eHarmony

eHarmony Spreads the Love Online in the UK with Web-based Compatibility Matching

LONDON, UK, 6 October 2008—eHarmony, the pioneering US relationship matching company, introduces to the UK a new online service that uses scientific analysis to connect users with a compatible partner.

Unlike other online dating websites – where members post a picture and a short biography, before browsing the profiles of other users – eHarmony is a premium service that uses a web-based “Compatibility Matching System” to present users with matches that they would be most compatible with for a long-term relationship.

These matches are based on key dimensions of the user’s personality that are scientifically-proven to predict happier, healthier long-term relationships.

Each new eHarmony user completes an in-depth relationship questionnaire and is presented with a free personality profile. They are then matched with other users who have been scientifically evaluated as being compatible with them. Users have total control of when and how to communicate with their matches.

“With our research into the science of human compatibility, eHarmony has developed a valuable understanding of the key ingredients to successful, long-term relationships,” said Greg Waldorf, CEO of eHarmony. “We’re now looking forward to sharing our unique expertise with people in the UK, to help them find lasting happiness with their ideal mate.”

eHarmony was created in 2000 by Dr Neil Clark Warren, a clinical psychologist with more than 35 years experience in marriage counselling. Today, eHarmony is a runaway success in the USA, where on average 236 people every day get married after being matched by eHarmony.*

Buoyed by its success in the US, eHarmony is now going global. Having already launched in Canada and Australia, eHarmony is confident that its Compatibility Matching System will deliver equally successful results in the UK.

Importantly, before eHarmony enters a new market it conducts extensive research and tailors its matching model to address local attitudes towards what constitutes satisfied relationships.

For the UK, eHarmony partnered with researchers at the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford to gather data which enabled eHarmony to identify the compatibility characteristics that were most integral to lasting relationships for UK couples.

The research revealed that while the UK had many similarities in what determines a successful relationship, there were also some interesting differences. For example, married people in the United Kingdom consistently express greater satisfaction with the amount of consensus they experience in their marriage, such as the time spent together, how they get along with family and in-laws, and their sexual relationship.

Those from the United States, on the other hand, show more satisfaction with interpersonal aspects of the relationship, such as laughing together more frequently, exchanging ideas, and kissing more often.

*2007 Harris Interactive Research

About eHarmony, Inc. Santa Monica, Calif.-based eHarmony, Inc. (www.eharmony.com) was founded in 2000 and is a pioneer in using relationship science to match singles seeking long-term relationships. Its service presents users with compatible matches based on key dimensions of personality that are scientifically proven to predict highly successful long-term relationships. On average, 542 people marry every day in the U.S. as a result of being matched on eHarmony, nearly 5% of new marriages.* Currently, eHarmony operates online matchmaking services in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and Brazil, and through its affiliation with eDarling, in 11 countries throughout continental Europe.

* 2009 survey conducted for eHarmony by Harris Interactive.®