******* Ian responds in the comments and says that the caption on the video is wrong and they don’t work on eharmony’s matching algo and he updated his blog to reflect that fact.
Watch this video, at about 5 minutes in they talk about how eharmony is using his company to generate matches…
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8hj2t_ian-clarke-sensearray_news
And the about me on his blog…
http://blog.locut.us/about-me/
“Ian’s current focus is the development of SenseArray (through his company Uprizer Labs). SenseArray is a powerful new type of collaborative filter which can make use of arbitrary metadata in making recommendations. SenseArray is already being used in a wide variety of industries, ranging from online dating (we can’t name the company but you’ve heard of it), to targeted advertising companies with revenues totaling in the hundreds of millions.”
I wonder which of the 29 dimensions of compatibility this falls under?
April 8, 2010 at 4:57 am |
I do not think/believe eHarmony outsources matchmaking.
VisualDNA also claims eHarmony is one of its clients.
http://www.visualdna.com/
I do not believe that because:
eHarmony is a 10 years old obsolete compatibility matching method based solely on personality similarity and not a collaborative filter per se.
eHarmony is primary a Compatibility Matching Algorithm based on personality similarity with the Big5 normative personality test and Dyadic Adjustment Scale (invented by Dr. Graham B. Spanier in 1976) as its core, something anybody can calculate with a 1984 model Commodore 64 or ZX Spectrum home computer.
eHarmony could be using a collaborative filter in order to improve its Guided Communication Process. The Guided Communication Process (a mutual filtering step) is an appendix of its main matching algorithm. The Guided Communication Process is designed to narrow even more the field of persons you give a better chance of getting along with, and also it is useful for feedback purposes, in order to try to “improve” the matching algorithm.
eHarmony is a HOAX, it is not “scientifically proven” because eHarmony Labs could not prove couples married by eHarmony have a more stable and satisfying marriage, and very low divorce rates than other couples married by other methods as the control group.
eHarmony’s (as eDarling’s) matching method sends you matches as if it were a machine gun shooting flowers.
eHarmony does not need to outsource nothing.
Have you seen that Dr. Vaclav Petricek is part of the team at eHarmony Labs?
http://www.eharmony.com/labs/category/research/
“As a senior matching researcher Dr. Petricek is responsible for developing matching algorithms and predictive models at eHarmony. He brings expertise in collaborative filtering, neural networks, predictive analytics and other machine learning areas as well as expertise in distributed systems. From vast amounts of historical data he creates statistical models predicting which users are most likely to be interested in each other when introduced.”
Petricek and Brozovsky had written the paper
“Recommender System for Online Dating Service”
http://www.occamslab.com/petricek/papers/dating/brozovsky07recommender.pdf
“User-User and Item-Item collaborative filtering recommenders significantly outperform global algorithms that are currently used by dating sites [offering only Browsing / Searching Options, Powerful Searching Engine but not Compatibility Matching Algorithms].”
“A blind experiment with real users [at a proprietary site named ColFi - exclusively designed for the experiment - where 111 users rated 150 photo-profiles, then two recommendation lists of top 10 profiles were generated] also confirmed that users prefer collaborative filtering based recommendations to global popularity recommendations [of 2 Czech online dating sites: ChceteMe (no longer exists now) and LibimSeTi].”
“Recommendations can be further improved by hybrid algorithms. These algorithms are combining the collaborative filtering approach with content information. Another problem specific to dating is that A_likes_B does not imply B_likes_A. Therefore each user should be probably presented with recommendations of such users, who are also interested in him/her. There is a need for reciprocal matching algorithms.”
“User interface may introduce bias in the sense that users instead of providing their personal preference try to guess the global preference. This reduces the usefulness of ratings provided.”
eHarmony could be more interested now in delivering the correct ads to its members.
The Worldwide 2009 annual revenue for eHarmony was estimated in USD 250 millions
[and checking traffic from its 4 different sites, I estimate 20% from Canada, 50% from U.S.A., 25% from U.K. and 5% from Australia]
If you consider 10% of that revenue by ads, it is only USD 225 millions by subscriptions
At a USD 40 (Monthly Average Revenue per Subscriber: MARS)
USD 225 millions / USD 480 (Annual Average Revenue per Subscriber) == 468,750 paid Subscribers
Perhaps eHarmony has only
93,750 paid members from Canada
234,376 paid members from U.S.A.
117,187 paid members from U.K.
23,437 paid members from Australia
The 2010 annual revenue for PlentyOfFish is expected to be USD30 millions, more or less the same amount eHarmony will earn by ……… ads.
http://www.eharmony.com/advertising/singles
Regards,
Fernando Ardenghi.
Buenos Aires.
Argentina.
ardenghifer@gmail.com
April 9, 2010 at 2:18 am |
You can’t predict human matching through ‘past data’ – thank goodness humans are a little bit more complex, individual & human! This guy grew up in County Meath, Ireland where I have lived. Even the locals think there’s something wrong with the place check out Tommy Tiernan’s video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImUOf2_QZ_o (he comes from there & can’t stand it). Is this the best men can do when it comes to compatibility matching???? WTF
April 9, 2010 at 6:03 pm |
[...] at Plenty Of Fish asks the question Does Eharmony outsource matchmaking? and points us to Ian Clarke’s blog. Ian, for those of you who don’t know, is the [...]
April 10, 2010 at 6:17 pm |
Hi, I’m Ian Clarke and I need to clear something up.
I did not claim in the video that eHarmony is or has in the past used SenseArray as part of their matching process, nor is this accurate.
I did say we had some some work with them and this is accurate.
The subtitle “Ian Clarke builds the software engine that helps match up people on eharmony.com” is not what I said in the video, and it is not accurate.
I’m sorry that people got the wrong idea based on what I said in the video. In reality, we are primarily focussed on the targeted advertising and lead prioritization markets now, and no-longer have a focus on online dating.
April 10, 2010 at 6:24 pm |
Just to follow-up, I’ve amended the description on my blog to reflect the fact that online dating is no-longer a focus for us.
In general though, I think those who are claiming that past data can’t be useful in predicting who might like who are wrong. In principal, much as collaborative filters have been demonstrated very effective at predicting what movies people like (eg. with Netflix), I see no reason why the same approach cannot be useful in online dating. There are patterns in people’s dating preferences, and machine learning algorithms should be able to find these patterns and utilize them.
April 10, 2010 at 6:56 pm |
“I think those who are claiming that past data can’t be useful in predicting who might like who are wrong. In principal, much as collaborative filters have been demonstrated very effective at predicting what movies people like (eg. with Netflix), I see no reason why the same approach cannot be useful in online dating.”
for fun/entertainment/flirting purposes, for instant gratification, but not for serious dating.
Because:
- there is a range convergence phenomenon
- collaborative filters do not take into account a new discovery uncovered by Eastwick and Finkel 2008; also Kurzban and Weeden, 2007; Todd, Penke, Fasolo, and Lenton, 2007 who found that people often report partner preferences that are not compatible with their choices in real life.
and
- Latest Research in Theories of Romantic Relationships Development outlines: compatibility is all about a high level on personality similarity between prospective mates for long term mating with commitment.
April 10, 2010 at 8:47 pm |
Well he certainly grabbed everyone’s attention….
April 10, 2010 at 8:48 pm |
Pemo, I could do without this kind of attention
April 14, 2010 at 11:45 am |
Good attention indeed – no such thing as bad press
April 16, 2010 at 8:43 am |
[...] Does Eharmony outsource matchmaking? « Plenty of fish blog [...]
April 16, 2010 at 3:58 pm |
eHarmony doesn’t outsource their matching – end of story.
April 21, 2010 at 11:33 pm |
All I can say is eHarmony considers me unmatchable. I consider that a compliment.
April 22, 2010 at 12:03 pm |
Sorry I do not have the academic chops of some of the people replying to this, but IMHO it seems to me that if you applied some of the filters above, about the only thing you would likely accomplish would be to guarantee that people who formerly had abusive partners would be guaranteed to be matched up with new abusive partners.
Hardly an outcome that any dating site would be proud to boast about.
People are a bit more complex than mathematical formulas, and the consequences of recommending the wrong video to someone is a lot less than recommending a stalker as being your ‘life mate’.
Someone gullible enough to believe the advertising hype of the ‘compatibility match’ algorithms of various dating sites may just end up in a hospital or worse.
April 24, 2010 at 7:55 pm |
I wouldn’t go as far as making the situation as severe as “ending up in the hospital” but I do completely agree. I’ve used all the dating websites before in the past, and I have yet to find any of the “match algorithms” to be anything close real. I’m sorry Markus…highly respect ya man…but yours too.
In fact often times, I found myself a better match with those on eharmony and all sites that were not supposed to fit me at all. Go figure right?
April 28, 2010 at 7:02 pm |
Markus,
Congratulations on the upcoming wedding. When things have settled down in your personal life I’d like to get in touch with you and introduce you to a colleague of mine. when you have a moment let me know and I’ll get into further details.
April 28, 2010 at 8:55 pm |
Now You Can Finally Learn. The Truth And Time-Tested Secrets Behind Internet Dating That Helps Ordinary People Find Miss Or Mister Right…FREE!! http://www.answers-not-ads.com/free-ebook/TimeTestedDatingSecrets.html
April 30, 2010 at 10:30 am |
Hey Marcus what are you doing about the serial killer on your fish site that has been killing women. How is it that its not all over the place yet. Your system sucks and it can not stay free forever. You will be forced to charge a fee to stop these maniacs from killing again. I recommend a paid service. Marcus is only init for the money the ads provide for him. I have met marcus in person years back and he really needs to do something before he finds himself in a bad place.
May 6, 2010 at 11:40 am |
I think thats a disgraceful comment, Markus has provided a great free service their is always an element of people who abuse any free service, users cannot expect to have a free service and then complain after use about how the site engine works.
Markus is a legend in the dating business, we have a site with a couple 1000s of members and even that volume can be difficult to deal with visa vi spammers etc, as for cumputer generated matches we have a basic function on our site which just matches people on area likes etc, i think thats more then enough. Half the fun of online dating is purusing through profiles of people who may not be your ideal match in algo terms, but its the unknown which excites, not a prepackaged match.
My two cents.
Maria
May 17, 2010 at 1:24 am |
Sports…
Thanks for the great information really enjoyed the read !…
May 20, 2010 at 3:55 pm |
think thats a disgraceful comment, Markus has provided a great free service their is always an element of people who abuse any free service, users cannot expect to have a free service and then complain after use about how the site engine works.
May 27, 2010 at 4:58 am |
Feel so sorry for not commenting your post as what it said about. most of all, thanks for infos from this site.
regard from Indonesia 11:58
June 2, 2010 at 5:27 pm |
This is somewhat related regarding eharmony and the huge scam they have going on about the free communication weekend…I hope it enlightens a few…
June 14, 2010 at 1:31 am |
insurance seattle
Great Blog. Some savvy people here!
June 24, 2010 at 11:25 am |
Thanks, I enjoy the reading. It’s a nice subject.
July 2, 2010 at 2:01 pm |
speaking of eHarmony… anyone see this add inside POF? http://image.bayimg.com/candmaach.jpg
a tad ironic, thats all
July 6, 2010 at 3:31 pm |
It seems there a bit of a war of words going on here in the comments.
July 22, 2010 at 12:32 pm |
In principal, much as collaborative filters have been demonstrated very effective at predicting what movies people like As the world’s largest Nike Air Rift
July 25, 2010 at 3:31 am |
It amazes me that eHarmony has the following they have. But, then again I can understand.It sucks to be alone. We are all looking for each other and don’t know what to do when we do meet someone. Single habits have to change and most folks do not change.
November 27, 2010 at 2:20 pm |
matter but love does.matter but love does.matter but love does.matter but love does.matter but love does.matter but love does.matter but love does.matter but love does.matter but love does.
January 29, 2011 at 7:32 pm |
I tried eharmony for a few months and would prefer to be able to browse through all profiles instead of the ones they have selected for me. I am in Canada and did not like the fact that if I chose a certain mile radius it would pull half my matches from the US. It doesn’t let you select in a specific radius direction which I would have gone East instead of South West into the United States. Also I found eharmony sends you match potentials of people that are no longer active users. I had over 200 people in my local area and nearing the end of my membership I contacted everyone of them and at least 95% didn’t get back to me at all. My profile sits there and I am sure they are sending it still to people just signing up.
I would like to say something else about having an online dating profile on POF. I believe if you are having nightmare experiences then it is something that you yourself are doing that is attracting that. People don’t put much effort into writing their dating profile and it shows. Its up to the individual to read between the lines people are saying and figure out what they are really telling you about themselves. But that really isn’t very easy for people to do. I help people figure others out before they get burnt from choosing the wrong person.
March 28, 2011 at 6:27 am |
“User interface may introduce bias in the sense that users instead of providing their personal preference try to guess the global preference. This
April 4, 2011 at 10:31 am |
mailing that I require before handing out phone numbers and agreeing on da figure others out before they get burnt from choosing the wrong person.
April 7, 2011 at 8:54 am |
icting who an average user will end up with. Obviously it won’t work for everyone, but what predictive statistical model does?
May 2, 2011 at 1:35 pm |
difficulties. I’m not sure if my earlier comment was successful so I’m attempting again. Thanks again for an engrossing article. I will return again soon.
May 4, 2011 at 10:09 am |
how we got so much bigger along with a lot of other things they want
May 12, 2011 at 6:16 am |
10′s of millions of dollars. The dating industry is kind of backwards why wouldn’t more dating sites attend an event where people who are
May 13, 2011 at 8:33 am |
America still treats it as the root disease. This new NSS seems little more than smoke and mirrors to me, substituting costly counterinsurgency for cheap counter-terrorism. Not only will counterproductivity result, isn’t this a tacit admission that al-Qaeda really is bleeding America out?
May 16, 2011 at 5:53 am |
I love the people who write these posts, you are the best!!!
May 24, 2011 at 12:05 pm |
Therefore each user should be probably presented with recommendations of such users, who are also interested in him/her. There is a need for reciprocal matching algorithms.
May 26, 2011 at 10:08 am |
Toyota Çıkma Parca Reyonu Avensis Auris Yaris Corolla Verso
July 8, 2011 at 12:52 pm |
shares in this blog is really nice, actually,
I no longer have to follow the internet world
of blogs to take advantage of this style, I would
like to set up a site, but recently I tried I could
not have a friend View a school he did not know, but
my room will help me more to move forward on cı I’m
jealous already kurmayacağım also …
July 14, 2011 at 6:21 pm |
I hope that I enjoyed the information I could use thanks
Kursistem every customer as our unconditional customer
satisfaction and extraordinary is, professionalism is the
key to our business.
December 18, 2011 at 11:27 am |
That is genuinely helpful.
January 16, 2012 at 10:26 am |
are you issues in this sense is obviously a very good and site is full suits me very carefully, but with are more intensive follow-up will have mixed commentss and are you teacher mothers ?
January 23, 2012 at 12:29 pm |
Burada Seo halkları thanke. hause
January 23, 2012 at 12:30 pm |
Burada Seo halkları thanke. hause
January 23, 2012 at 12:30 pm |
Burada Seo halkları thanke. hause