The general concept was patented on September 7, 1999, by David J. Blumberg and DoYouDo chief executive officer Gil S. Sudai, but several websites were already employing the methodology by that date, and thus apparently were allowed to continue using it.
[1] United States Patent 5,950,200 points out several potential flaws in traditional courtship and in conventional dating systems in which strangers meet online, promoting anonymous matching of friends and acquaintances as a better alternative: Human relationships are often fraught with difficulties.
Often, even when two people want to initiate first steps in a relationship, neither person takes action because of shyness, fear of rejection, or other societal pressures or constraints.
For example, computer dating services allow people to view video tapes or pictures of prospective partners or to choose common areas of hobbies.
eCRUSH, DoYOU2.com, the LiveJournal Secret Crush meme, and SecretAdmirer.com are examples of anonymous matching services using viral marketing to increase their membership.