By all rights, online personal ads should have made the yenta obsolete. Internet dating pools are deeper; search engines are stronger than any Rolodex. Instead, Los Angeles is the city where money — that is, a lot of money — can buy you love.

The city has nearly 200 matchmakers and dating services, according to the Better Business Bureau. (By comparison, the lovelorn populace of San Francisco makes do with only 11.) And despite all the dot-com cupids, the old-fashioned marriage brokers say business has never been better.

Nearly half of all Angelenos are between 35-44 and unmarried.

The Internet should be an extension of your social life, it shouldn’t become your social life.

Ultimately, the real reason for the romance reality check may be that you can Google everything except instinct.

“It’s a hard business,” says Jill Kelleher of Kelleher International. “We’re handling people’s emotional lives. But what’s more important than love?”

Most matchmaking services don’t know the number of marriages they’re responsible for; many clients don’t keep in touch once they’re in relationships. However, all in-person matchmakers screen clients, conduct background checks and request that clients fill out personal profiles and provide pictures as well as after-date feedback.