Will the dating app live up to the hype?

eHarmony is a paid dating website and app that some people love and that others love to hate. It started in the year 2000 as an online dating site, with a unique vision of bringing people together through compatibility testing. It is privately owned, with the help of large investors, and was founded by clinical psychologist Dr. Neil Clark Warren and his son-in-law.

eHarmony is not like Tinder, PlentyOfFish, or OkCupid. It’s not even like Bumble or Zoosk. In fact, eHarmony may not be like any of the dating sites you’ve tried so far, though many have mimicked its algorithm-style personality testing. The site is geared for those in search of monogamous lasting relationships or marriage and has had its share of controversy due to its focus on straight unmarried couples.

A U.S. court had to intervene over eHarmony’s refusal to cross-promote its site for gay matches and, due to that, it now promotes its same-sex sister site, Compatible Partners .

The History of eHarmony:

eHarmony’s marketing is geared around its algorithm-based personality testing, which is supposed to lead to better compatibility and matching. In the United Kingdom, the ASA (or Advertising Standards Authority), has banned the site from claiming it has ‘science-backed matching, concluding that eHarmony’s odds are not substantially better than on other dating sites.

eHarmony stands by its belief that users who marry through their site have more successful matches. While users may not realize the significance of questions about their values and beliefs, emotional tools, mental health, and more, they are continuously being computed by an algorithm. eHarmony doesn’t operate off the idea that opposites attract but believes compatibility leads to longer-lasting love. User engagement (a.k.a. time online) on the site is also matched up as a calculation of behavioral patterns.

Since eHarmony first became profitable in 2004, the site has gone on to have profit margins in the millions and a large share of the online dating market. It’s main niche has been carved out through its focus on y. While founder Dr. Neil Clark retired and left the site several times (though he returned in 2012 through 2016, and made sweeping improvements as the chief executive officer), eHarmony has changed their sign up/personality questionnaires and reduced their length from 450 to 150 questions, with recent sign up seeming even more streamlined.

Pros

Since eHarmony is competing against other dating sites and apps that have similar compatibility testing (and also against the popularity of Tinder & Bumble, which rely on Facebook as their algorithm source for matching and not extensive user questions) it has improved its question and answer section. It now presents questions in attractive ways, which avoids long lists, and only has you answer enough compatibility questions to get started, while freelocaldates leaving some optional (for users to seek out later).

One of the best features on eHarmony is the “The Two of You Together” section, found when you look at another profiles. This section lists areas of compatibility based on one’s Q & A and gives a percentage match for Intimacy, Altruism, Exclusivity, and other categories. For instance, if you and another user have 100% Exclusivity as a match, then it means you are both equally interested in monogamy as a priority, etc.

Profiles seem to be crafted with more care on eHarmony and make for a better read with most people filling in personal answers and extensive details about themselves and their life. The layout of each profile is easy to browse and interesting, with sections that are interesting to read, such as, best “life skills”, 3 things one is thankful for, or how friends would describe the user, etc.