• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, January 23, 2006

Starbucks and Yahoo! Personals have struck up a relationship to cross-market each other's services through Valentine's Day.

Per the deal, Yahoo! has launched a co-branded site, "Espresso Dating Guide," where singles can find dating advice, locate the nearest Starbucks, and pick up a $10 Starbucks gift card for subscribing to Yahoo! Personals--$24.95 for a month, or $12.49 per month if consumers sign up for six months.

For Starbucks, the idea to align its brand with online dating came from a national survey it recently commissioned of some 300 singles, according to Starbucks spokeswoman Carole Pucik.

"We share a lot in common with Yahoo!," said Pucik. "We serve the same young customers who have embraced online dating, but still need somewhere that's safe and comfortable when taking that next step from online to the real world."

The survey, conducted by research firm StrategyOne, found that almost four out of 10 singles--39 percent--have tried dating someone they met online, and that the majority of those cited a casual and safe setting as the most important criteria for a first date.

Additionally, the survey found that over four out of ten respondents--42 percent--said they prefer to keep first dates short, while around one-third--32 percent--emphasized the importance of a convenient exit strategy.

The "Espresso Dating Guide"--at http://personals.yahoo.com/espressodating--offers advice from dating and relationship guide author Logan Levkoff on coffeehouse first-dates, including what to wear, how to make small talk, and how to end a bad date gracefully.

Yahoo! Personals is consistently the top-ranked U.S. online-dating site in terms of individual visitors, according to comScore Networks. The site racked up some 5.9 million unique visitors over the past month.