Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Yumbunny is a new matchmaking site that relies on ‘the crowd’ to help you pick out your future mate. The site presents two people side by side, asking users to vote if they look like they’re meant for each other (it also presents a brief list of the things they like and dislike, so you can get a feel for their personalities). The end result is ridiculously superficial, but it’s also a fun guilty pleasure reminiscent of Hot or Not (some of the matches have left me laughing hysterically).
The site’s biggest draws are its widgets, which allow you to embed Yumyum matching into your blog or social network profiles. You can get either a widget that pits two randoms against each other every time, or one that always features your photo as one half of the pair (presumably this is the widget you’d embed if you were actually trying to use the site to find a match). As an extra incentive to vote on other matches, the more active you are on Yumyum, the more often your photo will be shown to other users. And if at any time you come across a match you think one of your friends might like, you can Email them a recommendation.
At the end of the week the site Emails you a list of your best matches, as decided by the general population. If you’d like to initiate contact, it charges $2.99 for unlimited conversation.
Given the fact that the site doesn’t seem to take region into account at all, I have a hard time believing that many people will find their true love on Yumbunny. But I really hope that someone can prove me wrong – the commercials for this thing would be hilarious.
We should note that Engage.com does something very similar, but has less of a focus on widgets.