• by Seana Mulcahy , April 3, 2006

Is it me, or is the hype of online dating sites a thing of the past? We didn't hear all that much about them for a while. Now there are TV spots with Dr. Phil endorsing Match.com--although I haven't seen much promotion online for the site.

Then there was that whole Joan Rivers thing. I guess Joan was saying she put up a profile and was looking for a date. Talk about vampire creativity--I don't even remember what site it was. Maybe I just mentally blocked it out, as she scares me.

It seems like online dating is more of a social norm now. "We met online" doesn't seem to be all that far-fetched anymore. According to PEW Internet & American Life project, some 31 percent of American adults (63 million) say they know someone who has used a dating Web site and 15 percent of American adults--about 30 million people--say they know someone who has been in a long-term relationship or married someone he or she met online.

But what about the sites? You can only get so many new users. And just think about it, the sites get this monthly fee from members so they can find a "match." When they do, poof, they are gone. So I ask you, dear readers, is the online dating model challenged?

I guess I have been sitting and waiting for something to happen in this space. The other day I went to Google something and noticed an extra hyperlink on the front page. I'll give you one guess what it was for. Yep, none other than online dating.

Announced in true Google fashion on April 1, it's called Google Romance. In a company issued press release, it is dubbed psychographic matchmaking plus free "contextual" dating. What? The company is offering all-expense-paid dating for couples who agree to experience contextually relevant advertising throughout the course of their evening. This is called "Soulmate Search." The product, a beta release currently residing on Google Labs, can be experimented with at http://www.google.com/romance/. "Our mission, as you might have heard, is to organize the world's information," said Jonathan Rosenberg, Google's senior vice president, product management. "And let's face it: in what area of life is the world's information more disorganized than romance? We thought we could use our search technology to help you find that special someone, then send you on a date and use contextual ads to help you, ya know --close the deal."

You may have heard all the buzz regarding CEO Eric Schmidt's recent internal Powerpoint presentation that got leaked externally. Bloggers were having a field day with it. On Digg, there are 1416 diggs alone. Most of the commentators seemed to think this was another one of Google's April Fool's jokes. Many others snickered. Several bashed Google for finding another way to slap ads all over something. Yikes.

So how do you feel about the online dating space? Have the sites hit a saturation point? Is this Google thing really true or is it a lingering April Fool's joke? If it is true, how do you feel about dating becoming contextually relevant? Guess the "I'm feeling lucky" button on the home page has even more meaning now...