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The set= number is not your match’s member number

Did you know that the “set=” number in the URLs of your matches is not your match’s member number?

It’s eHarmony’s match ID, the sequence number of the pair-up that the eH system made. For example, the matches y’all received today, 10 October 2007, are all 5878#####. The matching system generates id numbers sequentially and continuously.

In other words,

  1. You and your match are looking at the same id.
  2. An ID is a pair. Accessing an ID, whose half isn’t you, won’t work. You can post match URLs all over teh internets but only you, your match and eHarmony can use it.
  3. If you go all over the Internet telling eHarmony members that Greg (Tulsa, OK) #553829983 is, uh, a charm, it won’t work.
  4. Both of you can see the other’s Must Have/Can’t Stand lists by clicking on identical links http://www.eharmony.com/singles/servlet/user/comm/review?set=#######&section=2&subsection=2
  5. Because the whole bit uses IDs, eHarmony’s design requires a huge rewrite before it can allow a search & browse feature. It’s monstrous.

The system probably doesn’t skip numbers, so assuming it began at Match #1, eHarmony’s matching software has already made 587 million pair-ups. That’s like matching the males and females in all of India, or in four times the entire United States. Furthermore, if it made Match #1 in eHarmony’s start (23 August 2000), then it has made 156 matches every minute, or 225 thousand matches per day.

How many matches have become marriages? 3,000? 5,000? 90 per day? The success ratio is staggering. Or not.

Do you have a match ID from last year or 2005? Can you tell us how many matches has eH made in the last 12 months or 3 years? Sort by “Match Delivery Date (Oldest)” to find out.

Posted by on 9 October 2007.

Categories: Hacks

2 Responses

  1. Mucho thanks…that link using the set # to read a member’s MHCS worked!

    I don’t subscribe to eharmony, so are there more links to be able to see other info like photos, personality profile, etc, or be able to continue communication without subscribing???

    by jorge on Jan 6, 2009 at 6:52 pm

  2. URLs to continue communication without subscribing, jorge? Wow, I don’t think it is prudent to share that info on a public website that’s frequently read by eharmony staff.

    Not denying it exists, though.

    by Ron on Jan 8, 2009 at 10:31 am

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