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EHarmony |
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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2000, Pasadena, California |
| Headquarters | Pasadena, California |
| Website | eharmony.com |
eHarmony is an online relationship service. eHarmony matches men and women with compatible singles of the opposite sex, taking into consideration what it considers key dimensions of personality. In addition to singles matching, eHarmony operates eHarmony Labs, a relationship research facility, and publishes eHarmony Advice, a growing relationship advice site. eHarmony, which was launched on August 22, 2000, is based in Pasadena, CA and has operations in the U.S., Australia, Canada and the U.K.. The company is privately-held, with investors that include Technology Crossover Ventures, Sequoia Capital and Fayez Sarofim & Co.
Due to a lawsuit settlement, eHarmony agreed to start a same-sex dating site, Compatible Partners, scheduled to open March 31, 2009.1
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eHarmony was founded by Neil Clark Warren, PhD, a psychologist and author of successful relationship advice books.2 In the late 1990s, after more than 35 years of work as a clinical psychologist and marriage counselor, Warren decided to test his evolving theory that certain characteristics can predict compatibility, and lead to more satisfying relationships. After three years of research, working in collaboration with Dr. Galen Buckwalter, Warren developed a predictive, scientific model of compatibility that is now the basis of the company’s matching system.3
eHarmony launched its matching service for singles in 2000.4 Since then, the company has had about 20 million members5 and has grown such that, in 2008, about 15,000 people take the eHarmony questionnaire each day.6 After finding a match on eHarmony, Harris Interactive reports that an average of 236 eHarmony members marry every day.
On November 19, 2008 eHarmony announced the launch a new Web site which caters to same-sex singles as part of a discrimination settlement with New Jersey's Civil Rights Division. The settlement is the result of a 2005 complaint filed by New Jersey resident Eric McKinley. Neither company founder Neil Clark Warren nor the company acknowledged any liability. Under the settlement, eHarmony will pay New Jersey state division $50,000 to cover administrative costs and will pay McKinley $5,000. The lauch of the new site called Compatible Partners is set for March 31. Initially the site will be free. The first 10,000 users who register within a year of its launch will pay no fees. After that, pricing for the new site will be raised to be equal to that of eHarmony.
In addition to the singles matching services, eHarmony operates eHarmony Labs, a relationship research facility, and publishes eHarmony Advice, a growing relationship advice site.7
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Compatibility is the core tenet at eHarmony, as Neil Clark Warren, PhD’s research indicated that a couple’s compatibility was the leading indicator of long-term success. As Gregory Waldorf explained, “It's not about matching people who like certain hobbies ... it's about compatibility. You go on to the site and tell us about you, rather than about what you want.5"
Early on, eHarmony’s scientific approach to a deeply personal and emotional process8 differentiated its matching service. While competitive dating sites require users to browse photos and profiles, new eHarmony members complete a questionnaire that determines key characteristics, beliefs, values, emotional health and skills. Sophisticated matching algorithms – the basis of the matching system Neil Clark Warren, PhD and Dr. Buckwalter developed, which the company believes matches people's core traits and values to replicate the traits of happy couples – use these answers to match members with compatible users.9
Besides values and personality traits, the questionnaire, which takes about an hour to complete 8, allows members to tailor their matches based on a handful of parameters, including geographical distance, desire or presence of existing children from prior relationships, and religion as well as habits such as drinking and smoking.
Although eHarmony is less than 10 years old, eHarmony has begun to track its success stories. In 2004, eHarmony's research director, Dr. Steve Carter, Ph.D. presented a paper at the 16th Annual American Psychological Society (APS) meeting. In the paper presented, Carter compared eHarmony couples married for more than five years with a control group, using the Dyadic Adjustment Scale(DAS), a measure of couple satisfaction. The results showed that "over 90% of eHarmony couples had marriage quality scores which were above average when compared to couples who had begun their relationships elsewhere. eHarmony couples were more than twice as likely to be in highly successful marriages than non-eHarmony couples... Not only are eHarmony couples 35% more likely than other married couples to report that they enjoy spending time together, but we found they are nearly twice as likely to report that their marriages are "extremely happy" or better versus other recently married couples." 10
Research remains central at eHarmony as the Company rolls out its matching service to different markets. eHarmony analysis shows that across cultures couples value very different things, differences that the company has accounted for in the matches it provides members in different countries. In the U.S., for example, couples put more focus on the interpersonal facets of their relationships, reporting that they laugh together, exchange ideas, kiss, and confide in each other more often.8 In Australia, couples report highest overall happiness with their marriages. Australians are also less concerned about how often their spouses shows affection. Married people in the U.K., on the other hand, are more satisfied with how they share household chores and how much time they spend together.9
Although the company has received criticism for matching only heterosexual couples, eHarmony announced plans, in November 2008, to roll out a same-sex matching service in 2009. This service, called Compatible Partners, is part of a settlement the company reached with the New Jersey Attorney General’s Division on Civil Rights. In 2005, a New Jersey man sued eHarmony when he discovered there was no option for men seeking men. According to the Associated Press, neither the company nor its founder, Neil Clark Warren, acknowledged any liability. Theodore B. Olson, an attorney for eHarmony, said that even though the company believed the complaint was "an unfair characterization of our business," it chose to settle because of the unpredictable nature of litigation.11
eHarmony was founded in 2000 with a $3.0 million investment from Fayez Sarofim & Co. and individual investors.12 In 2004 eHarmony received the fourth largest venture capital infusion of that year from Sequoia Capital and Technology Crossover Ventures.13
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