A high matching score does not automatically mean a great date. So what is it about the love formulas of dating agencies and what do they measure?

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Partner exchanges: How matching algorithms work The Science of Matching Crucial point validity Formula of happiness Article in c’t 24 / 2020 read Whether ElitePartner, LemonSwan, eDarling or Parship – all four advertise with scientific methods: Armed with extensive questionnaires from psychologist pens and secret algorithms n They promise to only propose partners from a vast pool of potential partners who fit together individually. Depending on the provider, these matching methods are called, for example, the Parship principle or the eDarling method and are advertised on television and other media with a high budget. They usually equate “suitable” with “a lot of similarity in relation-relevant aspects, spiced with a pinch of difference”. That sounds right, but does it actually increase the chance of finding a partner for life?

The science of matching No question about it, matching algorithms are among the most successful mathematical processes of the data age. On Amazon, Netflix and Co., recommendation algorithms suggest suitable products and content to the customer (collaborative filtering), in medicine they convey donor organs to recipients (Gale-Shapley algorithm). So it makes sense to use such methods to automatically bring people together to become lovers.

Similar to trading platforms, partner exchanges are faced with the challenge of making customers a reasonably manageable and sensible offer: The proposed partners should be in lie in an area in which one can imagine a relationship. The trick is to develop a suitable set of measuring instruments that can be used to predict which suggestions will suit the customer’s taste.

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