Category: Outlets – San Jose Mercury News

Aiming For Love Online; Sites Reviewed by Couples

Posted on February 19, 2005

SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS — Feb 14 — Now there's even more help. Online dating sites are boasting they have uncovered the digital alchemy for amour, offering 'scientific' tests to help the lovelorn find their true soul mate. How good are they? We let four married couples try the tests at eHarmony, Yahoo Personals, Tickle and True. Each partner took the online personality tests designed to probe their psyches (fibbing a little to indicate they were single) and checked out whether the system matched them with their real mates. The results suggest that 'science' isn't always the last word when it comes to true romance. 

The full article was originally published at Mercury News, but is no longer available.

Aiming For Love Online; Sites Reviewed by Couples

Posted on February 19, 2005

SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS — Feb 14 — Now there's even more help. Online dating sites are boasting they have uncovered the digital alchemy for amour, offering 'scientific' tests to help the lovelorn find their true soul mate. How good are they? We let four married couples try the tests at eHarmony, Yahoo Personals, Tickle and True. Each partner took the online personality tests designed to probe their psyches (fibbing a little to indicate they were single) and checked out whether the system matched them with their real mates. The results suggest that 'science' isn't always the last word when it comes to true romance. 

The full article was originally published at Mercury News, but is no longer available.

Tech-Savvy Singles Find Online Personals Nothing Like Real Thing

Posted on February 13, 2005

Marycom_logo SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS — Feb 13 — Nearly all of the 1,650 new Bay Area members who joined Table for Six in 2004 were singles who stopped fishing online, said owner Julie Paiva. "A big reason why someone does online dating is to expand their social life,'' said Paiva. "But they find out what they're mostly doing is spending time in front of a computer screen."  Cali, for one, paid for memberships at five sites before pulling the plug. “If you're serious about finding someone, you have to spend money and stick around to make the effort,'' she said.  In 2000, when eHarmony homed in on the population of serious daters — armed with a 436-question personality test — many of its competitors laughed.  EHarmony's algorithms for romance struck a chord; boasts a membership of 6.5 million, up from 1 million in 2003. Yahoo Personals, True, PerfectMatch.com and Tickle followed suit with their own love alchemy tests. At ColorCupid members are matched based on color preference tests.  Mary.com launched this month offering compatibility testing,  background checks and certified photos taken by its photographers to ensure people look like their photos.

The full article was originally published at Mercury News, but is no longer available.

Mark Brooks: Mary.com, what a great name!

Charity Work Helps Singles Find their Future Mates

Posted on December 19, 2004

MERCURY NEWS — Dec 19 — Philanthropy is the theme of Meeting For Good. All you have to be is single and looking and willing to volunteer with local Bay Area charities. Members can choose from activities that range from serving at soup kitchens to helping out at homeless shelters to working on educational projects for kids. 

The full article was originally published at San Jose Mercury News, but is no longer available.

Mark Brooks: Would be great to have a nationwide Meeting For Good service. We have online personals sites for pet lovers, republicans, big and beautifuls, how about a community for singles who like to give their time to charity.

Social Networks Seek Financial Friends

Posted on September 20, 2004

Mercury News, Sep 19th — A year after Silicon Valley entrepreneurs launched a slew of faddish social-networking companies — Web sites like Friendster, Tribe Networks and LinkedIn — reality is beginning to bite.

The full article was originally published at Mercury News, but is no longer available.

Love with a leash

Posted on September 6, 2004

Mercurynews.com — Wendy Peikes was tired of dating guys who'd vanish when they'd met her housemates — three hairy, energetic dogs. So she took to her computer keyboard and found an online dating site where pet aversion is not tolerated. This new breed of Internet dating is no Chihuahua. “There are 40 million single pet owners,'' said Dan Cohen, CEO of animalattraction.com. What (datemypet.com)'s creator, Rob Yau, recognized as this market's appeal is the strong sense that many people have: People with animals translate to people with heart.' Two-thirds of the surveyed users said they'd prefer to see a picture of a potential date with his or her pet than without.

The full article was originally published at San Jose Mercury News, but is no longer available.

PlanetOut Postpones IPO

Posted on August 13, 2004

San Jose Mercury News / AP, Thurs 12th Aug — PlanetOut postponed it’s IPO due to unfavorable market conditions. "Given the current difficult market for IPO’s, we feel the appropriate value of the company would not be realized," CEO Lowell Selvin said. The SF company hasn’t withdrawn it’s registration but will continue to evaluate the timing of a share sale.