she attempted to use the Web site in February 2007 she was "denied the ability to do so based on her sexual orientation." eHarmony allegedly violated California's Unruh Civil Rights Act. Said Schneider, with Schneider and Wallace. "Segregation in this country ended a long time ago and apparently eHarmony hasn't realized that gay rights is civil rights." Earlier this year a study, "The Close Relationships of Lesbians and Gay Men", by UCLA researchers, found that "lesbians, gay men, and heterosexuals seek similar qualities in their romantic partners. Regardless of sexual orientation, most individuals value affection, dependability, shared interests, and similarity of religious beliefs." LGBT dating services, such as the newly launched myPartnerPerfect.com and LavenderLiaisons.com provide services to gays and lesbians. In a statement released this week by Patrick Perrine, the founder of myPartnerPerfect.com and creator of its "Partner Perfect Compatibility" test, stated that he started the site "partially because of the discriminating policy of eHarmony." Warren was quoted in USA Today, "We don't really want to participate in something that's illegal" when asked about providing matchmaking services to lesbians and gays, referring to the fact that lesbian and gay couples aren't currently legally allowed to marry, except in Massachusetts. FULL ARTICLE @ BAY AREA REPORTER