Getting lucky online is more science than heart. With the explosion of Web-based dating services, sites like Match.com have enlisted a battalion of psychoanalyzing gurus to revamp their matchmaking algorithms. Now when the lovelorn masses - as many as 40 million a month - go surfing for love, the automated questionnaires they answer are scientifically calibrated to find the perfect mate. Think of it as a debutante ball, chaperoned by HAL. I took four sites for a spin.
Match.com
THE SELL "Tests formulated by PhDs."
HOW IT WORKS Personality descriptions flash on the screen, and users click those that fit. Follow-up questions change based on responses.
PROBING QUESTION "Someone who is always cheerful: turn-on or turnoff?"
GURU Michael Georgeff, former head of Australia's Artificial Intelligence Institute, weighed in on the search system.
TAKEAWAY It gets props for honesty. When you find a hot prospect, the site lists shared interests and potential snags.
eHarmony
THE SELL "Intelligent matching for compatible singles."
HOW IT WORKS A battery of 436 questions formulates 29 predictors of relationship success and pairs members with similar profiles.
HOW IT WORKS "True/False: I sometimes wish other people would fail."
GURUS The site borrows from Blaine Fowers and David Olson, developers of the Prepare and Enrich marital-assessment programs.
TAKEAWAY Answering its hundreds of nitpicky questions made me feel like I was already married.
Cybersuitors
THE SELL "We know what makes people click."
HOW IT WORKS 25 questions yield a compatibility quotient similar to the Locke-Wallace marital satisfaction score.
PROBING QUESTION"If you were granted a wish, what would it be?"
GURU Famous British personality researcher Hans Eysenck mentored Cybersuitors lead scientist Glenn Wilson.
TAKEAWAY My prospects seemed less related to the quiz than to my professed Madonna fetish.
Yahoo! Personals
THE SELL "Discover great singles near you."
HOW IT WORKS A Likely Likables tab searches for matches based on the clicking habits of others who share your taste. It's like cribbing from a pal's little black book.
PROBING QUESTION None. Hallelujah!
GURU Jeff Bezos. Yahoo! doesn't credit him directly, but Amazon's community book recommendations clearly laid the groundwork here.
TAKEAWAY It's the least scientific but refreshingly fast. I found more appealing prospects here than on any other service.
START
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