• by Aaron Goldman , Op-Ed Contributor, December 2, 2009

Today I'd like to take a spin on the lighter side in my series of lessons learned from Google. To date, we've covered marketing lessons (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), product development lessons, and general business lessons (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3). Now let's see what Google can teach up about dating...

1.   Don't wear black hats on first dates. Fellow Search Insider Janel Laravie nailed it when she tweeted, "Be yourself. Be Real. Don't try to be something you're not or someone you aren't. Honesty is rewarded." Google certainly rewards honesty when it comes to its search algorithm. Just ask anyone that's ever been booted out of the index for some good old-fashioned white text on white background. Which reminds me...

2.   Race doesn't matter. Don't close yourself off to a potential partner just because he or she is a different ethnicity. Outside of its logo, Google doesn't see color. It ranks every Web site based on merit.

3.   There's someone out there for everyone. Google is all about relevance and personalization. And the advertising platforms it creates are centered on one-to-one targeting, rather than mass reach. The same principles apply in dating. Don't worry about making yourself into the all-American boy or girl that everyone would love. Make yourself a person you would love and you'll find that you're not the only one. So don't be shallow, Hal.

4.   Don't play hard-to-get. You wouldn't put up a robots.txtfile to keep Google from indexing your deeper content, right? (Well, besides you, Rupert.) So why would you put up a front to keep the person you're dating from getting to really know you?

5.   Personal hygiene is key. While I'm sure Google has its fair share of smelly engineers, it boasts one of the cleanest homepages on the Web. If you want to make it past the first date, you too must be mindful of your appearance.

6.   Sometimes it is a popularity contest. Why do the jocks always get the girls? Same reason you need a ton of links to get the top organic ranking. Bottom line, Google places heavy emphasis on popularity.

7.   Don't wait three days to call back. That whole bit about seeming too eager is a farce. Google is all about real-time response. It's now indexing tweets in mere seconds. I once broke the 72-hour rule and called a girl I had gone out with for the first time the very next morning. She's now my wife.

8.   Take your date to a nice restaurant. Google hates spam.

9.   Don't hide anything. Jenn Mathews reminded me of this dating best practice, "Google a guy's name to see if he's a psychopath." Google certainly makes everything findable. So before you put yourself out on the market, make sure you're well-optimized. And remember, it's OK to Google yourself every now and then.

10.                 Communication is everything. Perhaps Drew Barrymore's character explains the quagmire that is 21^st century dating best in the movie, "He's Just Not That Into You," when she complains, "I had this guy leave me a voicemail at work, so I called him at home, and then he emailed me to my BlackBerry, and so I texted to his cell, and now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies. It's exhausting." Google understands the complications of today's communication channels. That's why the new Google Voice ties all your different phone lines together and even sends you transcripts of your messages. Now you can get rejected in no time!

11.                 Don't dress too flashy. Google has trouble reading content buried in Flash and requires HTML backups to help with indexing. So think twice before leaving the house in those leather pants. Or at least bring some backup jeans. If you wanna get crawled, that is.

12.                  Check your sources. Self-admitted "serial dater" Jen Bradburn offers this advice.  Just as Google assigns PageRank to various Web sites based on signals of relevancy and credibility, so too must you seek out trusted sources when getting to know the person you're dating. Scope out the other person's Facebook friends and LinkedIn profiles to get a sense for who they really are. After all, as Jen astutely observed, "People don't lie about their jobs on LinkedIn."

13.                 It's a numbers game. Here's another one from Ms. Bradburn, who is certainly qualified to speak on this topic not only based on the sheer volume of dating she's done, but because she works for Google. The theory is if you cast a wide enough net, eventually you'll find someone. Google puts this into play with all its new product launches and acquisitions. Sure, some go nowhere fast, but others will eventually turn a profit. However, as I cautioned in my last column, "Follow the law of averages at your own peril."

14.                 Don't settle. Google is always testing different components of its products to make incremental improvements -- even once testing 41 different shades of blue on its toolbar. That's a sound dating strategy, too. If certain features are important to you, keep testing the market until you find the perfect match. At the same time, as Jen B. points out, you'll want to "be iterative" in your approach. Pretend you're using Google Website Optimizer and constantly tweak your criteria to find the right combination of variables.

15.                 5"9 means 5"3. Here's one last pearl of wisdom from Ms. Bradburn. Remember to automatically deduct 6 inches from the online dating profile of any guy under 6 feet tall. As for the parallel to Google here, let's go with quality score, which doesn't let advertisers get to the top based on bid price alone. After all, anyone can type in a ridiculously high bid!

OK, folks, there you have it. Now off you go, Googling your way to a better love life. Would love to hear any real-world success stories related to these Googleisms. Send them as a comment below, and/or tweet them to @LearnFromGoogle.

By the time this is published, I'll be en route to Park City for MediaPost's Search Insider Summit and the first ever "Search Engine Idol." As always, I'll be capturing everything that's tweet-worthy or bloggable. Follow along on Twitter with hashtag #MPSIS-UT09 or the MediaPost Raw Blog -- it's the next best thing to being there! In two weeks, I'll recap all the highlights and share the SIS Buzz-o-Meter.