April 1, 2006; Page P4

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an enormous interest in all these couples,” says Dr. Warren.

Because the industry relies on subscriptions more than advertising, it isn't surprising that dating sites do everything they can to retain their customers. Former retention specialists for Yahoo Personals describe working on “save teams” where they were paid for every lovelorn subscriber they persuaded to stay. “I'd tell them I was just talking to someone earlier who was getting married after using the service,” says Donnie Reibert, who last year left his job at West Corporation, contracted by Yahoo to provide customer service. “I'd tell them, 'Just give it time.' ” Yahoo Personals says it no longer offers advice when people call to cancel.

New tactics are being employed to reach out to married couples. At eHarmony, newlyweds can now pay $240 for a 12-session marriage program created by a team of in-house psychologists. JDate encourages couples who met on the site and married to write to its “Mazel Tov” section, but says it doesn't track divorces because it would be logistically difficult.

At Match, a separate success-stories Web site helps the company follow up with daters, and it recently started sending out media tip sheets to encourage newlyweds to tell their stories to the local press. But the company says it has no plans to keep a record of divorces. “A lot of people married, then divorced but remain very good friends. Is it a failure?” says Jim Safka, chief executive of Match. “Looking at divorce rates is a crude and dangerous way to measure things.” Mr. Safka adds that the site is for all kinds of relationships, not just marriage.

Says Herb Vest, founder of True.com: “The reason we go to work: to lower the divorce rate.” His site requires users to undergo criminal background checks and also analyzes public records to try to ensure that no one on the site is already married and looking for a fling.

Some people who met a spouse online and later divorced aren't losing heart. Some even say they would date online again. Kelly Fleshman, 35, a Web developer from suburban Baltimore, says she doesn't blame the medium for the problems in her marriage. “We got along better than anyone I have ever gotten along with in my life,” she says. They ended the marriage last year, and Ms. Fleshman says she's relieved the love notes that started their relationship are nowhere to be found: “I don't have those emails—that was, like, three or four computers ago.”