tzippi:
You have every right to be disgusted by the new AZ brainstorm proposal. It boils down to one word, UNETHICAL.
A comparable profession to shadchan is headhunter. A headhunter goes to a company and is contracted to find the best employee for the open position. The headhunter prescreens the candidate, knows their backgrounds, and helps move the hiring process along. IF the company is satisfied and hires the candidate, the headhunter gets paid his contract. If the company doesn’t hire the candidate the headhunter flew in from Australia, the headhunter lost the gamble and gets paid ZERO. It is entirely UNETHICAL of a headhunter to charge a fee to the candidate to be set up for an interview, or to even charge for succesful placement.
Shadchanus in halacha is meant as a sign of hakaras hatov, not a fee for services rendered. A shadchan is doing avodas hakodesh and is not meant to be a dating service or worse.