Skip to content

Start a new discussion »

How the matching software works

The matching software seems simple enough.

First, you got a battery of personality tests that extracts 29 statistics. Store these statistics in a database. Grab a subset of this database that satisfy your “Match Settings” and whose “Match Settings” satisfy you. Run a search through this subset for members whose most statistics are equal to or close to yours. Viola, marriage bliss!

Tomorrow, run the above algorithm on the newly registered members. Viola, marriage bliss again!

But it’s not that simple. Why?

  • With a 15-million database, we’d expect to get dozens of results on the first day. Instead we get five.
  • Running 7.5 million queries takes a long time.

(This post is ongoing and will be updated as more information becomes available.)

Do you like this article? Post a comment on Facebook

More on eHarmony Blog

What others are reading right now

    Comments 4

    1. programmer wrote:

      Forget the questionnaire; it is meaningless. The only criteria they search to find @matches@ are location and age (and they even get that wrong sometimes). That is as far as their “deep compatibility” goes. The rest of it is just an illusion designed to get gullible and lonely people to part with their money.

      Posted 18 Sep 2010 at 3:57 pm
    2. Potato wrote:

      Hi! I am in the US. And today I “extended” my membership for $14.95/month for 3 months. It was billed in one lump sum. The code that worked was G5OU612C.

      Before I tried that code, which many other people said also worked for them, I tried numerous other codes posted on the blog. And while none of them worked for me, I did get the following “error messages” which MAY help others in the US. Per my entries, these codes should work for the scenarios listed below:

      1) JMHDY613 available for NEW subscribers 9.95/month for 3 months

      2) J613DMYH for PREVIOUS subscribers 9.95/month for 3 months

      3) B8Z24J6D for PREVIOUS subscribers 9.95/month for 3 months

      4) B4J5D8Z2 for NEW subscribers 9.95/month for 3 months

      Good luck to everyone! I’ve been on for a month…hopefully I’ll find someone during my three-month extension! ;-)

      Posted 29 Jan 2011 at 6:32 pm
    3. Potato wrote:

      Oops. Posted that comment re codes in the wrong place. Sorry!

      Posted 29 Jan 2011 at 6:37 pm
    4. Free License Plate wrote:

      I might me in the minority but I’m happy for them to take their time a little. Naturally I’d love instant matches etc but as long as the matches I DO get are quality ones then I’m happy to wait a little longer while things are processed.

      Posted 10 Feb 2012 at 5:10 am

    Post a Comment

    Your email is never published, shown nor shared.

    Your message appears after two to five seconds for the world to see. In case it isn’t obvious, we are not eHarmony. Your message will not be sent to them, and no, we cannot help you with your account.

    Have your own topic? Start a new discussion. XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

    Subscribe without commenting

    website statisticsGeo Visitors MapFacebook Re-lint Me!