Find a Better Lover Through Chemistry?

Recently, an offshoot of Match.com is taking a "scientific" approach to matchmaking by introduced Chemistry.com.


As a matter of fact, we know dating is a drag, find the right date or even a long-term relationship or marriage minded partner is even hard. There was a time when we thought the computer was going to make it all better. As a result, one out of every 100 Internet users now posts a personal ad. But most of us learned the hard way that finding someone who shares our love of film noir and obscure garage bands does not a perfect match make. So why not try science instead? In other words, can the length of your index finger or your ability to judge spatial relationships land you Mr. or Ms. Right? That's what Chemistry.com is coming to help.

So you have your doubts about it, is it working? You won't know until you give it a try for free. On Oct. 11, 2005, the largest online dating site on the Internet, Match.com, launched Chemistry.com, a new service that attempts to use neuroscience to come up with the ideal match for its subscribers. The centerpiece is a lengthy questionnaire designed by Helen Fisher, an anthropologist at Rutgers University whose recent book, Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love, lays out the biology behind our romantic choices. Answer the questions, pay your subscription fee, and Match.com promises to grace your inbox with possibilities.

So how does Chemistry.com do its magic? By studying brain scans and behavioral studies, Fisher theorizes that the type of person who can ring your bell is hard-wired into your neurons. Embedded in each of our brains is a "love map," she says, that guides our choice of a mate. Chemistry.com's questions are meant to decipher that map. It then runs each profile through a proprietary computer algorithm to find that special someone who will light up your neurons.

Chemistry.com is the latest in a series of online profiling services. Fast-growing dating sites like eHarmony.com, True.com, and PerfectMatch.com require subscribers to spend up to an hour filling out questionnaires. EHarmony even rejects potential subscribers whose profiles don't meet their mainstream criteria. Ouch.

Dating sites can't be too choosy, though. Although some 22 million Americans subscribe to online dating sites, Jupiter Research estimates that industry revenues will total a relatively modest $500 million this year. And with many users tiring of constantly searching through ads for "The one," growth is slowing dramatically -- to 9% annually, from 19% in 2004 and 77% in 2003.

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