Online Personals Watch: News on the Dating Industry and Business

DNA Can Help You Find The Perfect Lover

HUFFINGTON POST - Nov 8 - A Swiss company called GenePartner has developed a biological matching system using your human leukocyte antigen, or HLA, genes to find your perfect match. The company works with several dating sites around the world--Sense2love and Eventful Dating to name two--and tests interested people by mail. You get a couple of Q-tips, scrape the inside of your cheek and that of the other party or parties you'd like to have checked, and return it to the company. Later, you receive access to a closed account on the company's website, where you can read at your leisure about how well you supposedly fit together, genetically. The company's total manpower proves to be two women: the director, Joelle Apter, and the head of research, Tamara Brown.

by Lone Frank
See full article at Huffington Post

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DNA Matching

MAIL ONLINE - Jan 11 - DNA matching offers the chance to pick a partner with the widest possible variety of genes and therefore the best immune system for any potential children,’ explains Eric Holzle, a former engineer-turned-matchmaker who runs ScientificMatch. DNA testing can ascertain whether or not you will have ‘a more satisfying sex life with less chance of cheating’. Both ScientificMatch and Swiss company, GenePartner.com, which provides a DNA matching service for a variety of dating sites in Europe and the U.S., cite the infamous 1995 ‘sweaty T-shirt’ experiment in which women were asked to sniff the T-shirts of similarly aged men and rate their body odours as proof that DNA matching works. ScientificMatch offers life membership site for ~£1,200. Meanwhile, GenePartner’s tests start at ~£60. FULL ARTICLE @ DAILYMAIL.CO.UK

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GenePartner, ScientificMatch.com Offer DNA Matchmaking

ASSOCIATED PRESS – Nov 12 – Two genetic testing companies are offering matchmaking based on DNA tests for biological compatibility. The sample is acquired through a simple cheek swab for both companies. Various genetic characteristics are compared for compatibility. GenePartner has tested more than 1,000 people at $99 each. The validity of such compatibility tests has yet to be proven. FULL ARTICLE @ ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Clicck And GenePartner To Collaborate On DNA Study Of Gays And Lesbians

PR NEWSWIRE – Nov 5 – Clicck.com has signed an exclusive agreement with GenePartner to conduct a revolutionary new DNA study on gays and lesbians. The goal of the study is to determine if there is, in fact, a “gay gene” at the root of homosexuality. DNA samples will be voluntarily collected from Clicck's LGBT members and used to generate an algorithm for biological matchmaking. This new service, aptly named “In Your Genes” is scheduled to launch in Q1 2010. FULL ARTICLE @ REUTERS

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Internet Dating Industry May News - 11 Mins

May 2009 OPW News Summary from Mark Brooks on Vimeo.

This is actually the news for May. We're playing catch up.  I had some critiques of the video and fixed them.  You said you weren't happy with the sound quality.  We fixed it with a pro microphone.  You wanted hi-res.  You got it.  You weren't happy with the video quality, so I nixed my mug from the video and added hi quality images.  These videos are available at the Internet Dating Video News Summary Video News Summaries blog along with the text.  Or for the full experience, please click here for the hi-res version. 

June, July and August are in process.  Here's the full resolution May video news roundup.
- Meetic's strategy after buying Match UK
- Dating site abuses Obama
- Zoosk adds Netflix and Last.fm to date cards
- CNN features virtual currencies
- Craigslist sues South Carolina attorney general
- DNA dating safety and ethics concerns
- Matchmaking does ok despite the downturn
- Illinois state nixes tax hikes that include taxing dating sites
- Sex toys for the horny Japanese

We're working on June, July and August videos.  Please let me know if there's any other ways we can do better with them, and make them more useful.

Blinded By Science In The Online Dating Game

NY TIMES -- July 17 -- Professor Helen Fisher, of Chemistry.com, studied the neural chemistry of people in love. She zeroes in on six specific chemicals, which are linked to certain traits. Those with a preponderance of dopamine and norepinephrine she named “explorers,” those with serotonin are “builders,” those with testosterone are “directors” and those with estrogen and oxytocin are “negotiators.” The 56-question test that Fisher has developed for Chemistry.com helps identify who is a builder, an explorer and so on. She has also studied 28,000 people and found that those who are explorers tend to pick explorers, builders tend to choose builders, while directors and negotiators often select each other. James Houran, a relationship psychologist who has developed “compatibility matching tools” for Plentyoffish.com, a free dating site, said his work indicated that people who met someone through the site were more satisfied in their relationships than those who met in other ways. GenePartner scientists developed a formula that successfully determined genetic compatibility. After receiving the DNA results users can hunt for their genetic soul mate on Genepartner.com. FULL ARTICLE @ NY TIMES

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Online Dating And Genetics

TIME -- June 19 -- When asked to sniff men's shirts back in 1995, women who were not on the Pill preferred the scent of men who had certain genes that were more dissimilar to their own. Opposites, the data suggested, really do attract. The experiment inspired the launch of GenePartner.com a Swiss company that uses genetics to predict whether two people will have chemistry. New online-dating sites, including Sense2Love.com, plan to add genetic matching. For now, for $99, you can order a kit, swab your cheek, mail it to Switzerland and get your GenePartner ID. You can then be matched with anybody in the GenePartner database. FULL ARTICLE @ TIME

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DNA Dating

SUNDAY TIMES -- May 24 --  Dr Tamara Brown, a Croatian geneticist, has been investigating what creates that initial “spark” between two people, and she believes that the answer lies in smell. Her company, GenePartner, charges clients $99 for a genetic match. “We don’t claim to provide the ideal partner based purely on DNA,” Brown says. She adds that people also need to match on a social level — to have similar life goals, ideals and education levels. GenePartner is not the first company to use DNA testing. ScientificMatch started in December last year, about the same time as GenePartner, offering DNA matching for a lifetime membership fee of $1,995. As the testing is unregulated, there are fears of serious risk to privacy, that customers’ DNA results might be sold to insurance companies, for instance. In the U.S., the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (Gina), signed by President Bush last May, makes it illegal for employers and health insurers to use their employees’ or customers’ genetic information to discriminate against them. The states of California and New York have taken action against DTC companies, ruling that since genetic tests are medical tests, they can only be ordered by a medical doctor. FULL ARTICLE @ TIMES ONLINE

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Internet Dating Industry Weekly News - 5 Mins, Venice

Online Personals Watch News Summary #3, April 19th, 2009 from Mark Brooks on Vimeo.

Spark Networks acquires Engage.com. Sugar Daddy sites criticized. New Facebook apps from GenePartner and DateRaters.com. eHarmony lawsuit and Compatible Partners criticism. Matchmakers doing ok according to CNN. Virtual singles marry online, and Courtland Brooks blog launches. 

This weeks news from Venice, Italy. 

GenePartner On Facebook

OPW -- Apr 15 -- GenePartner announced their Facebook app. today. Users can now match against their Facebook contacts who also have a GenePartnerID.

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This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.

Irena And Mark, A GenePartner Match

OPW -- Mar 1 -- Irena and I got our match results back from GenePartner.  Apparently we're a match.  After sending in our mouth swabs and waiting several days our results were revealed to us as an overall 80% match which is between good and fantastic.  Our attraction level should be between attracted and very attracted.  We have a high symmetry of attraction meaning that we are attracted to each other at the same (high) level, and we have a high probability of a successful pregnancy. No problem there. The most intriguing result was for the 'Type of Interest' scale which runs from 'I feel safe and comfortable around this person' through to 'I would like to date this person' which is more about excitement vs safety. We're at the far end of the date scale. Is this good?  Apparently yes, for excitement and fun. But we shouldn't expect to be placid in old age, or wait for feelings of security and safety. Good. That works for us. All in all, I'm excited about what companies like ScientificMatch, GenePartner and Basisnote are bringing to the idating space. Gattaca references aside, there's some future for this kind of testing and now that tests are under $100, they may also become viable. - Mark Brooks

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Online Dating Just Got Weirder

THE DAILY BEAST -- Feb 13 -- ReferQuest is an online marketplace where users can post a description of what they're trying to find e.g. an upright piano in Berlin. Several ads offer cash to anyone who can bring them success in the romance department. GenePartner matches people based on their DNA. Cofounder Tamara Brown insists it helps users "find someone who will be biologically compatible, which means high attraction, better sex life and, if you choose to have children, a high possibility of healthy pregnancies and healthier children." FULL ARTICLE @ THE DAILY BEAST

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Can Genes Help You Pick A Mate?

NEW SCIENTIST -- Dec 19 -- ScientificMatch offers to match couples according to scent-related aspects of their DNA profiles. By hooking you up with your biological match, the company promises a better sex life, more orgasms, a lower risk of cheating on each other, higher fertility and healthier children. GenePartner, based in Switzerland, also tests couples to determine their genetic compatibility and runs a dating service based on it. FULL ARTICLE @ NEW SCIENTIST

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DNA-Based Dating Service: GenePartner

TECH CRUNCH -- July 22 -- GenePartner use a $199 DNA test (compare to $1,000 for 23andMe) to help users find their perfect match.They've analyzed "hundreds of couples" and have determined the genetic patterns found in successful relationships. GenePartner is looking to partner with dating sites and have those services encourage users to see if they're a DNA match. FULL ARTICLE @ WASHINGTON POST