How They Built Match.com
At some point, we’ve all wondered how these dating sites began. Were they just a coincidence? Were they created on purpose? What problem is it trying to solve?
The founder of Match.com, Gary Kremen, explains that the website was first based on the early stages of classified newspaper ads. People would place personal ads in the paper stating the list of traits they were looking for in a potential partner. Kremen realized that newspaper ads were too slow and took way too long. Kremen knew he could find a faster and easier way to do this.
Initially, the idea was to have people submit a photo of themselves and a list of what they were looking for in a potential partner. The system of Match.com would then use an algorithm to sort through profiles until it found a possible match for the criteria entered. If a match was found, the user was notified and sent the information for their match. If not match was found, the user was also notified that there were no matches.
In the early 1990s when the website first started, Kremen had to find a way to mitigate the idea that joining a dating site was supposed to be secretive. In order to get around this stigma, Match.com offered very secure privacy settings, deleting accounts to people who were abusing the website, and offering transparency when it came to their matches or lack thereof.
By maintaining a good reputation for Match.com, it made it easier for people to want to join knowing their privacy would be protected and the system can actually work.
Click the link below to listen to the full podcast.
